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Sept. 3 will be the 50th anniversary of the official groundbreaking of Heritage Square, the unique shopping theme park at the southwestern foothills of Golden. On September 3, 1957, a large crowd of dignitaries including the Lieutenant Governor of Colorado took part as Walter Francis Cobb broke ground with a golden shovel on Magic Mountain, the new theme park that would one day be Heritage Square. It was a momentous occasion, being the first theme park constructed anywhere outside of Disneyland, coming to Golden's doorstep.

The idea was a little while in coming for the Wheat Ridge businessman with a penchant for family fun. Early in the 1950s he had dreamed of putting together a fun family theme park, and teamed up with Denver sculptor John Calvin Sutton to make their dream a reality. They envisioned Magic Mountain, a fairyland in the northeast alcove of South Table Mountain, complete with a Queen's Castle, seafood ship, ghost town, enchanted forest, dragon in a cave, and more. However, adamant protest to the mountain's development by Applewood citizens caused them to reconsider, and soon they eyed an even better, Gold Rush-era site at Apex Gulch near Golden. In the meantime, original Disneyland vice president Cornelius Vanderbilt Wood, Jr., after helping spearhead the world's first theme park there, started up his own theme park design company, Marco Engineering, taking several of the park employees with him. He found a ready customer in Magic Mountain, the first outside of Disney to try and create such a place, and soon his team of Hollywood film veterans went to work in creating a masterpiece.

Magic Mountain was a place drawing much upon the history of the Old West, and much more. As its creators put it:

History shows that the U.S. Cavalry opened the West to civilization; made this area safe for pioneers to move here, settle here and build their homes here. It was the Cavalry Post through which early settlers entered the West and founded settlements that later became villages, towns and cities. Magic Mountain designers are saluting the Cavalry in their planning for the Park. The first thing planned for you to see when you enter the site are parking lot attendants dressed as Cavalrymen; the first thing you will see upon entering the park itself will be an authentic reproduction of a Cavalry Post and Stockade. Visitors to Magic Mountain will progress from the Cavalry area into a proposed reproduction of a western village, much the same as early settlers were able to go into similar villages because their passage was made safe by the Cavalry. At the edge of Magic Mountain Village, it is planned to have a Fairgrounds, much the same as every Western Town had its own fairgrounds area, where families met for picnics and entertainment. In the Magic Mountain Fairgrounds, plans call for various types of amusement facilities, such as a "Mine Ride" and "The Creation of the Earth Ride". All such rides will have authenticity and educational concepts as their underlying theme. Included in the plans for Magic Mountain are areas for such things as: a river ride, that will tell the story of early-day fur trappers and the experiences they had on the Colorado River; a Magic of Industry exposition, telling the story of a century of progress in the West; a "Storybook lane" for the younger set; a full scale narrow gauge railroad circling the entire park; and an authentic reproduction of the Cherrylyne horse-drawn streetcar that used to operate between Denver and Englewood.

The village soon had a name: Centennial City, after our own state which had become a state on the nation's 100th birthday. It became a Victorian downtown modeled after many local styles which had been used in Golden of yesteryear including Gothic, Second Empire, Greek Revival, Pueblo and more. However, lead designers Wade Rubottom, a veteran of MGM as art director for such movies as The Philadelphia Story, and Dick Kelsey, a Disney veteran who was art director on such films as Bambi, Dumbo, Fantasia, and Pinocchio, weren't going to settle for making it any fake western downtown. They made it Storybook style, a fun artistic form of design drawn from the screen and stage arts. They began by using the art of forced perspective, making Centennial City appear taller than it actually was by miniaturizing building elements as they reached upward. Rubottom had successfully used this technique before while helping design Main Street USA at Disneyland. They also used a horizontal form of forced perspective, narrowing each storefront in accordion-like fashion to make each block appear longer than it actually was. In reality the downtown was made of large singular 1-story buildings, but with imagination it became a new historic downtown of 2/3rds the scale of Golden's own. The intended result of the use of forced perspective was to give Centennial City a believable, but friendlier, scale and feeling than historic downtowns normally have. These art directors also used many beautiful creative distortions and embellishments on building details to soften their appearance and give them an almost whimsical, gingerbread look, with Rubottom giving them their physicality and Kelsey giving them their feeling. As it would rise this place would become one of the world's foremost examples of this fun, creative and uniquely artistic building style. The streets of Centennial City had their own names: the main street was Market Street, the street behind the northern blocks Linden Street, and the street behind the southern blocks Maple Street, while the cross streets, east to west, were 1st, 2nd and 3rd Streets.

On September 3, 1957, Magic Mountain was ready for its official groundbreaking. Cobb turned the first spadeful of dirt with a golden shovel, symbolizing the gold which brought the pioneers to Colorado. He declared "This is another step toward bringing a dream to reality. By next June, you will see here a park, based on Colorado history, which can be enjoyed together by every member of the family." Gov. Stephen L.R. McNichols, who was unable to come, sent a telegram commending how Magic Mountain would aid in his drive to attract more tourists to Colorado and encourage them to stay longer. Lt. Gov. Frank L. Hayes, who attended, said a project such as Magic Mountain would draw the attention and good will of people throughout the nation and benefit all of Colorado. Chairman Clarence Koch of the Jefferson County Commissioners said "Magic Mountain will be a boon to Jefferson County. It will help every one of our fine motels, hotels, resorts and restaurants - as well as the many businessmen who serve them. In addition, it will provide many new jobs for country residents, helping us toward our goal of broadening the economic base of our county." Golden Mayor Clark B. Carpenter said "I will welcome the addition of Magic Mountain to the community. Plans indicate it will be a good neighbor, providing wholesome entertainment as well as creating new business."

Among those who turned the first shovelfuls of dirt was Zebulon Montgomery Pike Jr., nicknamed Monty , relative descendant of the Pike's Peak namesake whose family themselves were area pioneers, and special assistant to the Magic Mountain president.

On February 1, 1958 2,500 including the Westernaires and Buffalo Bill Riding Club attended the dedication of the first building, the Cavalry Post, today's log building immediately left of the main entrance, "in memory of the U.S. Cavalry" which fought on the frontier. It served as the park's administration building, and the log Stockade next to it, with a shooting gallery inside, also rose, as did Centennial City and the Magic Mountain Railroad Depot nearby. However, as things were coming together poor financial direction (blamed by investors I've interviewed on persons other than Cobb and Sutton) was taking things apart, and soon the carpet was pulling out from under many Goldenites who had dreamed and invested in Magic Mountain. Plans and Storybook Lane, the Magic of Industry exposition, Outer Space Lines ride and most of the Fairgrounds were never built.

There were, however, the Forest River Ride and the Enchanted Forest as once envisioned, and an independent operator opened North America's second snow making ski area on the hill in back. A large and historic carousel of great beauty, the Eden Palais, also joined Magic Mountain. In September of 1959 the theme park, now annexed within the Golden limits, opened in fuller scale to the public, including western re-enactments, wagon rides and the Magic Mountain Play House and train rides.

However, Magic Mountain's fate was inexorable; even as it was gearing up for full opening resources were being diverted to newer theme parks springing up elsewhere. Cobb and famed New York developer William Zeckendorf both tried to rescue Magic Mountain, but in the early 1960s its components were sold off.

Much of the original 600 acres eventually ended up becoming Jefferson County Open Space; the rides ended up going to the new Six Flags Over Texas, the first successful theme park outside of Disneyland; the ski equipment ended up going to Ski Broadmoor at Colorado Springs (the Magic Mountain ski area was actually a successful business venture, and the park took it down with it). After its short run of 1957-60, the theme park itself stood idle for some time.

It was not to be so forever. In 1970 the Woodmoor Corporation purchased the park out of its malaise, and resolved to revive it as Heritage Square, a unique artisans shopping village. They refurbished and winterized the buildings, and in 1971 Heritage Square opened the gates again. Novel and artistic shops including the General Store, Glassblower, Cedar Chest, Metal Master and Christmas Tree soon lined the main street, while the Wedding Chapel (reputedly a historic Lakewood schoolhouse moved here) materialized at its upper end.

The second alpine slide outside a ski area in North America was built on historic Jackson Hill, a landmark of the gold rushers on their way to the mountains, above. In 1972 G. William Oakley and a group of players revived the Magic Mountain Play House as the Heritage Square Opera House, and moved into a fuller venue they retrofitted across the street the next year while their old quarters became the General Store.

Over the years since then Heritage Square has had ups and downs, but remains a fond place for many. Of its oldest tenants the Metal Master remains, while in 1986 the theater became the Heritage Square Music Hall under leadership of longtime actor T.J. Mullin, who continues many entertaining nights today. The one Fairgrounds building that was built has become renowned as the Spider Mansion haunted house, itself rooted in screen arts, while the railroad, now on its 4th steam locomotive, has become miniature gauge.

The original structures of Magic Mountain have become historic landmarks in their own right, not only for being part of the second theme park ever built, but because of their unique and exceptional design that has enchanted many. In their way those who dreamed up and invested in Magic Mountain were as much pioneers as the pioneers they commemorated, being the first to spread an industry which today has become an entertainment staple worldwide, of which few of these earliest places now remain. Today as Heritage Square marks its 50th milestone these original buildings could be listed on the National Historic Register in tribute to the good things of the history of which they were a part.

CREDITS: Much of above from a photocopy from Heritage Village.