Aroya
Traveling southeast from Boyero, one
will end up the last little bit of the Old Golden State Route village,
Aroya. Just south of Boyero is the
junction of the old Colorado state highways, SH 63 and SH 94. From here to the junction with the new SH 94
there will be no other crossroads for the next dozen miles or so. Being ranch land it is still like it was more
then a 100 years ago.
Couple of dams have been built on
some of the draws that are spring fed, creating a small oasis on the prairie.
Here the local wildlife will meander in for a taste of water. Wylie coyote watches looking for a meal as
the other critters stop by. A herd of
pelicans can be seen occasionally at the watering hole. It is a bustling area for wildlife.
There is one ranch house along the
road between Boyero and Aroya. Just to
the east is where the Aroya stage station had been. It was short lived, a few months until the RR
showed up putting the stop out of business.
Bounding on down the road, one crosses a ridge. To the east can be seen the Aroya schoolhouse
on a knoll. The crossing gates of the
railroad stand at attention, waiting for the occasional train. Traffic zips by on the blacktop.
Cross the highway and one is on the
last stretch of the old wagon road. The
few buildings of what remains of Aroya come into view. Out on the roadway, there is an information
board, giving a brief history of the town and the area. The JOD Ranch is on down the road a bit. It is one of the oldest continuous used ranch
brands in the state, 1870.
The remains of the service station
still reside next to the highway, beside it a mercantile, then the Aroya
store. There are a few houses that still
stand, most are overgrown with weeds, making for snake haven. The population had been zero for years. A family hauled a trailer to the town and the
population quadrupled overnight. The
following year another trailer was drug out back next to the other one. They did not last long, the following year
they were vacant. Somebody hauled one of
the trailers off but the other one still sits back in the trees, empty.
A welder had lived in the town and
he would scrounge all types of metal and weld the pieces together is a variety
of things, gates, mailbox stands…. Etc.
After he passed on, vandals were scrounging around his property stealing
many of his creations. Some of the
locals got a few of his things and gave them to the museum in Kit Carson. His lighthouse dominates the machinery
display. Today people still go through
things picking to see if they can find that treasure. Otherwise the little prairie burg is
quiet.
Aroya was built by the railroad in
1870 as a place to service their engines and maybe find some customers. A well was drilled in Aroya gulch for water
and the town was underway. On the south
side of the road can be seen where some of the railroad structures had
been. There is a bridge that crosses the
gulch. Today the railroad uses the
siding as a storage lot for surplus rolling stock or maintenance of way
equipment.
On the knoll stands the country
school, a little bigger then a one room schoolhouse. It is very visible from highway 94 and is the
subject of numerous pixels. It looks
down on the town it once served. No
longer are sounds of children present.
The houses down below sit silent, a memory of another time.
The cemetery is a boot hill, sitting
on the hilltop on the other side of highway 94.
It is in a pasture for the JOD Ranch.
Most of the graves are the 1900 and later. No headstones for earlier are there. So my guess is, the burials before 1900 used
wooden crosses or markers. It is now
fenced off to keep the cattle from knocking over the few markers still
there. Like many little railroad towns
back then, there would be the saloons and the conflict that comes from the over
consumption.
When Interstate 70 was built across
the nation, the Golden Belt Route was diverted at Oakley Kansas for political
reasons to follow I-70. Across eastern
Colorado this little section of history remains with its little ghost town and
memories.
Conclusion
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