Historical Information
Monument began as a territorial ranching settlement in the mid 1860’s. It was first called “Henry’s Station”, after Henry “Dutch” Limbach, who ran a saloon on his homestead claim. When the Denver & Rio Grande railroad came through in 1872, the name was changed to Monument, after the prominent rock formation to the west of town. “Some of the first people to settle in and around Monument came from Iowa.”
A circular stone fort was built on the McShane Ranch by David McShane in 1866 as a defense against Arapahoe and Cheyenne raiders. It was twelve feet in diameter with stonewalls two feet thick, and a roof of logs. Earth covered the logs to prevent the Indians from setting the roof on fire. There were five portholes of which four of them had sliding blocks of stone to close them. The fifth porthole was really a window. It gave the only light and faced the McShane house. From this porthole the families could see if any Indians were creeping up on the house. An underground passage led from the house to the fort. The fort was a refuge for the following pioneer families: The Guires, Chandlers, McShanes, Davidsons, Walkers, Roberts, Faulkners, and Simpsons. – The streets in our subdivision were named after these pioneer families.
Everyday a man rode out to the high hill just north and West of the fort to be on the lookout for Indians. When the look-out man saw Indians in the distance he would inform the people, then they would all hurry to the McShane Fort. The hill in our subdivision was the Look-Out hill thus the name Pioneer Lookout.
David McShane was the first postmaster for Monument in 1869 and a prominent contractor in the area. He worked on such high-profile local projects as the creation of Monument Lake and Prospect Lake in Colorado Springs.
“The wagon trains of pioneers brought many of their possessions with them…”
a. Henry Guire hauled a wagon load of flour which he sold for $18 per hundred to pay for his expenses to cross the plains.
b. The first settlers brought willow cuttings with them. The cuttings were kept in barrels of water to keep them alive and the settlers were settled on their homesteads the trees were planted by them…some of these trees are still growing. The willows were planted at the homes of Henry Guire, John Dolan, Joe Guire, Dave Guire, and David McShane. Please note the massive willows surrounding the old fort/house which is situated in the field just south of the Historical Marker (Daughters of the American Revolution dedicated in February of 1950) … that is the original McShane homestead. The McShane house is the oldest house in this area and was remodeled in 1995. (Current address is 18255 Davidson Street)
Carroll S. Jones and Adeline D Jones owned the entire subdivision known as PIONEER LOOKOUT SUBDIVISION and was part of the town of Palmer Lake. On May 14, 1956, Carroll & Adeline Jones plotted the subdivision and recorded the covenants.
Carroll and Adeline Jones built the first restaurant and Texaco station in 1959 and donated the land for the Port of Entry on the west side of I-25.