03/09/2026
Honoring our Heritage: Hollywood Comes to Broomfield
Throughout the 1940’s more and more pressure began to mount for a direct highway to be developed between Denver and Boulder. The Colorado Legislature eventually agreed upon a plan to develop a turnpike to be built with a single toll station. The next step was purchasing rights-of-way from property owners along the proposed route. Altogether, 115 parcels were purchased. One of the major purchases was for the cloverleaf at the Broomfield interchange. It was completely within the boundaries of William Brown’s original homestead, where he had settled in 1885. The ground was broken in Boulder in October of 1950, and by late November, a rough grade extended halfway from Boulder to Broomfield.
On a cold Saturday in January 1952, over a thousand people crowded onto the pavement at the Broomfield interchange for the official opening of the four-lane divided highway. Governor Don Thornton declared, “This turnpike will become famous as one of the most scenic drives in the nation. It will show Colorado’s beauty to the rest of the world.” One thing was sure: the little farming community of Broomfield would change forever. In the beginning, the new highway didn’t have much effect on the community. If anything, it was quieter as it was the first time in its history that north-south traffic went around it instead of through it. But change was getting ready to come in with a rush.
The former Zang property holdings were soon sold to the Turnpike Land Company, which had developed the Turnpike. Almost immediately, they began to develop plans to create a city by the turnpike of some 20,000 people. Their stated reason, they claimed, was that Denver and Boulder were filling up and that there was a need for high-class country living. A water main was developed from the Great Western Reservoir, five miles southwest of Broomfield, and a complete sewage disposal system and all other utilities were also planned for the $100 million community. 954 houses were to be built in the first phase, located south of Midway Boulevard. Around 850 were to be built in the second phase. The first houses went on the market in August 1955.
1955 was a busy and exciting year for the rapidly developing community as new schools and businesses were developed, along with many new homes. Richard L. List was elected co-chairman of the newly formed Broomfield Heights Civic Association, and just before Christmas that year, his wife gave birth to the first baby born in Broomfield Heights, Richard L. List, Jr.. Eager to showcase their community, the Turnpike Land Company worked to get the community’s name out any way they could.
At the time, one of the most popular radio programs was "The Great Gildersleeve." It was based on the comical character, Throckmorton P. Gildersleeve, who first appeared as a regular on “Fibber McGee and Molly” in 1939. He became so popular that they decided to give him his own show in 1940, making it the first successful spin-off show on either radio or television. Originally the character was voiced by Harold Peary, but he was replaced in 1950 by Willard L. Waterman, a close friend who looked and sounded so much like him they could easily pass for brothers.
By the mid-‘50s, television was beginning to replace radio as America’s favorite mode of entertainment. Several successful radio shows tried to transition to television, some with greater success than others. Many of them, like “Gunsmoke,” chose to go with different actors on their TV shows than they used on the radio but continued for several years to broadcast on both mediums. “The Great Gildersleeve” was one of those programs that tried to take advantage of both mediums simultaneously but chose, for the most part, to use the same cast for both radio and television. “The Great Gildersleeve” premiered on television about the same time as the new community of Broomfield Heights was being developed. On the show, Throckmorton P. Gildersleeve was the honorary water commissioner of the mythical town of Summerfield, a town that took its water seriously.
The publicity agent for The Turnpike Land Company teamed up with Waterman to bring Gildersleeve to Broomfield Heights. The press release read in part, "Willard ‘Bill’ Waterman, who as Throckmorton P. Gildersleeve amuses millions of television viewers as the star of the NBC-TV series, 'The Great Gildersleeve,' has been named honorary water commissioner for Broomfield Heights, Colorado, the new community north of Denver that will be Colorado’s fifth largest city by 1960… The Turnpike Land Company, developers of Broomfield Heights, spent nearly $3 million in water, sewage, lights, streets, and planning before a single house was built in the city.”
