Dearfield Collection

African American agricultural colony founded by O.T. Jackson in 1910. Located 30 miles east of Greeley, Colorado. When O. T. Jackson decided to found a Negro agricultural colony, he considered homestead tracts in Larimer, Elbert and Weld counties, deciding upon the Weld location 30 miles east of the county seat, Greeley. In 1910, he filed on the homestead and began advertising for colonists. The name Dearfield was suggested by one of the early settlers, Dr. J. H. P. Westbrook, a physician from Denver. The name was adopted because the land was to be very dear to the hearts of the settlers.

The autumn of 1911 found seven families and three teams of horses in residence. The struggles of the colonists, most of whom had no agricultural experience, taught them techniques of dry land farming, livestock and poultry raising.

By 1921, the Weld County News (Nov.) proclaimed a colony of 700 people with improved lands worth circa $750,000, livestock and poultry worth $200,000 and an annual production of $125,000. Then came the Great Depression and the years of the dust bowl. By 1940, only 12 people lived in Dearfield. O. T. Jackson put his mind to turning circumstances to a more positive position. He offered the colony to Governor Ralph Carr for use as an internment camp for Japanese prisoners of war. This failing, he even offered the townsite for sale, but there was no buyer. After his death his niece, Jenny Jackson stayed on in Dearfield.

A few deserted buildings still stand to remind those who knew its history, of the grand dream. As of 1998, attempts to preserve the townsite were being undertaken by the Black American West Museum in Denver, which submitted an application to the National Trust for Historic Preservation through the Colorado Historical Society.

-- text courtesy of James A. Michener Library, University of Northern Colorado