Historical Funds Use -
Restoration of the National Sugar Manufacturing Gates (2021)
1. National Sugar Manufacturing Company Entrance Gates (see attached information and photos)
2. 1918 Ordway Horse Trough
3. Currently, a storage building for the Crowley County Heritage Center is in the building process and will be erected soon.
The town of Sugar City in Crowley County was once a boom town at the turn of the twentieth century. When water flowed from the newly dug Colorado Canal, allowing beet crops to become a viable resource for refined sugar in the area, the National Sugar Manufacturing Company was built, and German-Russian immigrants and others flocked to the site so quickly that most had to live in tents in the “howling wilderness” until proper housing could be erected.
The town boasted over 2,000 inhabitants in the early years of the factory’s growth, providing an industry that lasted nearly seventy years until sugar cane began to replace beets as a national sugar resource. Today, all that remains of Sugar City’s historical birthright are the entrance gates. The Historic gates are a prominent landmark and tangible reminder of the sugar beet industry that was the impetus for the founding of Sugar City. Built as the grand entrance to the sugar factory constructed in the spring of 1900, the impressive brick-and-wrought-iron gates are a recognizable local landmark and a prominent reminder of the critical role the sugar beet factory played in the founding of Sugar City and the lives of its residents. The first sugar beet campaign was officially underway when the 500-ton capacity factory began operations in November 1900. Vehicles accessed the plant through the impressive red-brick masonry and wrought-iron ornamental gates at the south terminus of Cronk Avenue. Francis King Carey was president of the National Beet Company from 1901 to 1943. While other companies failed, Carey’s leadership of the small, independent sugar company was one reason it survived years of difficulty. In 1966, the National Sugar Manufacturing Company saw its last campaign. Francis Carey’s son, Reginald Carey, and a nephew, William P. Carey, desperately tried to keep the factory going, but in April 1967, it was closed.
The National Sugar Manufacturing Company Gates were built by the Feick Brothers of Sandusky, Ohio, who, in addition to the factory and fifty early homes in Sugar City, built the Wyoming State Capitol and grounds, Oberland College, and several churches in Sandusky. In the spring of 1900, spring rains flooded the excavations. The bright side was that a clay bed had been found on the shore of Lake Meredith, allowing bricks to be manufactured locally, just a few hundred yards from the building site. The completed Sugar Factory was a source of amazement for the town's new inhabitants. It consisted of a highly mechanized main building, boiler house, machine shop, lime house, office building, beet lab, lime and coke house, warehouse, and four beet sheds.
The National Sugar Manufacturing Company was dismantled in the 1970s, and its gates are the only surviving remnant of the beet-processing plant that once dominated the local landscape and employed much of the local population. For years, the land surrounding the once-thriving sugar factory stood vacant, including stately homes built on the grounds by the Feick brothers that fell into ruin and were eventually torn down. The community has long yearned for a restoration to make their history matter.
On May 22, 2019, the National Sugar Manufacturing Gates were placed on the Colorado State Register of Historic Properties. Restoration of the gates was made possible in part by a grant from History Colorado in the spring of 2020, and other community foundations and members, including Crowley County Heritage Society, Crowley County Preservation Board, the Jonathon and Shari Fox Family Foundation, Crowley County Community Foundation, the Sugar City Book Committee, and Jake Simonian.
The project began in 2015 with Darla Wyeno at the helm of the Heritage Society. She secured permission from the property owners, Rob and Susan Wilson, to preserve the site. The Crowley County Heritage Society members at the time of restoration were: Annette Barber, Shirley Talkington, Orlando Terrones, Linda Sullivan, Kathy Beyer, and Jack Lundahl. Members of the Crowley County Preservation Board included Annette Barber, Lucille Nichols, Berniece McClure, Jerry Barber, Jack Lundahl, Marge Gardner, and Vicki Powell. Both boards would like to thank the Town of Sugar City, the Crowley County Commissioners, the Crowley County Road and Bridge, Namaste Custom Concrete, and Cruz Dominquez, Daniel Hart, Architectural Preservation Specialist, Caroline Gabe, Archaeologist, Rob and Susan Wilson, Michael McDonald, Darla Wyeno, ABC Title, Crowley County Garden Club, and Jim Nelson
