The Roundhouse 
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The Hugo Roundhouse, c. 2001
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Constructed in 1909, the Hugo Union Pacific Railroad Roundhouse is one of only three remaining from the original pre-merger Union Pacific Railroad, with this being the only one in Colorado. It's one of only five historic roundhouses left in Colorado and the only one associated with the Union Pacific Railroad. It's also the only surviving brick roundhouse in the state and one of the most significant historical sites on Colorado's Central Plains.
The roundhouse was built to service the early engines on the Kansas-Pacific Railroad and was one of several serving the Hugo Division Point for the Kansas-Pacific. It was a major part of this division point from 1909 through the early 1950's, serving both the Kansas-Pacific Railroad and the Union Pacific Railroad. The roundhouse served the growing passenger and commerce transportation across the plains and was a major source of employment for the town of Hugo.
The Hugo Union Pacific Railroad roundhouse is both architecturally and historically significant. Architecturally, it's an exceptional and rare surviving example of roundhouse design and construction and it has not had any of the original eight stalls removed. Further, the building possesses a high degree of architectural integrity due to its limited amount of disfiguring alteration, presenting an appearance today that is not too different from its appearance historically. The roundhouse is historically significant due to its association with the Union Pacific Railroad on the original Kansas-Pacific line in eastern Colorado and the importance of the Union Pacific Railroad in Colorado history is well documented.
A time-line in the development of the
present U. P. Roundhouse in Hugo
1870-Kansas Pacific Railroad track completed to Denver. Hugo designated division point, with a five-stall roundhouse constructed at the southeast end of town. Hugo was the terminal point for all engineers and freight crews. A hotel and eating house were built to serve the rail business, and the town was sustained mainly by the trade of railroad employees.
1882-The Union Pacific built large pens and shearing sheds at Hugo, used for shearing thousands of sheep for many years, with all the wool shipped by rail.
1886-The use of the Hugo rail yards as a cattle market by the big stockmen peaked in this year, with up to 45,000 head driven here for shipment.
Late 1888-1889-Hugo residents heard rumors that the division point would be removed.
April 1889-Lincoln County was created by the Colorado General Assembly, with Hugo becoming the county seat.
February 13, 1890-Union Pacific moved the division point from Hugo to Cheyenne Wells. Crews moved their homes and families to the new terminus, and Hugo merchants believed the railroad had dealt the town a death blow. The fate of the first roundhouse building is unknown.
May 1890-The U. S. Land Office was established at Hugo. Under the Homestead Act, homesteaders could claim 160 acres of land if they could "prove up" on the property over an eight-year period (later reduced to five years).
1890-1907-Hugo subsisted on trade from small stockmen, wool growers, farmers and the county business.
December 1906-J. A. Northrop shipped a carload of wheat to Colorado Springs, the first carload of grain ever shipped from Hugo.
March 1907-Because a new law increased the amount of land that could be homesteaded to 320 acres, settlers began moving to Lincoln County in great numbers. The Hugo U. S. Land Office had 643 land entries this month, the record for any land office in the United States.
1907-New federal law prohibited railroads from working trainmen for shifts of more than 16 hours each. Union Pacific responded by modifying its two divisions between Denver and Ellis, Kansas into three, with the division point to be removed from Cheyenne Wells and two new division points to be created at Hugo and at Sharon Springs, Kansas.
September 1907-The Union Pacific projects moving the division point back to Hugo early in 1908. The first carload of material for a new roundhouse, to be constructed at the west edge of town, arrived.
October 1907-Grading and site preparation began. A bunkhouse and a mess house, each 24'x50' in size, were built. The railroad announced employment of 100 laborers and a proposed expenditure of $100,000 for the new facility, which would include an eight-stall engine house (roundhouse), coaling station, 65,000-gallon water tank, a $17,000 water treatment plant, boiler house, machine shop, a track scale, an 80-foot steam turntable, master mechanic's office, three car repairers' buildings and an ice house, plus five miles of side track.
October 1907-An attempt by a western miner and banker to corner the copper market resulted in several banks and Wall Street brokerage houses going bankrupt. Depositors demanded their money from New York banks. The nation's most severe financial crisis up to that time, the Panic of 1907 had subsided by mid-November, leaving a nationwide recession in its wake.
November 1907-Due to the panic, work was suspended on the roundhouse project, which was 10 percent completed. Building materials continued to arrive, however, including the new steel turntable, designed large enough to handle Pullman coaches.
July 1908-Work resumed on construction of the roundhouse and terminals.
August 1908-Bricklayers began construction of the roundhouse, and a 25-30 member track-laying crew began building sidings at Hugo.
September 1908-A steel crew arrived to begin construction of the new railroad water tank.
October 1908-Excavators for the coal chutes encountered ground water at the roundhouse site.
November 1908-The new U. P. ice house looked like a grain elevator and was the tallest building in Hugo. The turntable was put in place.
December 1908-Workmen laid the block floor in the roundhouse.
January 28, 1909-U. P. engines #1833 and #1836 pulled into the roundhouse, the first of four to be based there.
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U. P. engines #1833 and #1836, the first
two engines in the new roundhouse at Hugo.
--Copied from a 1909 edition of The Range Ledger,
a Hugo, Colorado newspaper
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February 1, 1909-The division point was formally relocated to Hugo, and the roundhouse commenced operations with a crew of 15. The first change of engines took place at 3:55 p.m.
March 2, 1909-Hugo residents hosted a large banquet in the Lincoln County District Court room at the Courthouse in honor of Union Pacific officials and railroad employees upon the opening of the roundhouse. Two hundred persons attended the feast, which lasted from 10 p.m. until 1:30 a.m., and the dance which went on until dawn. John P. Dickinson, receiver of public monies at the U. S. Land Office in Hugo, was one of the main speakers, giving the history of the railroad in Lincoln County. A souvenir of the banquet was the printed menu, which featured a photograph of the new roundhouse and the first two engines to occupy the new building.
April 20, 1909-The citizens of Hugo voted to incorporate the town, by a vote of 70 to 9.
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The Hugo Roundhouse, c. 1920
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Roundhouse operations provided employment for up to 200 persons at any given time, until the mid-1930's. According to Mary Northrop, when her family (the Wheelers) arrived in Hugo in February 1916, housing was scarce due to the roundhouse being "at its best" and employing many men. But, after nearly 40 years of operation, the roundhouse was closed and the turntable was removed c. 1947. The turntable was sent to Sharon Springs, another division point, and was subsequently scrapped.
1951-The Union Pacific sold the roundhouse building to L. E. Dole and Clifford Palmer, who opened a hardware store there. The railroad retained ownership of the land under the roundhouse. The roundhouse building was used by the Prairie Hardware and Implement dealer until the 1970's.
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The Hugo Roundhouse as a hardware store.
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1963-Lafe Dole became the sole owner of the Prairie Hardware and Implement business.
1970-Clifford Palmer purchased the roundhouse building at a tax sale.
1974-Lafe Dole regained possession of the building, then sold it to Merlyn Stum, who used the building for storage.
December 1, 1994-A State Historical Fund grant application was submitted by Robert D. Holland, seeking $5,000 to complete an architectural evaluation of the building and to apply for historic site designation. The grant was to be matched with $1,000 in other funds. Ultimately, Mr. Holland hoped to develop the roundhouse into a museum, art gallery and visitor center.
August 22, 1995-Robert D. Holland prepared an application to the Colorado Historical Society seeking addition of the roundhouse to the State Register of Historic Properties.
October 10, 1995-Parkhurst Heavener, Inc. and Baldry Associates, Architects & Planners, submitted the preliminary investigative report for the roundhouse.
April 17, 1996-Robert Parkhurst, Consulting Structural Engineer, and Baldry Associates, Architects & Planners, submitted the final investigative report for the roundhouse.
May 30, 1995-Robert D. Holland withdrew his efforts from the roundhouse preservation effort, citing Merlyn Stum's "continued refusal since July of 1995" to cooperate….
July 24, 1996-The Lincoln County Assessor's Office confirmed that the roundhouse building had not been on the property tax rolls since 1987. It was deemed to have no taxable value because it was not a secure building.
November 22, 1996-David Carvey of the East Central Colorado Resource Conservation & Development Council, Inc. (RC&D). prepared an application to the Colorado Historical Society seeking addition of the roundhouse to the State Register of Historic Properties.
May 14, 1997-The roundhouse was placed on the Register of Historic Properties for the State of Colorado.
April 2000-The Union Pacific Railroad Roundhouse at Sterling, CO was razed, leaving Hugo's roundhouse that last of its kind in Colorado. In September 2000, it was reported by Bob Yarger of the Railway Preservation News that the only other roundhouse buildings remaining from the pre-merger UP lines were in Evanston and in Cheyenne,Wyoming.
January 2002-Lincoln County received State Historical Fund grant of $122,297.00, with a local match of $40,767.00.
February 11, 2002-The first meeting of the Roundhouse Preservation, Inc. Board of Directors was held at the Hugo Town Hall. The RPI Articles of Incorporation and Bylaws were approved by the Board.
February 2002-The roundhouse was placed on Colorado Preservation, Inc.'s Most Endangered Historic Places list.
October 23, 2002-Union Pacific deeded the land under the roundhouse to Lincoln County, as a donation.
November 2002-Lincoln County purchased the roundhouse from Merlyn Stum for $40,000.00.
April 2003-Waco Scaffolding completed shoring up the roundhouse roof.
July 22, 2003-The State Economic Development Commission approved the roundhouse project for Enterprise Zone contributions.
October 2003-Rocky Mountain Restoration completed the first phase of the masonry wall stabilization.
May 2004-Roundhouse Preservation, Inc. received a State Historical Fund grant of $15,312, with a local match of $3,828.
October 2004-Roundhouse Preservation, Inc. received notice of approval of a $5,500 grant from the Cooper Clark Foundation, contingent upon approval of the State Historical Fund grant for engineering services for the roundhouse roof.
January 2005-Roundhouse Preservation, Inc. received a State Historical Fund grant of $47,250, with a local match of $6,570. The grant is for engineering services for replacement of the roundhouse roof.
March 2005-Rocky Mountain Restoration completed the second phase of the masonry wall stabilization.
July 2005-Roundhouse Preservation, Inc. received a State Historical fund grant of $123,480 for re-roofing the two north bays of the roundhouse. The local match is $13,720. Work is till in progress to raise the match.
January 2006-Lincoln County received a Transportation Enhancement grant of $346,640 to replace four more bays on the roundhouse. Roundhouse Preservation, Inc. completed the grant application paperwork and is responsible for raising the local match of $86,660.
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The Hugo Union Pacific rail yards, 1916.
--Copied from a 1916 edition of The Range Ledger,
a Hugo, Colorado newspaper
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The Hugo Union Pacific Roundhouse
--Copied from A History of Lincoln County,
Laura Solze Clagett, Editor
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The Hugo Union Pacific Roundhouse, with all bay doors open.
