October 27, 2009 is the 150th anniversary of a town that is now a ghost but which history haunts us today. Mt. Vernon was founded in the gold rush at the entrance of the canyon that would quickly be named after it on October 27, 1859. Spearheaded by the Baptist minister Joseph Casto, it was named for the beloved estate of George Washington by fellow town dweller Robert Williamson Steele. Steele himself would become known as the "Father of Colorado", being the popularly elected Governor of the provisional Jefferson Territory, organized in the gold rush region in lieu of federal recognition of this place. George Morrison, a stonecutter from Montreal, came here in 1860 and built the stout stone Mt. Vernon House, which quickly became the unofficial center of town as a stage stop. hotel, post office, and more. The Jefferson Territorial legislature was known to meet in its main room. This government first founded Jefferson County on November 28, 1859, along with Arapahoe and others. Mt. Vernon grew to include other hotels, a school, church and businesses, all catering to the gold miners eagerly pushing their way up the canyon into the mountains. The town languished during the Civil War, but Casto led a revival afterward. The Mt. Vernon House came to the ownership of William Mathews, a widower with 13 children who soon brought a new bride straight from England, who reportedly hid under the bed at the sight of the large number of curious Ute Indians who came to see the bride from across the sea! She stayed and their family grew to 22 children, singlehandedly keeping the Mt. Vernon School running, and they remained while the rest of the town faded away. Today Mathews-Winters Park is named for them, and nearby Morrison is named after the stonecutter who went on to prominence in his trade there, while Steele has been enshrined in the Jefferson County Hall of Fame. The Mt. Vernon House, still standing today, was named Jefferson County's first landmark listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1970.

To read more on the history of Mt. Vernon, go see its online sesquicentennial exhibit at http://gardnerhistory.com/sesquicentennialstories/mtvernon .