Colorado Day, August 1. Now, the 150 years that led here.
It did not come easy.
The land held 51 nations before it held a name.
Five tries. Two vetoes. Seventeen years of being told no.
Colorado was refused statehood in 1859, 1864, 1865, 1866, and 1870 before it finally stuck.
Then 137 Black Coloradans refused a constitution that erased them. The next one didn't.
Their petition helped block an unjust constitution. The 1876 version granted Black men the vote.
It was written in three languages.English
Spanish
German
Spanish
German
AUGUST 1, 1876
38
The 38th star.
1893. The first state to give women the vote by the people's own hand.
A year later, three Coloradans became the first women elected to any statehouse in the country.
They call it the Centennial State. Born one hundred years after the country.
150 + 100 = 250.
Colorado's 150th and America's 250th fall in the same year. It will not happen again.
Which brings us here.
Sunup to 150.
From an 1876 night to a 2026 afternoon, the whole story lands in one Saturday in Commons Park. The 38th star, then 150 years of people who kept building here.