Elizabeth Hickok Robbins stone
In 1862, Elizabeth Hickok Robbins Stone and her second husband, Lewis, packed up their covered wagon and made the move from Minnesota to Colorado, traveling down the South Platte River. After spending two years in Denver operating a restaurant and hotel in what is currently Union Station, they relocated north to Camp Collins, where she played a major role in developing the city we know today as Fort Collins. She is recognized as the only woman founder of the city.
After arriving at Camp Collins in 1864, which was an outpost of the U.S. Army used to protect the Overland Trail from attacks by Native Americans, Stone was given permission to build a two-story house, which served as the officer's quarters and lodging. Within the first month, the building was able to bring in additional officers and be used as a dining hall. Stone was the only woman in town during her first year at Camp Collins, and because of her kind heart and merriness, she was nicknamed “Auntie Stone” by the officers.
Stone had a lot going on over the next few years. Lewis passed away in 1866, and the following year the Army decommissioned Camp Collins. Instead of demolishing the building, Stone turned the property into a two-story hotel called the Pioneer Cabin. This was just the beginning of her lodging work; she built the Cottage House a few years later where she ran a hotel, and in 1873 she bought the Blake House Hotel and renamed it the Metropolitan Hotel. On top of her involvement with multiple hotels, she had the idea to build the first mill in the city, which was the city’s tallest building at the time, and she operated the region’s first brick kiln in her brick-making business, which she established after visualizing the possible destruction of a fire destroying all of the city’s wooden structures.
On Stone’s 81st birthday, four generations of her family held a birthday party in her honor. Legend has it that she danced until 5 a.m. and then went home to make breakfast for her guests. She then continued dancing for the next five years. An advocate for women’s suffrage, Stone cast her first vote at the age of 93, two years before she passed away in 1895.
After arriving at Camp Collins in 1864, which was an outpost of the U.S. Army used to protect the Overland Trail from attacks by Native Americans, Stone was given permission to build a two-story house, which served as the officer's quarters and lodging. Within the first month, the building was able to bring in additional officers and be used as a dining hall. Stone was the only woman in town during her first year at Camp Collins, and because of her kind heart and merriness, she was nicknamed “Auntie Stone” by the officers.
Stone had a lot going on over the next few years. Lewis passed away in 1866, and the following year the Army decommissioned Camp Collins. Instead of demolishing the building, Stone turned the property into a two-story hotel called the Pioneer Cabin. This was just the beginning of her lodging work; she built the Cottage House a few years later where she ran a hotel, and in 1873 she bought the Blake House Hotel and renamed it the Metropolitan Hotel. On top of her involvement with multiple hotels, she had the idea to build the first mill in the city, which was the city’s tallest building at the time, and she operated the region’s first brick kiln in her brick-making business, which she established after visualizing the possible destruction of a fire destroying all of the city’s wooden structures.
On Stone’s 81st birthday, four generations of her family held a birthday party in her honor. Legend has it that she danced until 5 a.m. and then went home to make breakfast for her guests. She then continued dancing for the next five years. An advocate for women’s suffrage, Stone cast her first vote at the age of 93, two years before she passed away in 1895.