COLORADO BUSINESS HALL OF FAME
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    • 2025
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  • Laureates By Name
  • Laureates by Year
    • 2025
  • Supporters
  • Junior Achievement
  • PBS Specials
  • Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce
  • Nomination Form

General William Jackson Palmer

William Jackson Palmer was born to a Quaker family in Delaware on September 17, 1836. As a young boy, Palmer was fascinated by trains. Later, Palmer went on to work for the Pennsylvania Railroad and learned all he could about the railroad industry and railroad engineering. Palmer was one of the earliest proponents of utilizing coal rather than wood to power locomotive engines, and the Pennsylvania Railroad became the first to switch to coal.

As a Quaker, Palmer disapproved of violence. However, he also believed in ending slavery and served as a general in the Civil War. After earning a Medal of Honor after the Civil War, Palmer joined the Kansas Pacific Railroad. In August 1870, under Palmer’s direction and guidance, the Kansas Pacific Railroad reached Denver, CO. Soon after, Palmer founded his own railroad company, the Denver & Rio Grande Western Railroad, with his friend, Dr. William Bell. Seeing an opportunity, Palmer promoted connecting Denver via railroad to the Pikes Peak area, the heart of mining at the time.

Palmer married Mary Lincoln (Queen) Mellen in 1870, and on their honeymoon in the British Isles, Palmer saw a narrow-gauge railroad. A narrow gauge is cheaper to build, can make sharper turns, and climb steeper slopes. Palmer realized that by using narrow-gauge technology, his railroad could more efficiently navigate through the mountains. Today, two sections remain of the narrow-gauge rail: the 45-mile track between Durango and Silverton and a 63-mile track between Cumbres and Toltec.

Palmer retired to Colorado Springs, a city that he helped found. A great benefactor, he helped to establish the Colorado School for the Deaf and Blind, a tuberculosis hospital, and the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs. He died on March 13, 1909, at age 72.
The Colorado Business Hall of Fame is co-presented by
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Videos produced by Becky Holden of Biography Media, [email protected]