Since 1981, the Jefferson County Recreation Park in Boulder, home to the annual county fair and rodeo this week and weekend, has played host to dozens of other events and groups throughout year, including long-distance cyclists, RV campers, weddings, concerts, meetings, elections, proms, holiday observances and youth events. The facility is well used and frequently improved in recent years, and Jefferson County is eyeing further expansions—but it wasn’t always that way. After serving a very different public purpose for most of the 20th century, what is now the Recreation Park was once a ramshackle former ranch succumbing to the elements after being disused by the state. An enterprising group of Boulder residents pushed a reluctant county government to lease the property from the state and let them begin to clean and restore it, largely themselves but aided by county and state funds. The group worked with the county to eventually acquire the property from the state and build it into the facility that is bustling with people and animals today.
The Boulder Monitor reached out to a few members of the original Fair Board to hear their thoughts and memories on the efforts that created the Jefferson County Recreation Park. The following history of the park contains reflections from board members. Terry Minow has served as chair of the Fair Board since its creation, and Alice Rieder and Dixie Rennie were on the original board with her. Historical information was drawn from “Jefferson County Recreation Park History,” compiled by original board member Marilyn McCauley in 2018. She compiled the history from land records, excerpts from The Boulder Monitor and Whitehall Ledger newspapers, the Montana State Training School’s historical records, and “Boulder: Its Friends and Neighbors” by Olive Hagadone.
Beginning in 1886 and continuing through the better part of the 20th century, various state institutions for physically and mentally disabled Montanans were established and expanded on land just south of Boulder along both sides of the Boulder River. Before that, in 1882, Avery Belcher began working land just south of that state land. S.F. Tuttle purchased the ranch in 1901, after he was elected county treasurer. The state bought the ranch from Tuttle in 1908—by then, many buildings and other improvements were 20 years old and dilapidated.
By the end of 1914, a slaughterhouse, refrigeration plant and horse barn had been constructed, and by 1924 the ranch was expanded with, among other improvements, the construction of a dormitory and the acquisition of the adjoining Merrill ranch. Throughout the beginning and middle of the 20th century, residents from state institutions nearby worked the ranch, maintaining the facility, growing crops and sustaining a herd of cattle.
Deinstitutionalization accelerated through the latter half of the 20th century, and the state ceased ranch operations in 1971. The property then sat vacant for a decade, falling prey to vandalism and the harsh Montana elements. But a group of county residents envisioned a new life for the property and lobbied the county to help put the land to use as a fairground and rodeo arena. In March 1981, Jefferson County penned a lease with the state Department of Institutions to use the property, and the county used a state grant to build restrooms, a picnic area and an arena, and to improve fencing and landscaping. The first rodeo was held at the new Jefferson County Recreation Park in August 1981. But the facility still showed signs of its previous vacancy and neglect—a lot of work remained to be done.
Alice Rieder: It was a real struggle to get a fair and rodeo grounds in Boulder. There were a lot of people who opposed it.
Dixie Rennie:Some of the leaders and other interested members of the community got a lot of pushback from some of the local citizens and some from the south end of the county—and commissioners—that they did not support our efforts in trying to get this off the ground for a future fairgrounds. But with the help of others and a lot of footwork, it became a reality.
The Jefferson County Fair Board was established in 1983, and the board worked with the then-new Boulder Rodeo Association to hold the first official Jefferson County Fair and Boulder Rodeo, Aug. 24–26, 1984, making use of recently cleaned buildings on the property.
Alice Rieder:We finally made it, so the 4-H kids went to work cleaning up the loafing barn and other outbuildings, and hauling garbage to the dump. Finally, the fair came to town, so the 4-H kids gathered the animals and projects that they had left after going to the Twin Bridges fair to make it look like a fair [in Boulder]. We had kids eating watermelon that didn’t even like watermelon.
Dixie Rennie:The Jefferson County 4-H Club decided to help with getting the livestock buildings cleaned out as a club project—some of the members were the Rieders, Giulios, Murphys and Rennies.
Terry Minow:The early days of the Fair Board were concentrated on refurbishing the buildings. They were full of old bed frames and other discarded materials from the Boulder River School. Volunteers spent many hours hauling stuff to the dump and shoveling out old straw and debris from the barns. Most of the windows were broken out of the buildings. The first building that was refurbished was the Red Barn, which was cleaned out by the Square Dance Club. It was called the Square Dance Barn for years. All of the indoor fair exhibits were in the Square Dance Barn for the first few years of the fair. It was quite a challenge, taking buildings that were abandoned and making them usable for the fair and other events.
The Fair Board assumed full management of the recreation park in 1988, and in 1995 the board and the Boulder Fire Department acquired and moved the Boulder River Carousel to the park. As the property moved into the 2000s, more facilities were in disrepair and some were replaced. Many needed expansions or improvements, but funding was a constant challenge.
Terry Minow:Many volunteers have stepped up during the years to put in the hard work needed to rebuild the facilities. County businesses have stepped up too, donating materials, bidding on baked goods at the auction and providing funding for the rodeo. We are grateful for their generosity.
In 2005, the state transferred ownership of the park to Jefferson County, paving the way for improvements including modern restrooms and a kitchen area. Further improvements have been made since then, and continue through today, including a large meeting and events space in Volunteer Hall that is equipped with video and audio equipment for remote meetings.
Terry Minow:It took persistence and the help of many [people] to get the state to transfer ownership to the county. Before that, the Fair Board was operating on faith that the state wouldn’t change its mind and take back the grounds with all the improvements we had made.
The Jefferson County Recreation Park continues today as the events centerpiece of Boulder and the northern portion of Jefferson County, hosting a wide variety of events, indoors and outdoors, throughout the year.
Alice Rieder:In the end it was all worth it.
Dixie Rennie:I would really like to thank all the believers and dedicated hard-workers over the years.
Terry Minow: It has been wonderful to see the community come together to build the fairgrounds into a community center. Many people and groups working together have made the fairgrounds a great all-purpose facility. I am proud that we have beautiful facilities that are used year-round for all kinds of events and celebrations. We continue to need volunteers to help during the fair and throughout the year. We hope the fair continues to be a highlight for our community.
Editor’s note: Because of a typographical error, a previous version of this story incorrectly stated the year when state institutions were first established south of Boulder. It was 1886, not 1986. The story has been corrected.
