‘The Centennial morn’: How Colorado rang in 1876, the year of its statehood

‘The Centennial morn’: How Colorado rang in 1876, the year of its statehood

A detail from the front page of the Jan. 1, 1876, edition of the Daily Rocky Mountain News. (Image courtesy of the Colorado Historic Newspapers Collection, Colorado State Library)At the Denver Theater, the Ladies’ Relief Society passed out New Year’s gifts to poor children. There were well-attended “hops” at Guard Hall and the Inter-Ocean Hotel. At midnight, as bells rang out in celebration of the nation’s Centennial, the men of the J.E. Bates …