Castle Rock Historical Society
The rhyolite structures of Castle Rock, Colorado have been a source of pride in this western community for over six generations.
Rhyolite, a distinctive type of building stone, formed over 35 million years as volcanic ash fell over this portion of the Southern Rocky Mountain Front Range. In the 19th century pioneers mined the local mesas and buttes, railroads hauled the pink and grey rocks, and businesses prospered in the town at the base of its namesake landmark. Castle Rock's first structure made out of rhyolite was the Denver and Rio Grande railroad depot built in 1875 and today utilized as the town's museum. Over the next thirty years a church, hotel, school and several residents went up all sheathed in the signature stone.
The most famous rhyolite building was the once regal Douglas County Courthouse that towered over the town for eight decades until a devastating fire destroyed it on the night of March 11th, 1978. Today only a small percentage of residents can claim they were here when the Courthouse burned. Across the street stood another witness to the shattering event, a sister rhyolite structure still stands on the northwest corner of Wilcox and Third Street.
From 1904 to 1933 the two-story building served the community as the First National Bank of Douglas County. Since then the local chapter of Freemasons has owned the once proud institution. The Masonic Lodge building represents over one hundred years of rich Douglas County history. It is an important icon in Downtown Castle Rock, displaying Castle Rock's unique building stone in a style that makes residents and visitors alike stand up and take notice. It is important to the banking history of our county and has provided a meeting place for the Masons for over a hundred years, as well as a gathering place for citizens from all walks of life.
Many Douglas County families have fond memories of taking small, freezing children inside its doors to find warmth and hot chocolate during the Christmas Season's Starlighting Ceremonies. This is a building that is truly worth preserving for the use and enjoyment of future generations and as an important connection to the town's past. A western past uniquely defined around the rhyolite quarrying and construction industry of the 19th century.
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