'The Centennial morn': Colorado celebrates 1876 statehood

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 Fire and Hose Company rang theirs so hard it cracked. […]