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Books of Colorado History

Stroll
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a stroll through Elmwood: BRIGHTON'S STORIES TOLD IN STONE

by Robin Kring

KINDLE $15.95
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0FHGJ9VZQ

PAPERBACK $19.95
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BQXYK655

HARDCOVER $39.95
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BFVRM2GQ

(2022-2024) 193 pgs. Stroll through Elmwood Cemetery with this graveside or (virtual) bedside self-guided tour. “Meet” a Colorado town’s most intriguing and not-to-be-forgotten figures! Enveloped with history, mystery, and intrigue, this book is sure to delight both experienced and novice tombstone tourists. Filled with 20+ stories and over 150 photos from beyond the grave, these strolls remind us that rich or poor, famed or forgotten—everyone’s life is worth remembering and has a story to tell.

        Contains detailed directions and maps (as well as interactive GPS/QR code technology) to help you find each site. Extra cemetery miscellany enhances the tour experience: Elmwood Cemetery History; a Tombstone Tourist Guide to Hidden Symbolism (based on the Victorian secret language of flowers and other cemetery art symbology); and a Glossary of Memorial Architecture.
      The intriguing and not-to-be-forgotten stories include: Barker (Son of Ma Barker outlaw clan and his wife Jennie* that shot him); The Schell twins (Adventure-loving boys tragically drowned); Fagans (a favorite Henderson Elementary principal and his devoted wife); Cunninghams (Creator of the 1st Brighton kindergarten and WWII Navy veteran); Leffingwells (Proprietor of Leffingwell Mercantile and mercantile proprietress) and his horse Rowdy; (Frank A.) Aichelman (Second-generation pioneer Family); Strong (1st permanent merchant, north-area developer, and early town leader, and his Ladies-Aid-Society wife); Carmichael* ("Father of Brighton" and major town developer, and his wife once credited with naming the city — and the other "Alice" that most likely did); WICKHORST and (Karl) STOLZ (Prosperous cattle-ranching family, and grandson of both Stolz and Wickhorst pioneers; Bromley (Prominent rancher popularly known as the "Father of Adams County" and his prize-winning equestrian wife; Allen (Daughter of prominent Bromley Ranch family and 1st family historian); (Pioneer) Aichelman (a "59-er" gold miner; (John and Namesakes) Stolz (Bull-train-arriving pioneer and his dairy-farm legacy; Bergman (Swedish homesteader, community leader, and Brighton park namesake); Murray (Early Barr City pioneer and centennial farm founder). .

 

*Please note: Although the stories shared in Elmwood's First Annual Cemetery Walk are included, the grave site of Daniel Carmichael and Jennie Barker are not located at Elmwood cemetery.

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One Town's Memories of Our Sugar Beet Days and Great Western Sugar Factory 

Colorado's "Sugar Sweet" Times: 

by Robin Kring

A collection of stories and photos shared by one town’s fond memories of their roots in an almost forgotten Colorado industry. Colorado’s “White Gold”—the sugar beet—once produced more money for the state than the more well-known silver of its mining industry. Local historian and author Robin Kring aka “The Yesteryear Detective” takes readers on a sleuthing investigation to into the “sugar sweet" times the sugar beet brought to Colorado’s rural communities, including their very personal relationship with the Great Western Sugar Company (GWS) and the “fall of the house of sugar.” The book includes up-to-date information on preservation efforts to save a sense of place for each of the 13 abandoned Colorado GWS factories, including a final update on "Colorado’s Most Endangered Places — Brighton GWS factory” (Colorado Preservation, Inc.) team project.

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Memories of our Sugar Beet Days and Great Western Sugar Factory

Brighton's "Sugar Sweet" Times: 

by Robin Kring

Currently available as E-book or PDF $25.00

​CONTACT US TO ORDER

(2015) 36 pgs. Inspired by the very personal connection between Brighton's sugar beet farming and Great Western Sugar Company days, local historian and writer, Robin Kring, has collected stories and photos from several community members to create a snapshot of their proud history.

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“These stories of our sugar beet days represent a small-town community spirit that still lives on today and gives both original and new residents a sense of belonging,” says Kring. “Many of those living here have fond stories of working at the Great Western Sugar (GWS) Company factory (or know someone who did) at one time or another. Sugar beet growers and their families warmheartedly recall with pride their roots in Brighton’s history. All fondly talk of the GWS factory like a personal friend and share a spirit of recognition to the sugar sweet times that established Brighton as an agricultural hub responsible for the community’s economic opportunities.”

 

      

​The 36-page publication contains memories and photos of Brighton’s sugar beet days, a saving treasured-places overview, fun sugar-beet facts, and several “sugar-sweet” recipes made with GW sugar.

Memories of our Sugar Beet Days and Great Western Sugar Company

Brighton's "Sugar Sweet" Times: 

Books of Victoriana

Victoriana
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The Secret Love Language 

of the Victorian Fan

by Robin Kring

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(2026) XX pgs. A fascinating look into a secret messaging shared by Victorians in the parlor/ballroom, using hand fans, A discreet positioning the fan, in various gestures, enabled a secret courting communication within the confines of yesteryear's highly restrictive rules of etiquette.  The fascinating history of the hand fan is shared, as a handy fan-language reference to help you flutter your own secret hand signals.

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The Victorian Decorum of Visiting Cards

an investigation into the mysterious manners of yesteryear

by Robin Kring

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(2026) XX pgs. What was the secret meaning behind the ever-changing border width on Mourning Visiting Cards? What did the secret language of various folds on a card signal? And, why was the Victorian Entry Hall considered a “silent monitor of access?” An investigation inside the mysterious manners of yesteryear by the Yesteryear Detective answers these questions and more.

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Superstitions & Mourning Customs of the Victorian Widow

by Robin Kring

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(2026) XX pgs.​​ The Yesteryear Detective investigates Victorian mourning customs.  Morbid or comforting? Their worst fear of death wasn’t death itself, but the fear of not being properly mourned. Queen Victoria mourned her beloved Prince Albert 40 years of her 60-year reign. Wearing widow's mourning clothing and sleeping next to Prince Albert bed clothes and a plaster cast of his hand, were only a few of the strict rituals she imposed on her household. Discover how this influenced the strict rules of mourning, which were practiced by the Victorians throughout her reign—with some still existing today. Investigate some of their common superstitions of death, such as the fear of being buried alive and eating funeral cakes to "eat away the deceased sins."  

Cemetery Chats

Books of Cemetery Chats

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A Tombstone Trekker's Guide
to Hidden Symbolism

by Robin Kring

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(2026) XX pgs.​​ Have you ever paused to listen closer to what else the tombstone is telling you through its hidden symbolism? Take a virtual trek through the cemetery with local author and historian, Robin Kring, and discover how to decipher the secret messages embedded in a stone’s engravings and shapes. Examine the language of comfort, tribute, and even warning of the tombstone’s imagery, and learn to discern the more mysterious customs of graveyard art and design.

Miscellany

Books of Yesteryear Miscellany

Join The Yesteryear Detective in investigating clues into more stories of yesteryear's mystery and intrigue. Coming soon.

Clear Creek Publishing

P.O. Box 314,  Brighton, Colorado 80601

©2022-2026 by Clear Creek Publishing.  

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