Just in time for Juneteenth, History Colorado opened its updated exhibit on Lincoln Hills, one of the country’s first mountain resorts for the Black community. The refreshed exhibit features six new oral histories told by visitors of the former resort, as well as photographs and keepsakes. Here’s a primer on the outdoor vacation spot’s unique story:
How the Resort Came To Be
The Lincoln Hills Country Club first opened in 1922 as a haven for Black people looking to recreate and vacation in the mountains during a time when many resorts were segregated and only allowed white patrons. The outdoor retreat is located along the South Boulder River near Pinecliff and Rollinsville.
In 1925, Obrey Wendell “Winks” Hamlet and William Pitts began building the country club out, constructing the Winks Lodge and several cabins, which would later house celebrities and activists like Duke Ellington, Lena Horne, Zora Neale Hurston, and Langston Hughes.
From the early 1920s to 1945, the resort was also home to an all-girls summer camp called Camp Nizhoni.
The Lincoln Hills of Today
Though the Lincoln Hills Country Club closed in 1965, local nonprofit Lincoln Hills Cares still carries on the legacy by hosting outdoor education and recreation programs for youth and families, particularly those in Denver’s underserved neighborhoods.
Today, the land is owned by Colorado businessmen and philanthropists Robert Smith and Matthew Burkett, who are founders of Lincoln Hills Cares and the Lincoln Hills Fly Fishing Club, an invite-only recreational club separate from the nonprofit.
In 2023, U.S. Secretary of Interior Deb Haaland designated the Winks Panorama Lodge a National Historic Landmark. The effort to restore and preserve the lodge is ongoing.
Want to know more about Lincoln Hills? Listen to our episode with documentarian donnie l. betts and retired judge Gary Jackson, who speak about their connections to the historic resort.
Special thanks to History Colorado, Lincoln Hills Cares, Westword, and Denver 7 for their reporting and additional resources on this topic.
