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Weldona Colorado Townsite - Ghost town

Photos courtesy of Mike Sinnwell 2005

Nice Church and a couple buildings I would have loved to get into. No one around so that will have to wait for another time. Just a short distance west of town is a nude beach. Took some photos but they are x rated so I can't post them for you.

A reader writes - Thanks for the pictures. Well done. I grew up in Weldona and had relatives in Orchard. Sorry to see that the church burned down. My grandfather had a grocery store in Orchard in the 1920s.

A viewer writes - I found your website when I did a search for Weldona, Colorado. My family is a little disappointed in your website because we are the founders of the "nude beach" and the pictures we have are not that bad. Our annual nude beach party is a community celebration for people to gather and have fun.  We have a Cajon boil and the kids play games such as volleyball and at the end of the night we have a bon fire and roast marshmallows.  We started the nude beach as a joke because we have a recharge pond and when we built it there was not enough water to put into the pond. So there fore it is a nude beach, no one is actually nude.  We found it interesting that our nude beach party was on a website but I though you needed more information on the topic.

A viewer writes - Hi, I thought I would give you the information about the  Fourth Annual Nude Beach Party. It will be Friday May 9th 2008 and starts about 5:30 or so. This years theme is Think Pink for Patty, Patty is a friend of the family that was treated for breast cancer and has had a reoccurrence in the last couple of months. She is a local girl that is loved dearly! It would be great if you and your family could attend. Its a great time to gather and relax! Hope to see you there. Cindy and Foy Chapin

A viewer writes - Wednesday April 4th 2012 -- I enjoy your site. I grew up in Weldona. The building behind the Catholic Church was the old Union Pacific RR depot. Alas, there were no nude beaches when I was growing up.  tmall1934@gmail.com

A viewer writes - Monday, May 28, 2012 -- Re: Martha Kennish.  -  Interesting that she elicited the comment of being a character out of the book Centennial. I like that. You probably know Orchard, Co., was used as the town of Centennial to film the series. Other parts were filmed around Jackson Lake and north of Weldona. Anyway Martha and her husband William Kennish owned a grocery store in Orchard.  

Martha married William Kennish on 6 Oct. 1909. They had four children, twenty grandchildren and at my count 41 great-grandchildren.   

I can't for the life of me figure why she would give the impression, let alone say that she was of Welsh heritage. Kennish is not Welsh it is Manx. My great-grandfather Robert Kennish was from the Isle of Man. Martha was born to Frank N. Harshman and Laura E. Bullard on May 16, 1889. She died on May 15,1984.

I truly loved my grandmother, who had a tremendous influence on me. She started me on my hobby of genealogy with stories of her family, etc. The stories told by her are pretty well documented and I now that everybody in the family, including her, is aware that the Kennish heritage is Manx.

Martha was a very complex person. She was estranged from most in her family, including her siblings, children and descendents much of her life.   

When the depression hit she and my grandfather lost everything they owned except for one farm, which we called the home place, at Wiggins, Co. MK went to Denver and worked as a maid and caretaker for a widower with seven children, to help pay the mortgage on the farm. This happened before I was born.   

Their marriage was contentious to say the least. When she demanded settlement of the farm, I asked my grandad why they didn't just divorce and settle it, he replied, "Your grandmother doesn't believe in divorce, she's Catholic." When I pointed out that he wasn't, he filed. She became furious with me for suggesting that they get divorced. She tore up the divorce papers when they were served on her by the Gilpin County Sheriff. She never spoke to me again, until the day my mother died. They never divorced, but never lived together after I was born (1934).   MK's life style was self chosen, i.e. lack of modern conveniences.

I think I understand her better than most of the family. She was extremely kind to strangers, but was cold towards most of her family. She demanded more of her family members than others. It was never a financial demand but she held them to her moral standards, which I believe were quite high. She was extremely judgmental and seldom acknowledged, let alone praised anyone's accomplishments in her family.  

She is the only person I have known who could walk into an empty room and start a fight.  -Tom

A viewer writes - Sunday, August 12, 2012  - Looking for information regarding the Saunier Farm across the railroad tracks in Weldona Colo.  Also information of the Presbyterian Church of Weldona, Co. shown in Photos on this web site.  Some of my family donated the Stained Glass window shown in the pictures above.  Would be interested in knowing what happened to that window and or the church in the city of Weldona. Please contact me at jeffrey_saunier@att.net.  Thank you