MacGregor Ranch celebration of 150 years as a working ranch (history)
MacGregor Ranch is celebrating its 150th anniversary by inviting the community over for an evening of free music, entertainment and good company. — August 23, 2023, Wednesday, 4 to 9 p.m. — Purchase dinner and drinks from food trucks and local breweries, or bring your own picnic dinner. Enjoy dessert provided by the Ranch and You Need Pie! Diner & Bakery. CLICK HERE for more information and ticket.
In operation as a working cattle ranch since 1873 and operating in support of charitable and educational purposes since 1970, MacGregor Ranch has played a key role in Estes Park’s history.
For instance, MacGregor family members were responsible for constructing the first road into the Estes Valley from what is now Lyons, hosting the first post office in the valley, providing produce, dairy, beef, chicken and eggs to townspeople and tourists and donating cattle for Estes Park students’ meals. The ranch also plays a key role in Estes Park’s present and future.
==HISTORY OF RANCH==
MacGregor Ranch is the last remaining working cattle ranch in Estes Park and one of the few sites operating as both a working ranch and youth education center in the northern Colorado area. It is unique in that its historic collection and structures are original to the 1873 homestead family, and its collection is completely intact.
Nestled in the beautiful Black Canyon Creek area of Estes Park, MacGregor Ranch has remained a showplace of early life among settlers and homesteaders in Colorado Territory.
Founded in 1873 by Alexander and Clara MacGregor the Ranch then passed to Donald and Maude and finally, to their only child, Muriel Lurilla MacGregor. She graduated from Colorado universities with multiple degrees. For the subsequent twenty years of Muriel’s life her dedication and sense of family heritage led her to hold onto the Ranch so it could flourish. She died on October 22, 1970, at age 46, leaving the MacGregor Ranch in a trust that has allowed it to be preserved to this day to serve as a working cattle ranch and a youth education center in the heart of the majestic Rocky Mountains.
In 1978, The Muriel L. MacGregor Charitable Trust was formed. In 1983, the Colorado Attorney General’s office was instrumental in actions to further safeguard the site as the National Park Service worked with the Trustees to purchase a conservation easement on the main 1,200 acres of the Ranch. The site is maintained in perpetuity as an example of turn-of-the-century, high-mountain ranching.
The original 1896 ranch house has been in operation as a museum since 1973. All three generations of MacGregors lived on the Ranch; and today, the museum hosts over 7,000 visitors – over half of which are school aged-children.
==Historic Preservation==
The historic MacGregor Ranch was awarded a $252,721 grant from the State Historical Fund. The total cost for the two-year project was $421,566.
MacGregor Ranch received the State Historical Fund Grant to further Historic Preservation and Restoration work on the Agricultural Complex in the MacGregor Ranch Historic District.
The 1221 acre ranch is home to 42 buildings, 28 of which are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. During the grant period, the ranch completed the stabilization and preservation of the eleven-structure complex and expanded the historic interpretation program. The restoration of the Agricultural Complex now offers students a rich story of homesteading history and ranching lifestyles of the late 19th century.
The MacGregor Trust contributed over $168,845 in matching funds and staff time to the project. Milled lumber, sand mixtures for mortars and rocks for foundations – all native to the Ranch, were used in the restoration project in keeping with the methods used during the MacGregor days.
This was the largest single restoration project undertaken by the Ranch. Work on other historic structures and projects on the Ranch have been funded through donations and capital budget planning.
