What we know

Where the Huntsville post office was when it became Larkspur. In 1869 it was William Crull's office in Sec. 16, T9S R67W (the Crull-Hammond cabin area); William J. Thompson became postmaster on Feb. 6, 1871 (Jackson, 1964, via S-0123), and by November the office was at his place in Sec. 8, T10S R67W, in the Stone Canyon country about three miles southwest of today's Larkspur. On Dec. 13, 1871 it moved to the railroad as Larkspur, with Robert E. Sloan as postmaster; H. P. Bennet endorsed the change (S-0113).

Where it was

Sec. 8, T10S R67W: the 'Huntsville P.O.' dot on the diagram with Larkspur's application, Denver, Nov. 29, 1871 (M1126-073-0665, image read 2026-10-07), placed by its grid (second row, second column of the township south of Larkspur's); Bauer reads the same sketch as NW1/4 Sec. 8 (via S-0123). Center of the section, from the BLM PLSS grid; good to about half a mile. Larkspur's application of Nov. 8, 1871: the office 'left out by this change' is Huntsville, 'three' miles 'S & W' of the new site (M1126-073-0664). The 1869 Glen Grove diagram marks 'W. Thompson' in the north row of the same township (M1126-073-0631).

Placed from a written description, such as a land section, a distance from a landmark or an old survey note.

See it on the map

Sources

S-0044: Books to borrow on the Internet Archive (controlled lending, in copyright; catalog records in archive/railroads/catalog/IN-COPYRIGHT-CATALOG.tsv)
S-0113: U.S. Post Office Department, Reports of Site Locations, 1837–1950 (NARA microfilm M1126), Colorado rolls 73 and 74: Douglas, Elbert and El Paso counties
S-0120: Bureau of Land Management, National Public Land Survey System (PLSS) data: CadNSDI section and quarter-section polygons, Colorado
S-0123: Douglas County Historic Resource Map (Douglas County Community Planning and Sustainable Development, the Douglas County History Research Center of Douglas County Libraries, and the Douglas County Historic Preservation Board, 2012), as put on Google Maps and Google Earth by the Larkspur Historical Society

Sources are named in the text above. Numbers such as S-0080 refer to our source list. Most newspaper quotations were read in the Colorado Historic Newspapers Collection. Long quotations from recent books are shortened here.

Know more about Huntsville post office (1871)?

Corrections, family stories, photographs, deeds, letters and maps are all welcome. Messages and files come to Michael Christensen privately; nothing appears on the site until it has been checked, and you'll be credited the way you ask.