 Before it was claimed as Spanish territory
in the mid-1500s, our Highlands Ranch community was a prime hunting area
for the Ute, Cheyenne, and Arapaho Indians.
The territory passed back
and forth between Spain and France until Napoleon sold it to the United
States as part of the Louisiana Purchase of 1803.
Some of the visitors who homesteaded or passed through portions of the
land included: David Gregory, the first person to actually live on land
now recognized as Highlands Ranch; Lewis Wales Cleveland, the cousin of
President Grover Cleveland; John W. Springer, a descendant of the russian
czar; Johanne Welte and Plazidus Gassner, owners of a ranch that made brick
and Limburger cheeses; and Rufus H. Clark – ol’ Dad Clark himself!
 In 1859, Dad Clark filed a 160-acre homestead on the site of today’s
Highlands Ranch Golf Club. At the time, Colorado farmers had great success
growing potato crops and Rufus decided to try his hand at it.
His first
harvest was so abundant
that he became known as Colorado's “Potato
King”. A caring philanthropist, he donated 80 acres of land and
$500
to a Methodist college, which later became the University of Denver at
University Park. He also sold some of his land to the City of Denver to
start Jewell Park and later Overland Park.
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From 1891 to 1904, the first phase of the Highlands Ranch Mansion, originally
called Castle Isabel, was built. Around that same time, property owner
John Springer purchased additional land, bringing his total holdings to
23,000 acres. The acreage changed hands several more times until 1937,
when Lawrence C. Phipps, Jr., son of a U.S. Senator from Colorado, bought
it for cattle ranching.
 After Phipps' death, the property was owned briefly by Highland Ventures
and then by Mission Viejo Company in 1978. In 1981, the Phil and Kaye Scott
family led a group of "pioneer" homeowners to the Highlands Ranch
we know today, where homes were built and districts were created.
A new
era of ownership was heralded in August 1997 as Shea Homes purchased the
property and began the vital community we enjoy today!
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