Page 36 - AreaNewsletters "Mar 2022" issue

Did You Know This About...
Douglas County Sheriff
by Lora Thomas
Douglas County Commissioner and former State Patrol O cer assigned to Castle Rock in the 1980’s
My monthly column didn’t appear in the February issue so I worked to nd an interesting topic for March, and I think we’ve hit real paydirt with the research I’ve found on Douglas County Sheri John Hammond, who served from 1946-1971; the longest tenure of any Douglas County Sheri . Hehasbeendescribedas“largerthanlife”andI’msureyou will agree by the time you get to the end of this story.
John Hammond
But first, another “Castle Rock” Trivia Question:
Who is the Councilwoman who represents District 4? (Answer at the end of this article)
B
orn in 1904 in Iowa, Hammond grew up on his parents’ homestead in Akron, Colorado and as a young man he’d drive cattle from Akron to the Denver stockyards. His family built a ranch in Elizabeth in 1918. Hammond remembered, “When I was in my teens, I drove about 80 head of cattle from Woodland Park to Elizabeth via the Bergen Trail.” In 1926 Hammond moved to Larkspur and he worked with construction crews paving the dirt road which was to become Highway 85. During the winter Hammond would cut chunks of ice o lakes and ponds
to be stored in ice houses and used
by the railroad during the summer. Hammond is described as being a jack-of-all-trades in that he seemed to master any task/activity he tried.
business in 1938 and his interest in law enforcement was piqued when Sheri C.H. “Burt” Lowell appointed him a deputy in 1933.
Hammond had a ranch and raised Broad Breast Bronze Turkeys, and in 1947 he was growing 4000 of them.
John Hammond’s Turkey Farm
In the 1930s he worked in the Larkspur garage for S.H. “Hugh” Buckner,
who later became sheri in Douglas County. Hammond bought out the
March 2022 • Castle Rock “AreaNewsletters” 36
In 1946, he was elected Sheri and relocated his family to Castle Rock. He ran a single-man o ce and didn’t wear a uniform or carry a sidearm until the 1960s. Initially he was paid $50 a month as well as 8 cents a mile for the use of his personal vehicle. He also served as the chief re warden. He had no radio or adequate jail. “We had one little ol’ room for a jail and the oor was dirt,”
CASTLE ROCK HISTORY