Dearfield was a dream of many Black Americans across Colorado, including Oliver Toussaint (O.T.) Jackson. They wanted to create a safe and prosperous place for Black people to settle and farm independently in Colorado, being inspired by Booker T. Washington's Up From Slavery. It was Jackson, messenger to Governor Shafroth, who inevitably bought land and called others to come homestead. Located in Southeastern Weld County, 25 miles East of Greeley, the agricultural colony grew from a few men in 1910 to up to 300 people over the course of two decades. The homesteaders grew their farming community and cultivated 480 acres of plotted land until the Great Depression and the Dust Bowl drove many away from their land and back into the cities. O.T. Jackson and others dreamed of eventually refurbishing Dearfield to its 1920s prominence, but that dream was never realized.
While the townsite itself is largely gone, Dearfield's story remains a symbol of empowerment and success for many African Americans to this day, and is met with ongoing projects to preserve its memory.
Research and writing was completed during a summer internship by Rhianon Hampton in July, 2025. Rhianon is currently working for her Bachelors of Arts in English at Willamette University in Salem, Oregon. She wants to go into a career in the Library Sciences or Public History.
"Amended Dearfield Map," Folder 13, SC57, O.T. Jackson Papers, 1914. https://digarch.unco.edu/amended-map-dearfield-townsite-and-settlement-copy-1.
"What Dearfield's Going to Be." The Denver Star, January 12, 1918 p. 4. https://www.coloradohistoricnewspapers.org/?a=d&d=DSR19180112-01.2.3&e=--1859---1955--en-20--1--img-txIN%7ctxCO%7ctxTA-Dearfield-------0------.
