The Pikes Peak Community Club

By Steve Plutt

October 22, 2024

Divide area residents, ranchers and businesses formed the Pikes Peak Community Club (PPCC) 97 years ago, in 1928, and it is rich in heritage and tradition.

The Pikes Peak Community Club Building in 2024

The club was founded at the top of Ute Pass and the center of Teller County and the names of the first members comprise a list of Teller County pioneers. Names such as Spielman, Turner, Johns, Hammer, Gregory, Colson and others belonged to this Club. Even Green Mountain Falls pioneer Henry Brockhurst was a founding member. Woodland Park’s past mayor, Johnnie Wondergem was also a member of the Club and served as its secretary.

The purpose of the club was to provide a place to conduct dances and other entertainment and recreation for its members.  But also, the Club was organized to be used in numerous events when disasters struck the area or to help unfortunate friends and neighbors in their time of need.

Prior to the existence of an actual community building, the members of the Pikes Peak Community Club met in places like the schoolhouse building, local businesses or private homes. So it didn’t take too long before the members decided that a permanent meeting place was needed. The land was donated by local rancher George Pierce, donations were solicited, and loans were received to build the first community hall. The Grand Opening of the new hall happened on June 15, 1929. They sold 400 tickets at a dollar apiece and a huge celebration took place. In 1930 they incorporated, and all loans were paid off by the end of 1931.

The new Pikes Peak Community Club building became the backbone of not only Divide, but all of Teller County.  It instantly became headquarters for all social events, big and small. This building has hosted weddings and funerals, bridal showers and baby showers. 4-H, Boy Scout and Girl Scout meetings, health fairs, the Divide PTA, Easter Egg Hunts,

Pancake breakfasts and many church functions have been held here. VFW Post 6051 would meet here, and on and on. It has been a polling place for decades. The Pikes Peak Community Club even hosted the Teller County Fair for several years. This hall was also the home of the Divide Volunteer Fire Department and the Teller County Search and Rescue.

In 1938, PPCC was the meeting place where all the plans to bring electricity to Divide were formulated and discussed. The Home Demonstration Clubs of Teller County held meetings here on a regular basis in the 1940s.

When World War II ended, this hall was where returning servicemen were honored with “Welcome Home” dances and celebrations in 1945. In the 1960s, Christmas presents were wrapped right here and sent to Viet Nam Service men and women.

For years, a twice a month bingo game was played here which paid for the upkeep and maintenance of the building. And not to forget the many barbeques, dances and ice cream socials held here.

As for me, I recall attending many country western dances here in the 1960s.

The inside of this building was alive with Country Western bands that some of us long time residents will always remember such as Jack Sparks and his Midwesterners or George Duncan and the Moonlighters. But dances of all types happened here, including the jitter bug and square dancing. The square dances were usually called by my family's friend and longtime Divide resident, Frank McCumber, who also served as the PPCC Club President. Frank and his wife Agnes first joined the club in 1942. Agnes’ parents were club members as well.

No alcohol was allowed inside of this building, so the parking lot was always full of men, young and old, tilting bottles and drinking beer, while on the inside were the ladies, talking, socializing and often dancing with each other until their husbands or boyfriends got too cold and came back inside.

An occasional ruckus due to too much whiskey would happen now and then. For example, a 1948 notation in the Club minutes instructed the Club secretary to mail a bill in the amount of $75 to Ray LaMar for damage to the front door due to his rowdiness.

Although monthly dances were common and held in Hartsel, Woodland Park, Lake George and West 4 Mile, the dances here in Divide were known in the Pikes Peak Region as “the biggest thing that ever happened.” Always a busy spot and heavily used by County residents, the original Divide club building was the scene of a benefit dance for the George McCumber family. At the time, their home was destroyed by fire on December 27, 1951. A New Years Eve dance was organized to help the family and it was well attended, raising $78 for them. But a short while after everyone left for the night, a passerby at 2:15 a.m. noticed flames shooting from the roof of the club. Residents hurried back to the scene and tried in vain with garden hoses to stop the fire. But the lack of firefighting equipment and 25-35 mph winds allowed the community owned building to burn to the ground.

The January 18, 1952 headline here shows that the community didn’t wait around long before plans for a new building were being discussed.

Fortunately, the destroyed building had a $3,000 insurance policy on it. That helped a lot, but it was still, in reality, a slow process to get the new building erected. The new building would be about 30 x 60 feet and would be made of Duralite blocks (cinder blocks). The men of the community volunteered their time and labor for its construction and work was expected to begin during the week of March 23, 1953. But it wasn’t until July 14 that the volunteers worked on digging the foundation with its completion expected in a couple of more days. The McCumbers, Shoemakers and Glen Johnston were a highly visible presence in the construction of the new building.

So now a foundation had been dug and poured but there was still no building. In February of 1954, Johnny Wondergem presented a bid of $675 to do the construction, if the club furnished all the material. That bid was accepted by the membership and work began immediately. The Club held numerous fundraising events to offset the cost. The local men often pitched in to help Johnny with the project. The building was completed by February of 1956. In April of that same year, the new hall was in use for PPCC meetings, 4H Club meetings, and many other events, including where to vote in the election that year.

In 1963, the Pikes Peak Community Club was officially designated a non-profit by the State of Colorado. That was also the year that an addition was added onto the west side as well as an entry hall. In 1988 the Pikes Peak Community Club celebrated its 60th anniversary.

This building has always been the Divide Community Hall, but throughout its history, this community center has been used by all of Teller County and has bonded our county residents together. We owe this building's existence to the Pikes Peak Community Club. 

Today, as Teller County and Divide continues to transform into a urban area, the UPHS firmly believes that this historic building still has a worth to Teller County. We are hoping to preserve our rural roots by keeping this building standing and functional. We would also like to keep its moniker as the “backbone” of Divide and we will be dedicated to supporting local residents and causes.  Growth cannot be stopped, but in order to keep this historic building, area residents need to be involved and at least help “direct” and “guide” the growth of the area. 

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