By Steve Plutt

Ninety-eight years ago, at the top of Ute Pass and the center of Teller County, Divide area residents, ranchers and businesses formed the Pikes Peak Community Club (PPCC).

The purpose of the club was to provide a place to conduct dances and other entertainment as well as recreational activities 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.

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 and baby showers. 4-H, Boy Scout and Girl Scout meetings, health fairs, the Divide PTA, Easter Egg Hunts and many other social gatherings,

The Pikes Peak Community Club even hosted the Teller County Fair for several years.

When World War II ended in 1945, this hall was where returning servicemen were honored with “Welcome Home” dances and celebrations. And not to forget the many barbeques and ice cream socials held here. In the 1960s, Christmas presents were wrapped right here and sent to Vietnam service men and women.

For years, twice-a-month bingo games were played here which paid for the upkeep and maintenance of the building.

The original PPCC building was the scene of a 1952 New Years Eve benefit dance for a local family whose home was recently destroyed by fire.

The benefit was a huge success and raised $78 for the family, 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. Fortunately, the destroyed building had a $3,000 insurance policy on it. That helped a lot, but still, a new building wasn’t completed until 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 nonprofit 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.

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.

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

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, George Duncan and the Moonlighters or Don Mathers and the Trailhands. But dances of all types happened here, including the jitter bug and square dancing. The square dances were usually called by 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.

Today, as Teller County and Divide continues to transform into an urban area, the Ute Pass Historical Society firmly believes that this historic building still has a worth to Teller County. We are hoping to re-establish this organization and try to preserve our rural roots by keeping this building standing and functional. We want to again dedicate this building to supporting local residents and causes and even maintaining its old moniker as the “backbone” of Divide.