By Steve Plutt, Special to the Courier

In celebration of Colorado’s 150th birthday and the United States’ 250th, local historian Steve Plutt and the Ute Pass Historical Society have written a series of stories to bring the area’s colorful history to life.

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Anyone who has traveled through the town of Divide has probably noticed the large wooden structure at the southwest corner of U.S. 24 and highway 67. That building has had a number of different roles over the years, but for quite a while now, it’s been referred to as the Gateway Of Praise Worship Center. But did you know that it started out as a school?

Divide was first settled in the 1880s but it wasn’t until the Colorado Midland Railroad was built in 1887 that the town developed. So it was in the spring of 1890 that 10 local families drew up a petition calling for a new public school district. Those parents were successful and the Hayden Divide School District No. 51 was created and 22 local children had their own school to attend.

As agriculture and farming increased in the Divide area, so did school enrollment. In the fall of 1921, the Divide PTA was organized. The members (all women) kept busy fund raising in order to provide a better school environment for the students. The funds they raised paid for things such as costumes for school plays, Christmas treats for the children, subsidized school hot lunches and many other things.

By 1924, there were 48 children here in District 51. Divide’s population continued to increase and the school got larger and larger. The high school grades were now taught, but classes were overcrowded.  So much so that in 1945 the high school was consolidated with Woodland Park and, three years later, the entire Divide School District was consolidated with Woodland and the District decided to sell the building and the land it sat on.

On July 27, 1948 an auction was held on site and everything was sold to the highest bidder. Jim Harn bought the land and building for $1,400. The school bell sold for $12, the kitchen range went for $10 and lastly, the piano brought in another $20. 

Within three years, a woman from Dayton, Ohio moved to the area and decided to buy the school building from Harn and open a business there.  Martha (Bobbie) Soller, after extensive remodeling, held the grand opening of Bobbie’s Café on May 6, 1951.

That opening was well attended by residents of Woodland Park, Florissant and the Cripple Creek-Victor District. Martha established a very popular gathering place. The esteem of her restaurant and bar might have been fueled by the fact that she had a wide range of gambling devices on hand for her customers. But after being raided by state and federal authorities for running an illegal gambling house, Bobbie’s was shut down around 1954.

In 1957, a fellow by the name of Baron Frederick von Schleinitz bought Bobbie’s Café. He remodeled and renamed the business the Trout Haven Café and held its grand opening on September 22, 1957. He also added a seven-unit motel on the west side of the café, which was quite busy all summer long, year after year.

In 1971, there was an ownership change when a couple and their adult son from Brecksville, Ohio were the new owners of the restaurant and motel. The family just couldn’t make a go of it and put it up for sale about a year later. 

Several other names through the years came along for this restaurant, such as the Boar’s Head Inn, J.R.’s Restaurant & Lounge, Mr. R’s Rustic Inn and the Rainbow Gardens supper club.

On Sunday, December 24, 1978, all seven units of the Rainbow Gardens Motel were leveled by an early morning fire.

In 1980, the building changed owners once again and it was dubbed The Divide Inn.  That owner didn’t last long at all and in July of 1981 Eric Dierkhising bought the building and changed its name to Dirk’s Family Restaurant.

The restaurant was the most popular place around for quite a while. While Dirk was the owner, the place was also known by two other names, The Ranch Restaurant and The Summit Restaurant and Wild Rose Saloon. Things didn’t work out and Dirk sold his business in the fall of 1988.

Dirk was the last owner who succeeded there. After he left, a few others tried and failed to make it viable but in the end, no one could make it work.

After that, so many restaurants and building owners would “come and go” that it all became quite homogenized and very difficult to keep track of.

But, the core center of this building was built in the 1890s as a schoolhouse. Now the entire building will be razed and the grade of the site will be lowered, leveled and apartments will be built.