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As a businessman, he undoubtedly recognized that with the easing of the depression, the increased fuel demands following the com- pletion of the Colorado Central to the transcontinental line, and the renewed popularity of the region, (influenced by glowing reports like the Hayden survey), his mine would be a profitable concern. In fact, nearly 13,000 tons were produced that first year, (1878), or roughly 25 cars (250 tons) per day.3 The mine was situated approximately one half mile east of the C. C. tracks at a point near the old Coal Creek Depot. Welch paid royalties to David Kerr, a settler who had preempted the land on which the mine was located and had farmed the area since 1864. Louis Nawatny, considered the supervisor of the drilling operation and described by Bixby as an "intelligent Polander", lived up to that reputation by shrewdly seeing the possibilities of organi'1ng a town near the mine. He consequently purchased forty acres directly west of the tracks, and platted the Original Town of Louisville, (named after himself), recording it on October 21+, 1878. These original eight blocks have served as the focus of Louisville's commercial activity down to the present, although residences have been interspersed with commercial buildings and continue to show that pattern. By 1882, the town had demonstrated its success sufficiently to be granted incorporation in May of that year. The population had reached 550, and supported four general merchandise stores in addition to the Miner's Co-operative Store. Significantly, eight saloons were operating at this early stage, a factor which has played a major role in shaping the character of the town. With the viability of the mining operations well established, the agricultural potential of the area was enthusiastically promo- ted. That the soils could yield abundant crops through irriga- tion had been shown as early as the fall of 1859 by Marinus Smith and William Pell near Boulder. The numerous "colony" undertakings of the '70's, notably Longmont and Greeley, also provided solid evidence of success. Colorado's boosters, men like William Byer. of the Rocky, Mountain News, extolled the virtues of agriculture as a "purifying influence" upon the area. This was primarily a means of overcoming the bad publicity which accompanied the uncer-