Golden was founded during the gold rush of 1859, but gold seekers were not its first inhabitants. The area had been frequented by the Ute, Arapaho, and Cheyenne tribes, as well as early trappers Louis Vasquez and Rufus Sage. Most sources agree that the town was named for settler Tom Golden, one of the early gulch miners who panned gold in the valley of Clear Creek.
A toll bridge, two stores, and the county's first commercial garden were among the settlers' first endeavors. Golden's location at the mouth of Clear Creek canyon furthered the town's aspirations as a supply center and aided its role as a transportation hub for freight wagons and, later, the railroad. "Our city is now full of energetic, go-ahead men enroute to the gold mines" reported the Golden Mountaineer in 1860.
Although Golden was site of the Territorial Capital from 1862 to 1867, it lost the state capital to Denver when Colorado achieved statehood. Instead, the town grew slowly but steadily as a supply center for the mining districts in the mountains to the west. Golden also grew as an industrial town. Clear Creek provided water for milling, smelting, manufacturing, and generating electricity. Local coal mines yielded resources for early industry and employed many local residents. Early Golden industries also included a cigar factory, candy factory, paper mill, glass plant, three lime kilns, and several stone quarries.
Town building was aided by the clay deposits that supplied material for local brickmaking. Wood was used less frequently in construction because it had to be brought down from Clear Creek canyon. However, cannonball sized stones from the creek were used in foundations, retaining walls and porches of many local buildings, as well as in the Armory Building at Thirteenth and Arapahoe.
Agriculture was a chief Golden industry, made possible by irrigation from Clear Creek. The crops planted by David K. Wall in 1859 became the county's first commercial garden, and by 1902 the town was "surrounded on all sides by farming and stockraising," according to Illustrated Golden. Wheat was a major crop and accounted for the three flour mills. At one time, the Rock Flour Mill produced 200 barrels of flour a day. Orchards and vineyards grew on North Table Mountain, while Clear Creek Valley was filled with fruit trees and fields of strawberries and raspberries, as well as vegetable gardens. Farmers from east Golden came to town selling produce from their horse-drawn wagons.
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