GOLDEN, CO — CoorsTek is renovating a six-block stretch of downtown Golden, Colorado, returning the Coors family to the site where its industrial legacy began more than a century ago.
The project centers on a cluster of original brick buildings on Fourth Street, including one where the Coors family made glass bottles starting in 1886, then pottery, porcelain bowls and plates, and ceramics used in scientific equipment. It is also where the aluminum can was invented.
"The invention of the aluminum can happened right here on the Clayworks site to service the beer industry," said Melanie Keerins, the Coors family archivist.
For Darden Coors, whose great-great-grandfather Adolph Coors went into business with a nearby brewery just a few years before the Fourth Street building's story began, walking through the space is personal.
"It's touching and fun to think back on what all happened in this space over the decades," Darden said.
Keerins described the renovation as a homecoming.
"We're bringing the Coors family back home," Keerins said.
The renovation has also turned up unexpected discoveries. Before construction began, workers unearthed intact glass bottles buried underground dating back to 1887 — pieces the archive had never held before.
"Before we started construction on this site, we didn't have a single example of our glass bottles in our archive, and very few existed anywhere," Keerins said.
"What's fascinating is you wouldn't think you'd find a complete intact bottle buried underground that dates back to 1887 — really, really cool," Keerins said.
The site now holds a room filled with artifacts, including stamped pieces of Coors Thermos Porcelain, alongside the newly excavated finds.
The renovation will eventually span six blocks and will include not only original Coors buildings but other historic structures, among them the old Golden High School. Keerins said the surrounding area once included houses, a cobbler, and a sausage maker.
"Who knows what we're going to find that connect not only to Coors but to Golden," Keerins said.
Darden said many locals may not fully appreciate what took place on these blocks.
"The locals have driven by this for decades — don't think people know what we did here for 100 years," Darden said.
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