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How we got started…

Second Century Fund (1990–2000) / Historic Littleton, Inc. (2000–present)

At the Littleton Leadership Retreat in 1989, Mike Massey presented the idea of forming an organization that would solicit funds to provide low-cost loans to property owners and businesses on Main Street. Mike suggested the formation of a fund to restore and preserve Littleton’s historic buildings for the next 100 years. According to Mike, “Littleton was celebrating its centennial. It occurred to me that we should give our town a gift that would help it prosper for a second century.” Massey formed the nonprofit corporation in 1990 under the name Second Century Fund. The organization’s board consisted of local businesspeople who believed that Downtown Littleton gave the City its unique identity and character and was an asset for the entire community.

The focus of the Second Century Fund is Main Street and Downtown Littleton… because it is our heart.

It helps make us special.

~ Mike Massey,
Founder of Historic Littleton, Inc., Circa 1990

With assistance from the City and the Littleton Historical Museum along with funding from the Colorado Historical Society, the Second Century Fund created a matching grant program for historic preservation. The grants were used for restoration of a number of downtown buildings.

Second Century Fund was instrumental in developing a strategic plan for Main Street, saving Geneva Lodge from destruction, and establishing a National Register of Historic Places District for Downtown Littleton.

The fund served as a conduit for grants from the State Historic Fund until the City of Littleton took on this role. Second Century Fund solicited funding from corporations, held two benefit auctions, and began sponsoring annual Renewal Dinners at the Inn at Hudson Gardens to promote historic preservation.

In 2000, the Second Century Fund formally changed its name to Historic Littleton, Inc., and rewrote its bylaws to become the membership organization it is today.

We are advocates for the protection of Littleton’s Cultural Heritage

OUR GOALS

  • Educate about historic preservation through programs and tours.
  • Advocate for historic preservation projects.
  • Influence public policy on preservation issues.
  • Combine resources with other historic organizations for more effective advocacy.

Meet the Current Board Members

MIKE MASSEY

FOUNDER

GAIL KEELEY

PRESIDENT

MARGI CLUTE

VICE PRESIDENT

GRETCHEN RICEHILL

BOARD MEMBER

REBECCA KAST

SECRETARY

BARBARA EATON

BOARD MEMBER

RICK CRONENBERGER

BOARD MEMBER

SONYA ELLINGBOE

BOARD MEMBER

KAREN ARRAS

BOARD MEMBER

KATHERINE ROXBOROUGH

BOARD MEMBER

CARRIE WHEELER

BOARD MEMBER

JOHN GERKIN

BOARD MEMBER

DARLEE WHITING

BOARD MEMBER

KIMBER DEMPSEY

BOARD MEMBER

VACANT

BOARD MEMBER

Click here to view a complete list of the Founding and Past Members

To ignore or disregard our historic roots, or to
casually toss away structures and landmarks from our past, is to lose not only the
remembrance of a proud and fascinating past, but also of a sense of continuity into the future, and the chance to pass the rich heritage of
earlier times to those who will follow us.

~ Jane Jacobs, From The Life and Death
of Great American Cities, 1961.