Hugo, Colorado

A Brief History of Hugo

Hugo’s surviving historic places connect early homesteading, railroad work and Depression-era public improvements. The Hedlund House, dating to about 1877, is associated with the area’s first homestead filing. A Union Pacific roundhouse built in 1909 reflects the town’s role in maintaining locomotives on Colorado’s eastern plains. During the Great Depression, Hugo sought Works Progress Administration support for a municipal swimming pool and park in September 1935. Construction began the following year, with interruptions for work on the town gymnasium and the regional fight against grasshoppers. The pool opened to the public on June 18, 1938.