When the gold mining waned, sawmills, cattle ranching, dairying and farming became the economic mainstays. Sawmills were the first of the industries the settlers built. The sawmills furnished lumber for the burgeoning communities of Auraria and Denver City. The company town of Louviers was founded in 1906 by the DuPont Company for the manufacture of explosives. In 1908 DuPont opened factories to produce dynamite and continued until 1971. In the southeast part of the county potato farming was a flourishing business for a time. The chief industry from the beginning of settlement was cattle. An offshoot of the cattle business was the dairying that thrived throughout the county with creameries and cheese production. Douglas County government is represented with artifacts used in the old courthouse before it burned in 1978. This exhibit features items characterizing the main economies in Douglas county before the urban areas expanded.
