About the Granary

The Hayden Granary is the only existing grain elevator in Routt County. In its heyday, the elevator bolstered the local agricultural economy, providing many services and goods to area farmers. Today the grain elevator remains as an important representation of the agricultural, economic and engineering history of early twentieth-century Routt County.

In 1917, Hayden, and surrounding area members of the local Farmer’s Union, joined together to form the Hayden Co-Operative Elevator Company. After incorporating the Co-Operative, planning for construction of the elevator took place. The elevator was to have a capacity of 11,000 bushels of grain and a two-car cement cellar for shipping and receiving root vegetables. In August of 1917, a triangular strip of land on the north end of town was acquired, and construction of the grain elevator began in September of 1917. By the middle of December, the elevator was in full operation.

Throughout its existence, the Hayden Co-Operative Elevator, like many grain elevators, was largely dependent on cycles in farming and cyclical changes in weather and market considerations. With decreased wheat production in the Yampa Valley, grain operations entirely closed in 1988 and the facility re-opened in 1992 as Yampa Valley Feeds (a livestock feed and tack store). In 2013 food and community gathering became the focus for the Granary with the addition of Wild Goose Coffee and then in 2019 Embers Wood Fired Pizza. The Granary continues its journey as a thriving business district with the relocation of Yampa Valley Brewing Company to the Northwest corner of the lot.