Lower Downtown District, Inc.

Colorado's "Black Baron";Earlier Restaurateur Opens The People's

May 12, 2000

It's the kind of story movies are made of. A Man, against all odds- from the color of his skin to the times of his circumstances-begins as a slave and ends as a success.
In the early 1870's, there were perhaps only 80 blacks living in the Western Territory. Racism confronted blacks at every turn. They quickly learned that they could not live where they chose; they lived where whites allowed them to live-in seedy boarding houses and rundown shacks of the Platte River bottoms. But Barney Ford-with his business ability and unrelenting drive-became as wealthy as all the richest of Denver's white elite.
From Slave to Owner
Ford, born on January 22, 1822 in Stafford, Virginia, was the son of a white plantation master and his slave woman mistress. He was sold in his youth, but later escaped to Chicago, where he helped work with the Underground Railroad helping other slaves reach freedom.
An active civil rights leader, a prominent politician, and an ardent supporter of the admission of Colorado to the Union as a free state with suffrage for all men, Ford was also a brilliant businessman.
The People's Restaurant
Ford began his entrepreneurial career by renting 1514 Blake Street to open Ford's first Denver restaurant, The People's Restaurant. Later he purchased the building from E.A. Rice for $673 on March 24, 1862.
In 1863, a major fire wiped out Denver's business district, destroying Ford's new restaurant. To rebuild, he borrowed $9,000 from the Kountze Brothers Bank (later the Colorado National Bank)-with a 25 percent interest rate-and re-opened the People's Restaurant on August 16, 1863. The bank offered the loan based solely on the collateral of his personal integrity as experienced by banker Luther Kountze.
Besides the restaurant Ford also had a barber shop and hair salon in the basement and a saloon on the second floor of his new business. The venture was a huge success, attracting all to his highly regarded meals and shaves. Exactly 90 days after opening his restaurant, he walked into Kountze's bank and repaid his loan, plus interest.
The InterOcean Hotel
Ford went on to open the InterOcean Hotels in Cheyenne, Wyoming, and Denver (16th and Blake Streets). By 1872, Ford's glittering InterOcean Hotels were a western landmark.
Running For Office
In 1873, Ford became the first black man in Colorado history to run for public office. He was defeated in his bid for a seat in the Territorial Legislature.
Starting Over
By 1978, the 57-year-old entrepreneur had lost most of his fortune. His hotels were failing, the cattle trade he had invested in was drying up, and the economy was weak.
Through perseverance, he once again built a modest business in Breckenridge with a restaurant for miners and ran the Oyster Ocean Restaurant in Denver.
Civil Action Leader
Ford also continued his efforts in public service when, in 1885, he was instrumental in getting a civil-rights law passed in Colorado that forbade the denial of equal rights to blacks in hotels, restaurants, and other public places.
From a slave's life in ante-bellum Georgia, Ford came a long way. His entrepreneurial spirit provided early Denver with badly needed businesses to meet the demands of its rapidly growing population. His drive to help his fellow blacks was directly responsible for much of the civil-rights legislation that eventually gave his brethren in the state equal opportunities.
Ford died December 14, 1902, and is buried at Riverside Cemetery beside his wife Julia.