09/15/2026
As someone who values accurate, inclusive history, I love seeing this story shared. 💯
It gives readers who may not know this history a familiar point of reference while placing Lincoln Hills within a broader American story of Black ownership, recreation, refuge & community
The article explains that “the Martha’s Vineyard of the West” is Morgan Ramsey’s own description of the Lincoln Hills heritage retreat she is creating. Her family vacationed at Lincoln Hills for generations.
Martha’s Vineyard, particularly Oak Bluffs, has its own long history as a Black vacation community.
That established, affluent Black summer culture may also be familiar to people from Jumping the Broom, which centers on a wedding at a wealthy Black family’s Martha’s Vineyard estate.
Lincoln Hills began in 1922 when Denver entrepreneurs E.C. Regnier & Roger Ewalt formed the Lincoln Hills Development Company to create a mountain retreat for middle-class Black families.
It was the only Black vacation resort west of the Mississippi at the time, offering families opportunities to vacation, own property, enjoy nature & build community.
Lincoln Hills was distinctive, but it was also part of a much larger history of Black Americans creating their own vacation destinations during segregation.
Some were full resort communities.
Highland Beach, Maryland,
was founded in 1893.
Idlewild, Michigan, was founded in 1912 & became known as “Black Eden.”
Val Verde, California, became known as “the Black Palm Springs.”
Lake Ivanhoe, Wisconsin, & Fox Lake, Indiana, were Black lake-resort communities.
Atlantic Beach, South Carolina, became known as “the Black Pearl.”
American Beach, Florida, was founded in 1935 by the Afro-American Life Insurance Company under the leadership of A. L. Lewis, Florida’s first Black millionaire.
Others, including Woodland Park, Eagle Harbor, Cedar Haven & Sag Harbor Hills, Azurest & Ninevah Beach, developed primarily as Black summer-home communities.
Gulfside Assembly in Mississippi was a Black religious retreat & conference center.
Carr’s Beach, Sparrow’s Beach, Chicken Bone Beach, Bruce’s Beach, the Inkwell in Santa Monica, Freeman Beach & Bay Shore Beach were beaches or entertainment destinations rather than complete resort communities.
Want to read more?
Check out these sites.
✅ History Colorado
https://www.historycolorado.org/lincoln-hills-100th-anniversary
✅ Lincoln Hills Cares
https://www.lincolnhillscares.org/history
✅ National Park Service, Winks Panorama
https://www.nps.gov/places/winks-panorama.htm
✅ National Park Service, African American Outdoor Recreation study
https://www.nps.gov/subjects/nationalhistoriclandmarks/recent-theme-studies.htm
✅ Smithsonian history of Black beaches & amusement parks
https://nmaahc.si.edu/explore/stories/history-black-beaches-and-amusement-parks
✅ African American Heritage Trail of Martha’s Vineyard
https://mvafricanamericanheritagetrail.org/
Generations of Morgan Ramsey’s family were among the Black Coloradans who drove 40 miles west of Denver into Coal Creek Canyon to bask in the sanctity of Lincoln Hills — 650 acres of serene, green leisure in Gilpin County where African Americans could fish, hike, vacation, buy property and exist in nature.
