NORKA
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Immigration > United States > Colorado

Colorado

In 1887, Evangelical Volga Germans from various settlements at Sutton and Lincoln, Nebraska came to Denver, Colorado as workers and founded a colony which would grow to a major settlement over the next twelve years. By 1930, there were about 500 families from Norka, Beideck, Dobrinka, and other Volga German colonies living in the Denver suburb of Globeville and on an adjacent hill to the east, which was known by the settlers as "Dobrinka."

The migration of the Volga Germans to Colorado is connected to the development of the sugar beet industry who sent their agents to Nebraska and Kansas to recruit cheap labor (families with many children were preferred). The Volga Germans had already established themselves as successful farmers and were prime targets for the sugar beet industry recruiters. Sugar refineries were built in 1900 in Sugar City and Rocky Ford. In 1902 and 1903, sugar companies in Loveland and Ft. Collins brought in Volga German laborers.

Colonists from Norka were the first to settle in Windsor arriving in 1902. A small dwelling owned by one of this group served as the chapel for the first pioneers. This group was joined by another group of Volga Germans from Dönhoff in 1904 and by 1930 about 900 Volga German families lived in Windsor and the surrounding area. Most were working as beet farmers and field workers.

From the beginning, the goal of those who responded to the recruiters was to obtain their own land and become self-sufficient farmers. They rapidly went from workers living in tents, to building their own houses, and purchasing their own farms.

By 1910, about 75 percent of all the sugar beet farms between Sterling and Denver were operated by Volga Germans. By the 1930's more than one-half of the sugar beet farms in Colorado, Nebraska, Montana, and Wyoming were owned by Volga German farmers.

Sources

Sallet, Richard. Russian-German Settlements in the United States. Fargo: North Dakota Institute for Regional Studies, 1974. 49-51. Print.

Thomas, Adam. Work Renders Life Sweet: Germans from Russian in Fort Collins, 1900-2000. August 2003.
Last updated January 7, 2017.
Copyright © 2002-2023 Steven H. Schreiber
  • Home
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    • Contact
  • People
    • Founders
    • Personal Histories
    • Notable Norkans
    • Stories
    • Photo Identification
    • Photo Gallery
  • Community
    • Village Life
    • Entertainment
    • Agriculture
    • Climate
    • Homesites
    • Geographical Description
    • Government
    • Social Structure
    • Health
    • Education
    • A Land of Ethnic Diversity
    • Cottage Industries >
      • Sarpinka
      • Mills
    • Language
    • Population
    • Military Service
    • Crime and Punishment
  • History
    • Timeline
    • Origins of the Colonists
    • Catherine's Manifesto 1763
    • Why go to Russia?
    • Recruitment 1766
    • Planning 1764-1766
    • Marriages Prior To Emigration 1766
    • Voyage to Russia 1766 >
      • Ship Transport 1766
    • Journey 1766-1767
    • Founding of Norka 1767
    • Early Years 1767-1769
    • Norka 1769
    • Pallas Report 1773
    • Pugachev Raid 1774
    • Norka 1775
    • Norka 1798
    • Norka 1811
    • Napoleons Soldiers
    • Norka 1834
    • Daughter Colonies 1850s >
      • Neu-Norka
      • Oberdorf
      • Brunnental
      • Rosenfeld (am Jeruslan)
      • Neu Hussenbach (Gaschon)
    • Privileges Lost 1871-1874
    • Immigration 1875-1924 >
      • To the United States >
        • Colorado
        • Ft Collins Colorado
        • Globeville Colorado
        • Mason City, Iowa
        • Culbertson, Nebraska
        • Lincoln, Nebraska
        • Sutton, Nebraska
        • Burlington, Oklahoma
        • Weatherford, Oklahoma
        • Canby, Oregon
        • Portland, Oregon
      • To Canada >
        • Duffield, Alberta
        • Ponoka, Alberta
        • Spruce Grove, Alberta
        • Stony Plain, Alberta
        • Vegreville, Alberta
        • Arcola, Saskatchewan
      • To Germany
      • To South America
    • Famine 1891-1892
    • Norka 1898
    • War & Turnoil 1904-1906
    • World War 1914-1918
    • Revolution & War 1917-1922
    • Soviet Rule 1918-1941
    • Famine 1921-1924
    • Famine 1932-1933
    • The Great Terror 1936-1938
    • Deportation 1941
    • Repression 1941-1956
    • Cultural Loss 1957-2006
    • A Culture in Peril
    • Recent Times
  • Traditions
    • Food and Drink
    • Clothing
    • Holidays >
      • New Year
      • Fastnacht
      • Lent
      • Easter
      • Ascension Day
      • Pentecost
      • Founder's Day
      • Harvest Festival
      • Jahrmarkt
      • Christmas
      • Anniversaries & Birthdays
    • Crafts
    • Games
    • Folk Medicine
    • Superstitions
    • Nicknames
    • Folk Music
    • Church Music
    • Prayers
    • Baptism
    • Confirmation
    • Communion
    • Weddings
    • Funerals and Burials
  • Religion
    • Planning and History >
      • Norka Reformed Church 1767-1864
      • 1909 Norka Parish Report
    • Pastors >
      • Johann Heinrich Fuchs
      • Johann Georg Herwig
      • Johannes Baptista Cattaneo
      • Lukas Cattaneo
      • Emanuel Grunauer
      • Friedrich Börner
      • Christian Gottlieb Hegele
      • Christoph H Bonwetsch
      • Gottlieb N Bonwetsch
      • Wilhelm Staerkel
      • Woldemar Sibbul
      • David Weigum
      • Friedrich Alexander Wacker
      • Emil Pfeiffer
    • Church Practices >
      • Parochial Certificates
    • Church Buildings
    • Church Organs
    • Bell Tower
    • Brethren Movement
  • Resources
    • Family Research
    • Research Resources >
      • Arrival Records 1766
      • Descendant Charts
      • German EWZ Records
      • Soviet Gulag Records
    • Maps
    • Glossary
    • Bibliography
    • Periodicals >
      • Die Welt-Post Letters
    • Related Links