Shep the Turnpike Dog

Near this spot rests Shep, the Turnpike Dog, one of the most beloved strays in Colorado history. In nineteen fifty, a puppy wandered onto the construction site of the Denver to Boulder turnpike, and the workers fed him scraps. When the road opened and the crews left, the timid dog began begging at the tollbooths.

One cold night an attendant coaxed him inside, and from then on Shep lived at the booths, greeting drivers who slowed to pay. People paid a little extra to buy him food, brought him toys, and pulled over for photos. He became the highway's unofficial mascot.

By nineteen sixty-four Shep was old and going blind, and on August third he was put to sleep. The superintendent buried him beside the on-ramp under a stone reading, Part Shepherd, Mostly Affection. When the highway was widened, his grave was moved to the Broomfield Depot Museum.