Annie's Grave Site and Memorial Headstone (250 N. Mason St.)
City Landmark: July 31, 1995
Another reason to celebrate in May is National Pet Month. Whether furry, feathered, scaly, or slimy, pets bring a special joy and connection to our lives. In the mid-twentieth century, a certain pet held a place in many locals' hearts: Annie the Railroad Dog.
Annie was a collie or shepherd mixed-breed dog with black and brown fur. Around 1934, a group of Colorado and Southern Railroad workers found her shivering, starving and pregnant at a blacksmith shop near their daily stop in Timnath, according to many accounts. Undoubtedly suffering some privation themselves during the Great Depression, the railmen nonetheless made the choice to take responsibility for her wellbeing.
The railroad workers fed and cared for Annie, each crewmember contributing to buy her food and a dog license. Her frame filled out, and she gave birth to thirteen puppies, who the men helped to give away. One puppy, Rip, was adopted by John Owens, foreman of the Fort Collins roundhouse. Rip was "guardian of the roundhouse and Annie [was] 'Queen' of the passenger station" (“Dog and Cat Pets of Yard Crews,” Mountain and Plains Weekly, February 3, 1939).
With travel by rail still very common in the region, Annie was the friendly face that greeted residents and out-of-towners arriving and departing at the passenger depot. She was so well-known that she became something of a mascot for Fort Collins. Passengers, residents and businesspeople she would meet downtown showered her with food and affection. Many railmen took turns hosting Annie as a guest in their homes, and they set up a nice cushioned rocking chair for her near the warm furnace of the passenger depot. Once a starving, neglected pup, Annie became a beloved pet to a whole town, and especially to a group of devoted railmen.
In 1948, the railmen had to put an ailing Annie to sleep. At brakeman Chris Demuth's recommendation, they buried her near the railroad tracks, where she found and created so much joy. Demuth cast a concrete headstone for Annie, which reads: "From C&S men to Annie our dog, 1934–1948."
Annie's story still resonates today. Mrs. Bryant's 2nd grade class at Riffenburgh Elementary learned about Annie and wrote letters to the City asking that her resting place be cleaned up and repaired. Work is in progress to restore Annie's headstone and to spruce up the landscaping around her grave. You can visit Annie's Grave, a Fort Collins Landmark, at the Downtown Transit Center, in one of the fenced landscape areas near Mason Street. Take a stroll, perhaps with a canine companion, down "Annie's Walk" at Library Park, and visit the bronze statue of Annie, by artist Dawn Wiemar, in front of the Old Town Library.
(Photo: Left - Annie with Chris Demuth, c. 1946, H10159, FCMoD; Right - Annie's Grave, 2026, 250 N. Mason St.)
