Mount St. Gertrude Academy

The lovely lady on the hill

By Laura K. Deal

Amid the beautiful houses on the Hill stands a stately structure known today as The Academy, an elegant retirement community that saved and reinvented one of the earliest buildings in the neighborhood. 

In 1891, the fresh air and natural beauty of Boulder inspired Sister Mary Theodore O’Connor, who was ill with tuberculosis, to suggest to her Catholic community that they establish a house in Boulder for girls ill with the disease. She had traveled here with two other nuns from her Order, The Sisters of Charity, Blessed Virgin Mary, from Dubuque, Iowa, to visit her brother, Dr. Walter O’Connor, Surgeon General of the Denver and Rio Grande Railroad. Their suggestion soon became reality when a local man donated half a city block to the Mother House. Later, the Order was able to purchase the other lots on the block as well.

Built in 1892, Mount St. Gertrude Academy gathered rumors almost as quickly as it did students. Sister Mary Theodore had grown quite ill during the year, and she wished to die in the new building. It still lacked doors, but she did spend her last night under its roof, though the Sisters who kept vigil at her bedside were terrified by the howling coyotes that gathered outside. Because of the frequent visits from the coyotes and wind, the building felt haunted, and for years, people reported seeing Sister Mary Theodore on the stairs, though her presence was said to be peaceful.

In addition to housing female students in a dormitory and providing an infirmary for girls sick with tuberculosis, Mt. St. Gertrude’s also drew girls from Boulder and nearby farms. Students commuted on foot, horseback and by buggy, and after 1908, some arrived by the Denver-Boulder Interurban railroad. They had to hike each morning up the hill from the train station at the university. Some students went on to attend the University of Colorado, for a signed certificate of completion from Mt. St. Gertrude’s meant automatic acceptance at CU. Not every student went on to college; some opted for the Commercial track, which included skills like shorthand, typewriting and bookkeeping, as well as commercial law. Other students attended the Academy’s music conservatory, and students produced musical and theatrical entertainments. Whichever path they took, all students also received an education in religion and etiquette.

Students were expected to abide by strict codes of conduct and dress, including wearing no makeup, but day students learned to wipe lipstick off before arriving at the doors in the morning, and reapply it in the afternoon while hiding behind the building. When worldly fashion led to shorter skirts, Academy girls learned to roll up their skirts around the waistband, a trick which could easily be reversed if the Sisters did an inspection of skirt length.

Not all students were intimidated by the rules, however. Some of the pranks included climbing the tower, borrowing the nuns’ habits to wear, putting lipstick on the statue of St. Gertrude and even pouring ink into the holy water. Rumors occasionally worked their way through town, and one longtime Academy neighbor recalled hearing that a student had given birth and hidden her baby in a locker. 

Many alumnae were saddened when, in 1969, Mount St. Gertrude was no longer financially viable for Sisters of Charity, DVM, and they sold the property to the University of Colorado. The departments of Continuing Education, Dance and the Intensive English Center moved in, which made for a hurried commute between classes for students who had to get there and back from the main campus. 

Then in 1980, an arsonist associated with the Khadafy regime in Libya set fire to the upper floor of the Academy, destroying the roof and much of the building. CU quickly had to rehouse their departments, and the building began to fall into ruin. Concerned that it would be torn down rather than preserved, Historic Boulder obtained a listing for the Academy on the National Register of Historic Places. That complicated what prospective buyers could do, but in 1998 CU sold the property to the Academy Group, a partnership of three gentlemen who envisioned a retirement community that would meet the needs of seniors in Boulder while preserving some of the city’s past. Though there was much opposition at the time from neighbors, the project went ahead, and it now houses a vibrant community which includes both independent and assisted living. Still, the Academy, once known as the “lovely lady on the hill,” holds her place as one of Boulder’s jewels.