Inside Firestone

Firestone Family Descendant is the First to Visit Since Town's Start

As the great-great-grandson of the Town of Firestone’s founder, Reid Firestone was the first family descendant to visit the town more than 100 years after its budding start. The town was named in 1908 for Jacob H. Firestone, who helped to establish the Firestone Coal and Land Company along with Clarence Buchanan. However, Firestone never made it to the town with his namesake, establishing the company from Ohio. Buchanan served as the town’s second mayor.

The Sept. 26 visit by Reid Firestone and his wife, Terri – who call Spencer, Ohio, their hometown – was full of history as they visited with town officials and took a tour. Firestone Mayor Pro-tem Paul Sorenson lead the tour, who found Reid during a search for descendents while researching the town's 100-year anniversary.

It wasn’t until Sorenson first discovered Reid a few years back that he found out about his connection to the growing Colorado town. Firestone is a funeral director in Spencer, a semi-retired pastor and chairman of the Farmer Savings Bank – a bank Jacob founded.

“We’ve done very little travel out west,” Reid said. “So it means a lot to be able to stop here.”

The Town of Firestone will be renaming Gateway Park at the corner of Grant Avenue and Colorado Boulevard the Jacob H. Firestone Park next spring.

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