JOHNSTOWN, Colo. – For generations, that familiar tall sign with the red letters ‘Johnson’s Corner’ has beckoned road-weary travelers to take the exit off I-25 to shake off sleepiness, grab a cup of coffee, and of course, try one of those iconic cinnamon rolls at the historic restaurant.
This week, the restaurant temporarily closed and will later reopen as a Black Bear Diner. And before there’s panic, the popular baked goods are still available at the Petro Johnson’s Corner convenience store, which is still open.
While Johnson’s Corner was once known as the only major truck stop around, the restaurant has long been a favorite for locals too. For some it’s not just a stopping off point, but an integral corner of everyday life. And for Phil Bearly, Johnson’s Corner was not only a major part of growing up, but his neighborhood.
“My involvement with Johnson's Corner was simply the fact that my dad was the manager for the first 26 years,” said Bearly. “We literally grew up at Johnson's Corner.”
It was the 1950s and Johnson’s Corner already had four other locations. Phil’s dad, Clayton, was instrumental in bringing the fifth location off of I-25 in Northern Colorado after owner Joe Johnson decided to expand.
“He told my dad to find a location, because you're going to run it there. So they built the house here first, and then, as they're building Johnson's Corner, we lived in the house,” said Bearly.
As their family home came to life, Johnson’s Corner became an important meeting point and foundation for the community, long-known for being there when neighbors needed it most.“My dad was very civic minded,” added Bearly.
One of those moments was on November 1, 1955.
Johnson’s Corner became a bright light during one of Colorado’s darkest nights.
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It was around 7 p.m. when United Flight 629, a state-of-the-art DC-6B airliner took off from Denver’s Stapleton only to explode above Weld County raining down wreckage east of Johnson’s Corner.
As citizens and first responders rushed to the beet fields, it quickly became apparent there would be no survivors.
The FBI quickly pieced together an unthinkable chain of events.
A Denver man, angry at his mother, planted the dynamite in her suitcase only to explode just after takeoff killing everyone on board the airliner.Phil Bearly still remembers what he saw.
“I witnessed the explosion in the air as a five-and-a-half-year-old child on the way to my grandmother's birthday party,” he recalled.
They first thought it was a meteor until witnessing a second explosion.
“That was the fuel on the airplane exploding as it went down,” said Bearly. “So we just dropped the presents and the cake off at my aunt and uncle's place in North Longmont, and we headed straight out to the crash site.”
Even at a young age, Phil said he recognized the plane’s wreckage, some of it still in flames. “We were real close to the crash site and we just sat in the car,” he said.
Phil’s dad helped keep looters at bay before the family returned home at around 1:30 a.m., still in shock from what they saw.
And as a young Phil went to sleep that night, his father’s work was just beginning.
“He went to calling off-duty employees and calling our suppliers that supplied food and stuff to Johnson's corner. He told them ‘you get me stuff here now,’” said Bearly.
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And with that, the restaurant at Johnson’s Corner kept a steady stream of food and drinks headed out to the exhausted citizen heroes and first responders at the United Flight 629 crash site.
“He was hauling cases of pop, big containers of coffee, breakfasts, hamburgers, everything to feed those people on the crash site because they couldn't leave,” added Bearly.”
Part of what made the effort work was because Johnson’s Corner, already a fixture in the community, “was the only place in Northern Colorado that was open 24/7,” he said.
Just weeks after the explosion, Phil’s dad received a thoughtful letter from the head of the Colorado State Patrol, thanking Johnson’s Corner for stepping up to support the community during the disaster.
It’s a letter Phil Bearly cherishes to this day.
His dad ran the restaurant until the mid-1970s until his health took a turn.
As the restaurant name changes to something new, Bearly said it’s important to remember the heart of the community is what makes this place so special.
The restaurant is only temporarily closed and those famous cinnamon rolls and baked goods are still available in the Petro Johnson’s Corner convenience store next door.
By the way, if you're wondering where those amazing cinnamon rolls came from, Polly Driver-Smith, president of the Mead Area Historical Society wrote that the original recipe came from Ida Mae Brunemeier, who was the head cook at Mead School for years.
As for the place Johnson’s Corner hold’s in the story of the United Flight 629 tragedy, there is still more chapters to write.
Phil continues the legacy of his father by supporting the mission of the Flight 629 Memorial Committee which is working to build a permanent, lasting memorial to the 44 victims, their families and the community which responded that night.
Next November will mark 70 years since the tragedy and there has never been a permanent memorial built.
Denver7 Gives is helping to raise funds to go directly to support the future memorial in Weld County.
If you’d like to donate to Denver7 Gives, select ‘Help Build United Flight 629 Memorial’ from the dropdown menu.
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