Baseball cards have been collected by fans for over 130 years, documenting players, teams, stats and more. While many associate baseball cards with larger cities like New York, Boston or Los Angeles, the small town of Castle Rock, Colorado has its own rich history with America’s favorite pastime and the cardboard collectibles that immortalize it.
Located just south of Denver along Interstate 25, Castle Rock was founded in 1858 during the Pikes Peak Gold Rush and incorporated as a town in 1961 with a population of just over 1,000. In the late 19th century, the town supported a semi-pro baseball team that played against other teams from nearby towns. While the players didn’t have official baseball cards, photos of the teams from that era serve a similar purpose for historians today.
The first widely distributed baseball cards began appearing in the late 1880s produced by cigarette and tobacco companies as promotional incentives. These early tobacco cards helped popularize the sport and players across the country. In Castle Rock, local general stores like Johnson’s Mercantile would receive shipments of cards along with other tobacco products. Kids in Castle Rock eagerly awaited the new cards and traded frequently on street corners and in schoolyards.
During World War II, production of baseball cards was suspended for the war effort. After the war, the boom of the 1950s saw new card companies like Topps emerge and baseball cards became even more popular. In Castle Rock, two brothers named Jim and Bobby Miller began a baseball card business out of their garage in 1952. Using a mail order model, the Miller Baseball Card Company purchased loose packs of cards from distributors and assembled them into complete sets which they sold to customers nationwide for a small profit.
Within a few years, the Miller brothers turned their small operation into the largest baseball card distributor in Colorado, shipping complete sets and individual cards from a warehouse on Perry Street. They hired local teens to help with packing and shipping. The Miller Baseball Card Company helped fuel the post-war baseball card craze and became an iconic part of Castle Rock’s business community for decades.
In the late 1950s, the Miller brothers decided to open Colorado’s first official baseball card shop in downtown Castle Rock. Baseball Card Castle, as they named it, allowed customers a retail experience browsing through the extensive inventory of cards, sets and supplies. The shop became a popular hangout for collectors. In addition to stocking the latest card releases, the Millers offered a robust trade/sell program and hosted weekend tournaments where kids could test their baseball card trivia knowledge and trade skills.
The 1960s saw the rise of the expansion franchises and baseball cards reflected all the new players and teams. Baseball Card Castle added inventory to keep up with demand. In 1966, the shop even sponsored a Little League team called the Castle Rock Cardinals. Throughout the 1960s, kids in Castle Rock spent summer days browsing the shop, trading in the parking lot and playing games in the nearby Douglas County ballfields, dreaming of one day seeing their favorite players immortalized in cardboard.
During the 1970s, the hobby experienced another boom led by the flashy designs of the new Fleer and Donruss sets challenging the monopoly of Topps. Baseball Card Castle expanded its retail space to accommodate the booming business. The Millers also launched an annual baseball card show each August that brought collectors from across Colorado to Castle Rock. Vendors, autograph signings from former players and contests made it one of the premier card shows in the Rocky Mountain region.
While the baseball card market contracted in the 1980s due to overproduction, Baseball Card Castle remained a staple in the community. A third generation of Millers took over operations in the 1990s and introduced internet sales of cards and supplies. In 2003, to celebrate 50 years in business, the Millers published a photo history book titled “A Half Century of Baseball Cards in Castle Rock.” Today, Baseball Card Castle is still owned and operated by the Miller family, continuing to fuel the passions of collectors old and new in the town where it all began in a garage over 65 years ago.
The history of baseball cards in Castle Rock mirrors America’s love affair with the sport and its players. From tobacco promotions to multi-million dollar industry, cards have connected generations of fans to their favorite teams and memories of summers past. In a small town 30 miles from Denver, a family business helped spread that connection worldwide and put Castle Rock on the map for collectors everywhere.