WESTMINSTER —The transformation of Westminster’s Church Ranch Boulevard from acres of empty fields into a thriving commercial and retail corridor began with a broken tractor in 1979.

Rancher Charles Church McKay said he made around $7,900 from his wheat crop that year, and the tractor repairs ate up almost half.

Looking at miles of open land his family had acquired since arriving in Colorado in 1861, McKay realized he had to find a better way to make the land profitable.

“That was my day of reckoning” recalled McKay, now 74. “But it was all just land. No public improvements, no water, no sewer, no drainage.”

Knowing the county wanted an east-west road off U.S. 36, McKay put his land up as collateral and teamed with two other developers in a competitive bid to get a $13.1 million bond to build what would become Church Ranch Boulevard.

Completed in 1990, the corridor now boasts hotels, offices, stores and residential properties along with plenty of open space and trails and has become one of Westminster’s largest economic engines.

“For me it’s notable that Charlie took his personal holdings and personal wealth and took a chance on that development in very tough economic times,” said Susan Grafton, the city’s economic development director.

Shaping the identity and future of northern Jefferson County while working the land runs in the Church family.

McKay’s great-grandparents, George Henry Church and his wife, Sarah, arrived in Colorado via covered wagon from Iowa in 1861. They soon began acquiring homesteads, land grants and leases.

Church secured water rights across the region as he carved out irrigation ditches and reservoirs and was the first to bring water east from the Continental Divide.

He was also the first to bring Hereford cattle into Colorado, knowing they’d be well suited for the dry climate, and he pioneered the use of dryland crops in the region.

Church also organized one of the earliest Granger chapters in Colorado, said John Steinle, the history education supervisor for Jeffco open space. Grangers organized across the country to fight grain transport practices they felt were taking advantage of farmers.

“The Grange was hugely influential and hugely powerful in a lot of different ways across the country,” Steinle said. “It’s a significant piece of the Church family and Jefferson County history.”

Generations of the Church family helped with rail line expansion, supported efforts to build Standley Dam and reservoir, leased land to Buckley Air Force Base, helped facilitate the creation of U.S. 36 and developed Jefferson County’s first subdivision community in 1929.

Currently, McKay is developing Arvada’s 1,500-acre Candelas project while overseeing various mining and agricultural operations.

He confesses that cattle ranching is still his passion, and he runs a herd in west Arvada.

He’s also working to find a way to preserve the 5.4-acre Church Ranch headquarters at 10050 Wadsworth Blvd. The working farm and office space has been in the family since the 1860s and houses 17 structures — including a 140-year-old barn and twin silos.

“Time is running out,” McKay said. “My hope and goal is to find a big agricultural company that could purchase it for a Denver-based headquarters.”

Austin Briggs: 303-954-1729, abriggs@denverpost.com or twitter.com/abriggs