Meet Boulder’s first female taxi drivers — and the fearless rides that made them local legends

In 1918, Florence Molloy and Mabel Macleay piled into their secondhand five-passenger touring car and set out for the long drive from Syracuse, New York, to Boulder, Colorado. With them were Molloy’s two daughters and Mabel’s son. Both women were divorced and in their thirties. Molloy’s aunt, Mary Cowie, was Boulder’s assistant postmaster at the time, so perhaps she had encouraged the women to start a new life in the West.  

Molloy and Macleay’s arrival coincided with an ongoing flu epidemic. The women immediately began working for the Red Cross, volunteering their time and their car to transport nurses and medical supplies to mountain communities. On one of those trips, Molloy was asked to pick up the frozen body of a young flu victim and take her to Boulder for burial, as the undertaker had found it impossible to reach the girl’s isolated mountain cabin in his hearse.

According to a Rocky Mountain News story at the time, Molloy “made her delivery to the mortician’s morgue,” then announced that no motor transportation job was too difficult for her to handle. Then she started her own taxi business, with Macleay as her partner.

The 1920 federal census gave the women’s address as 1019 Spruce Street, with both Molloy and Macleay’s occupations listed as taxi drivers. Beginning in 1922, they ran their business from an office in the Hotel Boulderado and took riders all over Boulder for a quarter.  

Molloy and Macleay also were also on hand at the Union Pacific Depot on 14th Street to meet the daily Colorado & Southern passenger trains. They refused to pick up drunks or transport liquor. Their ads stated, “We use the Cadillac 8. Careful drivers.”

Newspaper reporters were quick to point out that Macleay was “lady-like and petite,” while Molloy was a “stalwart six-footer.” When asked about their unusual occupation, they defended it by stating, “Taxi driving is a safe and sane occupation for any woman who has coolness, courage, and a thorough knowledge of how to operate a car.”

Every summer, Molloy and Macleay took college students for scenic drives in the mountains. One of those students was Helen Carpenter. Many years later, in a 1986 taped interview, she particularly praised Molloy. “My gang of girls went everywhere with Mrs. Molloy,” said Carpenter. “She took us to football games and to Estes Park for dinner.”  

The women sold their taxi service in 1926, but they retained four touring cars for their new business — Molloy Scenic Tours. They concentrated solely on mountain outings and provided running commentaries on points of interest. Their slogan was “any place a car can go.”

Before long, the women added a Pierce Arrow and a Packard to their fleet of luxury touring cars. Among their distinguished passengers were attorney Clarence Darrow (visiting his friend Jean Sherwood in Gold Hill) and opera singer Madame Schumann-Heink.

In 1927, the two women purchased land west of Gold Hill, where they built a lodge and four cabins. They named their dude ranch the “Double M” after the initials of their last names. In addition to the tours, they rented out saddle horses and provided accommodations for 35 guests.  

Macleay was the official hostess and was assisted by Molloy’s two daughters, Jane and Mary.

In 1945, the women sold their ranch and moved to Boulder. New owners named the property the Trojan Ranch. It’s still open today as the Colorado Mountain Ranch, and the historic lodge is still standing.

Macleay died in 1950 and Molloy in 1951. They are buried side-by-side in Boulder’s Green Mountain Cemetery. Molloy, especially, had made a big impression on her riders. In Carpenter’s interview, she said, “Mrs. Molloy was a marvelous driver, a great big masculine woman. She could have picked up an automobile. I would have driven anywhere in the world with her.”