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Living and gassing by the light of the Silver(y) Moon

by Carolyn Newman

WALSENBURG — Back in the day when nearly every street corner on the main streets had a gas station, one station in Walsenburg was unique.

 

825 Main in Walsenburg features a house built atop a gas station.

The Texaco station at 825 Main had a house built on top of the station.  Today that red brick building, with its additions, is still there.

The city had more than 20 filling stations, but because of those nasty leaking underground gas tanks, the only evidence of most of them today is an empty lot or a parking lot.

The present angled 1915 building did not start life as a service station.  It began as a freight and transfer warehouse; freight was brought there and distributed to the local businesses.  F. E. Hendren owned it in those days.

By the 1940s, maybe earlier, it became a service station.  Lyle’s Texaco State 1948 to 1950.  Later the Lynn Boyds from La Veta moved into the house portion 1951 to 1961 and ran the station.  People may remember the Geno Sarti family operating Sarti’s Bar (once named the Silver Moon) next door and the Sarti family living in the old service station with the three tiny bedrooms upstairs.  Notice too that each of the four sides has a dormer window.

Contrary to the myth, there was no passage way from the Sarti Bar to the Sarti house.
Today the bar is closed and the new owners from Texas will not reopen it.  The house’s future?  Uncertain.
Even with a search through old newspapers, this writer could find no reference to the building being involved in the early strikes on Main, or any robberies, or excitement of any kind.
But something must have happened!

Can anyone add to this story?  Contact the writer at carlynewmwn@aol.com.
Information was gathered from many persons, thank you.

The History Detective is a service of the Huerfano County Historical Society.  The archives with old photos and newspapers are at 214 W. Sixth, Walsenburg, CO 81089.  PO Box 3, Walsenburg 81089-0003.  huerfanoheritagecenter@outlook.com 719-738-2346.  Open 2 to 5 p.m. Wednesdays, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Thursdays, 2 to 5 p.m. Fridays.

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