Walsenburg
1881: About $25,000 worth of new machinery and tools have been added to the [Walsen] coal mine and it is expected 400-500 men will work there this winter. The company now has orders for about 200 [railroad] cars a week.
1896: D.E. Farr had the front of his saloon painted a nice dark brown – not red as you’d think.
1903: Town Board decided to rent the rooms in the Farr building where they regularly meet for an office for the town clerk.
1910: Mr. Taylor has begun the erection of two new cottages on First and Mr. Riley has the foundations in for two more on the same street.
1916: Huerfano County High School will open Sept. 5 and, according to I.E. Stutsman, principal, will offer three courses of study – Preparatory, Scientific or Commercial.
1923: The Specialty Stores Company will open a branch here Saturday at 521 Main.
1929: More than 200 delegates will attend the Greek-American Society’s national convention in Walsenburg in September, according to Sterge Mavrodis, local president.
1936: City Clerk Herman Mazzone says the Walsenburg water supply and pressure will be improved by replacing the pipes west of Solar.
1942: The Valencia barber shop will be closed temporarily as Paul Krier completes renovation on the historic building that also houses his theater. During the work a German newspaper dated Nov. 22, 1872 was found between the walls.
1948: Entrants into the hoof exhibition at the State Fair from Huerfano County are Stan Tixier, Ruth Waggoner, George Brunelli, Jacky Jo Brunelli, Marvin Davis and Vonna Quine.
1954: JoElen Zgut of Walsenburg was named all-round 4-H girl and Dave Kirscht, Apache, best boy at the 4-H Fair last weekend.
1960: A Hawaiian theme will be carried out at the Walsenburg aquacade Monday with music furnished by Floyd Murr and his band.
1966: William Schafer Jr. is opening Huajatolla Hills subdivision in which he is offering 14 ten-acre tracts for sale at $600 per acre. Utilities are available from the city.
1970: Crown Lanes bowling alley will have a grand opening Saturday under new owners Mr. and Mrs. Bob Ellis of Garden City, Kansas.
1976: First quarter retail sales for the year showed an increase of 36.3% for Huerfano County with the greatest increase in the sales of automobiles.
1982: Frank Colnar is having built 19 new rammed earth adobe mini-warehouses north of Walsenburg which should be done early this fall.
1988: Two engineering studies have found many cracks in the walls and foundation of Huerfano County Hospital which with shifting floors have made the surgery and obstetetrics room useless and the x-ray equipment worthless because it cannot be leveled.
1994: Joe and Emma Feiccabrino, married Sept. 5, 1944 in Walsenburg, celebrated their 50th anniversary early with a family dinner at the Scandia in Colorado City.
La Veta
1877: Town Clerk J.C. Swarts was removed from office by the board for failure to attend meetings and fulfill the responsibilities of his position.
1883: L.A. Sallee sends us a roll of fine butter weighing one and three quarters pound, the result of one day’s milking from one cow, and challenges any other ranchman in the county to produce as fine an article in as great a quantity in the same length of time.
1889: “Nobody’s Darling: Her face is wide, head is thick/Her tongue keeps up a clackety-click/Minds everyone’s business but her own/A nuisance abroad and a pest at home.”
1898: F.L. Martin and Alex McDonald threshed their winter wheat with returns of 40 bushels to the acre for the former and 30 to the latter.
1906: Captain Baker, R. Westman and William Springer have been developing what is known as the “lost mine” property.
1913: A move is on to complete the Spanish Trail highway across La Veta Pass and the San Luis Valley all the way to the Grand Canon [sic].
1920: New census figures show La Veta has a population of 737, compared to 691 in 1910 and 254 in 1900.
1927: Roy Heikes has about finished building the Boyd filling station which is attractive and adds much to the intersection of Francisco and Main streets.
1934: Thirty local men have organized the Spanish Peaks Sportsman Club to provide better fishing on the Cucharas River. Memberships are available for $2.50 a year.
1941: Charles M. Mack died in Santa Monica, Calif. He used to own the Vernon ranch at The Gap on the Cucharas but left about 30 years ago.
1948: Miss Constance Ghiardi returned to La Veta after her graduation from Colorado State College in Greeley with her Master of Arts in English degree.
1956: The rock walls of the future Cuchara Camps Recreation Hall have been erected to window sill height.
1962: Bobby Willis was named all around junior cowgirl of the annual 4-H County Rodeo.
1968: Elementary teachers this year are Mrs. Bernice Aguirre, kindergarten, Mrs. Alice Kopine and Mrs. W. Phillips, first, second and third grades, Mrs. Bessie Moore, fourth, Mrs. Frances Magnino, fifth and Mrs. Robert Leonetti, sixth.
1974: Winners in the “Please Don’t Eat the Daisies” category of the Spanish Peaks Garden Club’s competition at the county fair were Helen Colvin, first, Dora Ashley, second and Anna Ferrari, third.
1980: The first annual Francisco Fort Day was a complete success. Leading the event’s opening parade were Frank and Gilbert Arnold and John Taft on horseback.
1987: St. Rep. Juan Trujillo attended Francisco Fort Day and urged local residents to support the proposed new Scenic Highway of Legends with their ideas.
1993: New teachers in the elementary school this year will be Patricia Patch, fifth grade, and Randi Huff, third.
