Walsenburg
1880: A.R. Campbell of Walsenburg has the only furniture store in Huerfano County and keeps constantly a full supply of all kinds of furniture. Parties in this section can do as well with him as they can do in Pueblo.
1885: Married, Francisco Gomez and Antonia Trujillo, both of Walsenburg, and John J. Poli, Walsenburg, and Eliza K. Deal of the Santa Clara.
1889: Dave Farr has become the jolly butcher at the new Metropolitan Meat Market next door to the post office.
1895: Silver Mountain is again attracting attention after some rich ore was removed from the Edith mine’s 60-foot shaft.
1900: The Electric Company have [sic] secured the services of J.A. Rogers, former electrician at the Walsen mines, and soon the lights will be above reproach.
1905: The J.P. Kearns’ corner building at Fifth and Main streets was sold on the first to George Dick. Walsenburg Investment Company has been occupying the front rooms for some time and the Pinon Supply Company will occupy others after Dr. I.B. Laymer vacates them.
1910: The boys and girls basketballers from Huerfano County High School went to Aguilar Saturday to play that local team but withdrew from the court when stones were thrown at them.
1915: Two suitcases with six suits, an overcoat, three hats and four pairs of pants were stolen from Walsenburg Tailoring Company.
1920: The Denver and Rio Grande will build a freight depot on the site of its old passenger depot which burned down last September.
1925: Died, Emmit G. “Dick” Miller, 92, pioneer. He came from the Picketwire in 1866 to Miller Lake, near Huerfano, and has lived there since. Of his 19 children, 14 survive. He had worked as a teamster at the Cameron mine for many years and had gone to work that day, too.
1930: More than 20 young men showed up for the first day of basketball practice at the county high school, including lettermen Charles Rini, Glen Mathews and Richard Bailey.
1935: Men’s Dress Shirts, $1.25; One Piece Underdrawers, $2.50; Pigskin Gloves, $1.95; Braces, $1.00, at Kriers.
1940: Plans for a $14,000 Works Progress Administration project at the Valdez Reservoir, known as Saliba Lake at old Cucharas, will be submitted to make a fish retaining pond.
1945: Louis R. Campbell, son of Mr. and Mrs. Tom Campbell of Walsenburg, is playing with the San Diego Dons in the new American Basketball League of nine teams.
1950: State Senator Sam Taylor of Walsenburg today told the Colorado Public Utilities Commission that increasing the use of natural gas is killing the state’s coal mining industry.
1955: Ernie’s Hideaway two miles west of Walsenburg on Highway 160 in the old Hideaway building, will have a grand opening Tuesday and from 9:30 to 11 p.m. there will be free beer.
1960: The annual Huerfano County tax sale netted $5,026, the highest amount received in 10 years, for 101 real estate parcels and 40 mineral rights.
1965: Don Stimack of Canon City, former St. Mary High School star athlete and coach, was selected Coach of the Year in the AAA League.
1970: High winds damaged 70,000 pounds of steel girders at the construction site of the Hanover Modular Homes, Inc., plant, causing $50,000 worth of damage. The same storm toppled the screen at the Trail Drive-In theater and it is a complete loss.
1975: City Council’s new salary increase will see the Chief of Police receive $782 a month, the police captains $644 and policemen $569.
1980: Sam Huddleston’s job as County Planner has been terminated immediately by the Huerfano County Commissioners after he has served approximately 10 years. County Land Use Administrator Drew Nigrini is expected to be appointed to the job.
1985: Hospital Administrator James Gwilliam has been suspended after he terminated Director of Nurses Lois Coomer.
1990: After three years of legal wrangling, Chipeta Accessories of Walsenburg received certification of approval to employ home workers.
1995: City Council agreed to sell 43.40 acres in the Industrial Park for $80,000 to the County Correctional Authorization Board for a minimum security prison.
La Veta
1884: Marshal O. Bemen’s salary of $25 demanded by him for the past month was finally approved for payment, but future paychecks were suspended.
1889: There is some controversy over whether Henry Daigre is an American citizen or not, and those who claim he never took out naturalization papers want him removed from the office of county judge.
1899: The school has been closed for this week or until the fear of contagion by scarlet fever has passed. Several families have not isolated their children so the disease is spreading and several children have died.
1904: O. Bemen and Jasper Kerby have put up an extra stable behind their livery for their recently purchased German Coach stallion and the nice Cleveland Bay of their own raising.
1909: Alex Firm got lost in the fog Monday evening between La Veta and the North Abeyta and might still be wandering around if it were not for the train whistles that guided him home.
1914: The water train [between La Veta and old Cucharas and the only convenient daily passenger service to Walsenburg] was on time on Sunday to the surprise of everybody. Mark it up as a red letter day.
1919: Town Board ordered Grand Street be opened to the creek and Cherry Street opened from Grand south to the county road.
1924: We regret the disappearance of the fine weather but the snowfall was baldly needed. About 10 inches was received which relieved a serious dry period.
1929: Herbert Moore, son of Zen and raised in La Veta, is raising turkeys on the old McBride place near Trinidad and has an old building in downtown Trinidad where he will pick some 2,600 birds for the holiday market.
1934: Eugene Ellis is superintending a job of straightening the Cucharas west of Walsenburg, where 50 men are at work. Another gang of relief workers is busy digging snow out of county roads around the area.
1939: Huerfano County is entering its seventh consecutive month of drought with farming prospects for 1940 dimming daily.
1944: Frank Powell’s kids – Lee, Glenn and Mrs. Howard Hankey – met up in California on their leaves from the military and he went there to be with them.
1949: Jean Brown, Pat Davis, Robert Zember and Hugh Young gave a program for ladies night at the Rotary Club meeting last Tuesday, with music and a history of Armistice and Thanksgiving Days.
1954: A boy was born December 1 to Mr. and Mrs. Ray Ryan.
1959: Superintendent Ed Hildebrand reported there were 711 paid admissions to the championship football game in La Veta last week for a total profit of $560. It was the first time our town has had a championship team.
1964: Christmas lights began going up on La Veta streets Wednesday just as December’s first snowfall began.
1969: Juniors on the honor roll this six weeks were Keith Flowerdew, Eugene Quintana, Sue Rohr, Nancy Bailey, Bucky Padilla and Russell Keeling.
1974: An exchange student program sent Billy Duzenack and Lindy Vezzani of La Veta High School to Walsenburg High School recently.
1979: Friends of the Arts Guild will have its annual Christmas Art Show and Sale in the old Presbyterian Church Saturday and Sunday, Dec 15 and 16.
1984: Mayor Garry Mayfield and members of the Town Board, local politicians and Cuchara Valley Resort officials dedicated the newly completed La Veta airport Saturday. Some 200 people were in attendance at the ceremony.
1989: David and Sandra Molyneaux became parents of a baby boy November 30. They have named him Evan Leroy.
1994: Main Street is getting some new improvements. Marilyn Hall is having a glassed-in addition built on the south side of her 1899 Inn, which will serve as a breakfast/dining room and for special events, and across the street, Dorothy Glover is having a two-story addition built.
