La Veta
1905: A petition was submitted seeking a post office at Occidental coal mine.
1912: Col. John Ownbey sold his ranch west of town to J.P. Morgan and is making arrangements to manage it himself.
1919: Huerfano County produced 2,619,419 tons of coal during the past year, an increase of 243,758 tons over the previous year.
1925: Bad weather and blocked roads can’t stop La Veta autoists, they just disconnect the engine and hitch on a team. The method is slow but sure.
1931: The Smoke House next to the La Veta Hotel on Ryus was closed down several weeks ago but Charlie Galassini is preparing to reopen and operate it.
1938: Dollar Days at Coleman Drug: Lysol, a $1.20 value, $1; Pond’s Extract, normally $1.25, only $1.
1945: The first graders have welcomed a new student to their class – he is Jerry Masinton of Walsenburg.
1952: Mr. and Mrs. Eugene Heikes and baby have returned from Palmer Lake and are making their home on the Williamson ranch north of La Veta.
1958: The Redskins continued their winning ways last weekend with victories over Hooper, 52-39, and Moffat, 63-28.
1963: An arctic cold front last week sent the temperature to 36 below zero and brought a snow storm on Saturday.
1969: No one won the jackpot at the bingo games Saturday night in I.O.O.F. Hall but Steven Aguirre won the door prize of $12.50. Not bad for a little boy.
1973: Mr. and Mrs. Ray Scarberry of Oklahoma City have leased the restaurant of the Inn of the Spanish Peaks above Cuchara which can now accommodate 36 diners.
1978: Jill Marie was born Jan. 16 in Huerfano Memorial Hospital to Bruce and Janice Bailey. She has a brother, Jeb
1983: Panadero Ski Resort will have a Festival in the Snow Saturday, Jan. 29 with skiers in costumes vying in several events.
1987: Baker Creek Restaurant at Cuchara Valley Resort will have a special party and buffet during the Super Bowl so skiers can root for the Broncos.
1991: The new recycling center east of the post office opened and a 50% drop in waste has been seen going into the landfill.
Walsenburg
1910: Huerfano County stock growers purchased 20 head of registered Hereford bulls and cows at the stock show in Denver, twice as many as purchased for shipment to any other county in Colorado.
1917: P.L. Sanchez opened a real estate and insurance office in the Roof and Dick building, Sixth and Main streets.
1922: The Mother Superior of Sacred Heart School in Gardner has returned from Mexico bringing two Sisters, one of whom will teach in the school.
1928: Approximately $2,500 will be spent remodeling the county courthouse, where crews will enlarge the Fifth Street entrance and put in steps inside, over which an eight by twenty-six foot vault will be installed for the treasurer’s office.
1934: Huerfano County produced 60,518 tons of coal during December, to bring the year’s total to 574,659 tons, a decrease from 1932 of 103,833 tons. Those employed by the mines number 1,237 men.
1938: Two employees of Trinidad Electric escaped serious injuries at the power plant at Walsenburg when the boiler they were inspecting was inadvertently turned on, giving them painful steam burns.
1943: Considerable damage was done locally in a windstorm, especially to Bain Department Store and the Colorado Hotel building at Seventh and Main. The howling windstorm has continued all week causing great damage to electrical poles and wires, roofs, signs, windows, chimneys and trees.
1950: The average county coal miners worked only 160 days in 1949 and were idle 94 days due to strikes and reduced work weeks, so earned just $2,390.44 to $2,800.
1956: Two would-be thieves lost their tools and their nerve last night when a watchman’s small dog frightened them after they broke into Walsenburg Creamery.
1962: Ground blizzards closed U.S. Highway 85-87 just north of Apache City for five hours last Saturday.
1968: Congressman Frank Evans said a $168,043 grant was approved to assist in construction of a proposed Huerfano County Community Action Center, 9th and Russell.
1975: Open House will be Sunday, 1-4 p.m., in the new Walsenburg Day Care Center at 10th and Russell.
