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This week in history for January 5, 2012

Walsenburg
1896: In the past year, Walsenburg has been improved with telephone service and the addition of a second railroad, the Union Pacific Denver and Gulf. Nearly $12,000 was expended on new buildings in the town.
1903: In the fall of 1864 or the spring of 1865 was made the first settlement at Pineda Plaza on both sides of the arroyo west of the Robinson and Walsen mines. By 1866 there were settlements all along the Cucharas River to the east.
1911: The Eagles gave their regular New Year’s Eve Ball Saturday night and the room was so crowded that dancing was uncomfortable.
1917: T.M. Hudson, president of the Independent Publishing Company, and his wife moved to Denver where he is a representative for the Kitchen Supply Company of Chicago.
1923: Died, Francisquita Bustos, 105-year-old pioneer who moved to Leon Plaza, a narrow strip of land between the ball field and Main Street, when there was one store and three dwellings.
1929: Standard Brick Company of Pueblo operates two fire clay mines close to Mustang with a railroad spur running two and a half miles to the double tracks.
1936: Approximately 1,152 people are employed upon relief forces in Huerfano County, working on 19 projects.
1942: Fire completely destroyed the Central Beer Tavern at 524 Main Street while temperatures of between minus 10 and 12 degrees hampered fire fighting efforts. The loss is estimated at about $8,000 to $10,000.
1949: The Huerfano County Commissioners approved the proposal to designate a county road supervisor and named Thomas J. Herron to the position.
1956: Domenic Nardini says the famed Harlem Globetrotters will be here Feb. 6 for a game with The House of David team and including a variety show to be presented during halftime.
1963: During 1962, the office of the Huerfano County Clerk issued a total of 55 marriage licenses with June and November the most popular months to wed.
1970: Thursday and Friday at the Fox Theater – Glenn Ford in “Heaven with a Gun” plus Rowan and Martin in “The Maltese Bippy.”
1977: A drilling rig at the new Atlantic Richfield gas well near Gardner collapsed Monday night but no official explanation has been given for the accident.
1984: Pam Van Raden says her Pam’s Hair Design will in future be known as the Silver Scissors, 510 Main Street.
1991: Jim and Rubie Tesitor had five generations of their families as guests over the Christmas holiday, ranging from 18 months to 96 years.

La Veta
1881: Dr. Charles Washington, who was run out of La Veta after mistreating his wife, was lynched in Otero, New Mex., for murdering several people, including his own infant and his business partner.
1898: You can’t loaf around La Veta for one day without hearing enough gossip to make a well man sick.
1907: Will Woodruff has expanded his Profit Sharing Store on Main Street to include the sale of clocks, jewelry, hardware, confectionery, musical instruments, real estate and fire insurance.
1914: The water train from Cucharas was blockaded in snow between here and Walsenburg nearly all day Wednesday.
1920: A seasonable white Christmas, with plenty of cold weather, suited the younger generation but just as some sleighing parties were ready to go, a thaw interfered.
1928: The Pueblo Chieftain recently published an article about the Spanish Peaks and the Indian legends of the “Huajalote.”
1935: According to the memory of Charles Hayden, the Utes under Chief Ouray, or, more properly, Ulay, lived on a reservation near the Hayden home and grist mill on the Huerfano River for a few years in the 1870s.
1941: Wilford and Catherine Ireland of Westcliffe visited this week at the home of their sister, Mrs. James Falk.
1947: The New Year arrived in La Veta without fanfare or fuss. A couple of pistols popped but … the prevailing cold weather evidently dampened enthusiasm.
1953: Atomic spies Julius and Ethel Rosenberg will die in the electric chair this month unless President Truman intervenes.
1960: More than 400 motorists purchased 1960 license plates from the county clerk’s office the first three days of this week.
1967: Warren Farrar is renting one, two and three bedroom, furnished or unfurnished, apartments in the former cheese factory that he has remodeled.
1974: A New Year’s Eve snowstorm deposited more than two feet of snow in La Veta and some three plus feet in Cuchara.
1980: Jan. 2 brought another snowfall to town, bringing the season’s total since October to 60 inches.
1987: Twenty-five Brownies and Junior Girl Scouts from La Veta joined with the Walsenburg troops for a day of roller skating in Trinidad.
1994: Town Board approved for one year Wallace Williams’ use of a yurt at 204 E. Francisco despite passing an ordinance last summer prohibiting tents.

Cement plant concerns

Building inspector suggests a negotiated move out of Northlands to site near prison WALSENBURG — The Walsenburg City Council convened a special meeting Friday, March

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