Walsenburg 1866: The county commissioners approved a request from the owners of the Kiowa and Pond Creek Wagon Road Company to extend their road from the northern part of the county to the Smoky Hill River. 1881: The Walsenburg coal banks produced 3,603 tons of coal in May to bring the total to 20,798 tons this year to date. 1892: Judge Hayden says he first noticed an odd geologic formation on Greenhorn Mountain near his home about 17 years ago, but did not discover the tin deposit and open his mine until last summer. 1899: Mr. Mooney says he can produce 15,000 bricks per day at his yard above the Denver and Rio Grande depot. His machine requires two horses and a force of men, and he employs 12 men and five horses. 1906: George Olsafsky of Pictou and Jack Gordon of Toltec have been matched for a foot race at $200 a side. 1911: Mesdames Wells and L.B. Sporleder and their brothers Mssrs. Fred and Adolph Unfug will celebrate their 30th
anniversary of arriving in Walsenburg June 11. 1917: Mrs. Perry Kimbrel has resigned her position as Democratic party chairman. 1924: D.L. Cohen has opened a dry goods and furnishings store at 714 Main Street. 1931: Gaston Santi arrived home from Grinnell, Iowa, Thursday evening, having hitch-hiked from some point in Kansas. He says Steve Kukolich is still on his way. 1937: Only two percent of Walsenburg businesses display street numbers on their buildings. 1943: Washington School has earned more than $2,200, Hill School $455.30 and Seventh Street School, $22.50, toward the purchase of three Jeeps for the Army. 1949: Two enterprising Walsenburg youths, Elvin Lee, 17, and Billy Pickens, 16, have leased the Phillips “66” service station at 724 West Seventh Street. 1955: Mike Lenzini succeeds Gerald Ariano as president of the local Lions Club with Lloyd Sehnert, Robert Meyer and Dr. M.R. Page, vice presidents, Anthony Tesitor, secretary and Alfred Stephens, treasurer. 1961: A new information window has been readied on the East Fifth Street side of the Huerfano County Chamber of Commerce building at Fifth and Main streets to replace the old tourist hut. 1967: Mr. and Mrs. Steve Dolzanie, who live 11 miles south of Walsenburg, won the electric range at the annual San Isabel Electric Association stockholders meeting. 1973: Roberta Pineda won the first prize of 4,000 Gold Bond stamps at the grand opening of the Pig ‘n String Western Store on North Walsen Avenue. 1980: City Council has raised the salaries of all full time employees by $75.00 a month, beginning July 1 and will extend the vacation times of veteran employees of more than 10 years. 1986: Walsenburg High School Coach Mike Ridolfi won the delayed 13th annual Lamme Cup golf tournament last weekend after snow cancelled play on May 31. 1993: Kimberly Ann Eldredge graduated magna cum laude with a Bachelors of Arts degree in elementary education at Adams State College.
La Veta 1882: Dr. Miller’s crew just finished cleaning out one of his mines and laying logs on the ground for a cabin when a snow slide covered them up. Snow is sadly delaying work in the Spanish Peaks this season. 1888: Town Board members agreed to grade Francisco Street from the bridge over the Cucharas to Burch [sic] Street if the cost is no greater than $50.00. 1894: Town Board did not meet this week due to a failure to achieve a quorum, despite needing to appoint a new marshal since Alex Young refused the position. 1900: W.H. “Uncle Billy” Adamson has constructed a road machine from an ancient hay baler and it will be used for scrapping and leveling the town’s streets. 1906: Three cars from a freight train left the track on Middle Creek just above the Bemen sawmill and rolled down the hill. Luckily no one was injured. 1912: Engineers and surveyors are working to lay out a switch to the Alliance Coal Company mine at Ojo. The spur will follow the old narrow gauge grade but will be widened for standard gauge. 1918: Dave Clark is hors de combat after an old cow he was trying to milk got on the prod and broke some of his ribs. 1924: H.R. Jones was visiting here from New Mexico and recalled back in the 1880s when a road went south between the Spanish Peaks into Las Animas County. 1930: Mr. and Mrs. Allen J. Roush returned from Denver with a little nine month old baby girl they adopted named Mary Joeanne. 1936: More than 100 people attended the grand opening of the Hotel Park Lane, formerly the Springer Hotel, last Saturday and Sunday. 1942: La Veta will celebrate the 4th of July with the usual rousing big program of races, sports, baseball, fireworks, dances, etc., under the sponsorship of the American Legion. 1948: The abuse of residents in the use of town water has caused the Board to tighten up restrictions on lawn sprinkling. 1953: Mr. and Mrs. Loren C. Bray have purchased the 560-acre ranch of Mr. and Mrs. Myron E. Beck six miles south of La Veta in Wahatoya Canon and Bill Duzenack will be ranch foreman. 1960: The state highway department has allocated a half a million dollars for improvements in the La Veta Pass area. 1966: Robert Lynch of DeBeque is the new superintendent of schools to replace Edwin P. Hildebrand who resigned recently, according to Charles J. Tracy, president of the Re-2 School Board. 1972: Nola, the 15-year-old daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Blair Long of La Veta, will visit the United Nations and tour New York City after winning the trip sponsored by the Odd Fellows Lodge. 1978: Thieves broke into the La Veta Mall and stole cash from the Quik Shop and $500 worth of jewelry from the Homestead Antique Shop, though the other three businesses were untouched. 1984: Town Board expects to annex all the property belonging to the Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad at its June 19 meeting. 1990: Town Board refused a request for $600 from the Scenic Highway of Legends because Board members do not approve of the way their brochure describes La Veta.
