La Veta
1903: Harry Lawton has his dried fruits displayed in a nice new showcase which cost $30 but adds much to the appearance of the goods and the grocery store.
1909: A petition has been filed with the town clerk praying that the question of saloons or no saloons in town be submitted to the voters in the spring election.
1915: L.P. Springer says he will remain at the Sulphur Springs all summer to superintend for the new owner the erection of a hotel and tearing down of the old bath house to build a new one on the same site.
1921: John Shanks, grandson of Mr. and Mrs. David Firm, died in a boxing contest in Pueblo and was buried here this week.
1927: This is “Better Speech Week” and it’s badly needed, for, what with slang and jazz expressions, we soon won’t be able to understand ourselves.
1934: And believe it or not – winter is here at last. For the first time since the winter of 1933, the mercury slid down the scale and hit zero last night, but it did not go below that mark. The high was 25, making it the first day this year that the temperature did not pass over the freezing point.
1939: Painters this week removed the old “Kincaid’s” sign from the north wall of the store and replaced it with a new “The Old Reliable” sign.
1944: Measurements on the La Veta Pass snow course March 1 showed 27.8 inches of snow with a water content of 6.8 inches. The six year average is 26.5 with 5.8 water.
1958: The old wood over adobe Methodist church on east Francisco Street is being dismantled by Warren Farrar, the new owner of the property. It was built in 1878 and used until the 1920s when the new church was built on Main Street.
1964: About 80 inches of snow has fallen this winter and currently there are five and six foot drifts throughout over the valley.
1971: La Veta’s high school marching and concert band has new uniforms thanks to the generosity of Huerfano County merchants and individuals.
1979: Citizens will go to the polls for a special election Tuesday, March 13, to vote on the $30,000 bond issue to build and equip a new town hall to replace the old one that burned about two years ago.
Walsenburg
1898: If your paper was not up to its usual standard we apologize, but our expansion steam press fell through the floor, damaging it so it was not working smoothly.
1906: Little Nellie Dorman won 50¢ from Marshal V.C. Wolfe on the outcome of a foot race between them, which our popular marshal lost due to a fall.
1913: Say, do you know that Easter will not come so early again for 100 years? [It was March 23 in 1913].
1922: L.H. Kirkpatrick and Paul Wayt have bought a great deal of land in the Atencio subdivision and it may be annexed into the City of Walsenburg. A. Levy owns quite a bit also and will dedicate some of the land for streets and alley ways.
1930: Ingersoll Company of Pueblo has acquired controlling interest in the Coler Ditch and Reservoir Company, owners of Martin Lake two miles west of Walsenburg.
1936: The annual firemen’s ball will be in Elks Club Saturday, March 7 when the music will be provided by Ken Wolfe’s orchestra and the Hoosier Hot Shots.
1942: Members of the Walsenburg Boy Scout troops realized $60 from the collection of waste paper in the city. So far they have purchased $25 in defense bonds and spent $15 for uniforms.
1948: The average mean temperature in Walsenburg during 1947 was 51.2 degrees, with the highest temperature of 96 on July 29 and the lowest five below on Jan. 3.
1954: After an unseasonably warm February, March blew in like a raging lion.
1960: City Council approved an amended $89,176.51 general fund budget for 1960 after cutting councilmen’s compensation, the attorney’s salary, Blue Cross payments and salaries in the police department.
1967: King Crab Legs, 89¢ lb; Hormel’s Bacon, 58¢ lb; Veal, Beef or Pork Steakettes, 79¢ lb. Safeway Store.
1974: Once again the Huerfano County jail was cited by the Colorado Department of Health and the county commissioners and law enforcement officials are discussing a combined city-county complex.
1980: City Council paid Zorc Home Improvement Center $10,712.85 for completing the final phase of interior remodeling of the new city hall complex.
