The Pueblo Lore
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SINGLE ISSUE PRICE $5.00 The pueblo lore Published monthly since 1975 by The area known as Water Barrel Flats is east of the hills known as The Turtle Buttes, which lies south of the Goodpasture settlement on the Beulah highway and north of the St. Charles River. A large portion of this area has recently been sub-divided for housing. During the mid 1920’s, the George Asher and Fred Easely families lived in this area and maintained flocks of turkeys to supplement their incomes. Family members followed the flocks while they foraged for insects in the pastures during the spring and summer months. Around the first of October, the flocks were confined and fed corn to prepare them for the Thanksgiving and Christmas markets. This photograph of the George Asher flock is from the Simonson Collection in the Special Collections Depart- ment of the Robert Hoag Rawlings Library. (Courtesy of the Robert Hoag Rawlings Library) November 2007 Volume 33 Number 11 A TEENAGER’S UNION DEPOT 1935-1942 Robert Collyer 1 SOME ITEMS OF PUEBLO’S PROGRESS DURING 1909 P. Chieftain, Jan. 2, 1910 9 LOOKING BACK—PUEBLO, NOVEMBER 1947 Jeanne Hickman 10 MARKING THE SITES OF PUEBLO’S SEVEN CITY HALLS PCHS 10 NELSON BRADLEY GRAVE SITE George R. Williams 12 SURVEYING DIKE PROJECT IN PEPPERSAUCE BOTTOMS P. Chieftain, March 26, 1911 14 PUEBLO’S STREET CARS Robert Strader 15 COLORADO FEUL & IRON COMPANY MINE RESCUE CAR #1 George R. Williams 21 READY TO SERVE AGAIN SOCIETY RECEIVES AWARD FOR 2007 COLORADO STATE FAIR George R. Williams 22 PARADE ENTRY The Pueblo County Historical Society 201 W. “B” Street Pueblo CO 81003 PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE ……………………………………….…………… November 2007 I am happy to say that our indexing of the Lore is almost complete. When Michael Theis and his group from the library are finished, anyone will be able to search for an article by title, author, date or any of three subject fields. For instance, if someone asked you if you remembered ElRoy Face, you could search the index by name in the subject field and it would tell you that ElRoy Face played for the Pueblo Dodgers in 1951, the article was in the Lore in a certain month and the article included photographs. It would tell you the title of the article and who wrote it. This will indeed be a giant step forward for the PCHS in aiding research. One more item we would like input on. Our library is busting at the seams! The Board has decided that we must cull our shelves of books that do not pertain to Pueblo in general, or at least to history of the area or of the U. S. In the past we have accepted dona- tions from people including donations of hundreds of books at one time and have dutifully cataloged the books and placed them on our shelves. Well the time has come when Sig- mund Freud will have to relinquish his place on the shelves. The question I pose to you is...what shall we do with the books we remove? Shall we have a book sale and then give the remaining books to the prisons for the inmates use? Should we give the to “Books Again” at the public library in the hope that they can be sold, or shall we what? If you have an idea please share it with a board member whose addresses and phone numbers are listed below. It is hard to part with books that have been donated, but we have reached the point where space is a major concern and we are a library of history. —Dwight Hunter —— PUEBLO COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY ((Telephone 719-543-6772 E-Mail: [email protected]) VISIT OUR WEBPAGE www.pueblohistory.org Museum with numerous exhibits related to Pueblo area history located in the Southeastern Colorado Heritage Center, 201 W “B” St. Edward Broadhead Library located on the upper level of the Heritage Center. Hours: 10 to 4 p.m., Tuesday through Friday, or upon special arrangement. MEMBERSHIPS: Student, $12.00 Single, $35.00. Couple or Family, $45.00. Supporting, $80.00. Sponsor, $200.00. Patron, $300.00. Benefactor, $1,000.00. Institutional or Corporate, $1,000.00. Memberships include 12 monthly issues of The Pueblo Lore, library privileges, monthly programs, and related benefits. MEMBERSHIP APPLICATION is in every issue. MEETINGS: 2ND Thursday of each month, Sept. through May at the Elks Lodge, 5th & Santa Fe. Dinner at 6 p.m. Program at 7 p.m. OFFICERS: PRESIDENT: Dwight Hunter, 1003 W. Grant Ave., Pueblo CO 81004 (564-6946) V. PRESIDENT: Jeff Arnold, 45000 Fields Road, Avondale, CO 81022 (947-3682) SECRETARY: Louise Keach, 7 Terrace Drive, Pueblo, CO 81001 (544-1315) TREASURER: Pattee Williams, 38 Country Club Village, Pueblo CO 81008 (543-5294) PAST PRESIDENT: George R. Williams, 38 Country Club Village, Pueblo CO 81008 (543-5294) BOARD OF DIRECTORS: 3 year: Bill Crain (546-1443), Larry Frank (542-1652), Barbara Sabo (547-2383), Arlene Manzanares (564-5951) 2 year: Susan Adamich (561-3381), Naomi Allen (583-9009), Weston Burrer (543-7600), John Ercul, Mary Jane Voelker (561-2693) 1 year: George Abel (561-0995), Robert Strader (542-5150),Halcyon Mathis (561-1080), Patricia Valenciano (544-7500), Ken Clark (561-2826) Library Directors: Dorothy Hammond (566-1605) Michael Theis (542-0442) PUEBLO LORE: ISSN 0741-6598. Pueblo County Historical Society, 201 W. “B” St., Pueblo CO 81003 Editor & Production Manager: Niki Summers 252-1201 ([email protected]) Editor Emerita: Arla Aschermann 545-4272 ([email protected]) Staff: P.O. Abbott 544-8655 ([email protected]) Dwight Hunter 564-6946 ([email protected]) Donna Abel 561-0995 ([email protected]) Bob Strader 542-5150 ([email protected]) Ken Clark 561-2826 George R. Williams 543-5294 ([email protected]) Jeanne Hickman 546-0113 ([email protected]) Appropriate contributions welcome, neatly typewritten with sources, or submitted in Microsoft Word on disk or e-mail attachment. Bylines: Pay in copies only. Mail to Pueblo Lore, Pueblo County Historical Society, 201 W “B” St., Pueblo CO 81003. No return of material unless postage-paid self-addressed envelope included. The Society disclaims responsibility for statements of fact or opinion made by contributors. We will not accept material with obvious historical errors. The Publication Committee reserves the right to correct errors. Copyright © 2007 Pueblo County Historical Society – All rights reserved Pueblo Lore — November 2007 — 1 A TEENAGER’S UNION DEPOT 1935-42 By Robert Collyer Editor’s Note: This article describes how it was at the historic Pueblo Union Depot before the outbreak of the second World War. The author’s mother, Hallie Nicholas Collyer, was at this time head waitress in the Depot dining room. It was a sort of homecoming for Hallie as she had waitressed in the Depot a number of years earlier, including the time around 1919. In 1935, a single mother with a son entering his teen years, she re- turned to the Depot, and they moved into quarters on the third floor. Bob Collyer has here related many of his impressions of a past decade, while railroading was still in its prime. Union Depot, Pueblo, as it appears today. (PCHS Photo) Upon approaching the old Depot, a visi- ever.” And yet, memories linger on. The grassy tor might pause in wonder at the statue of God- plots on either side of the main walk have long dess Diana. One might sense that she is now been modified, no longer surrounded by the old the guardian of old Union Station. After all it fancy low concrete edging. Lounging on the had been rudely abandoned since the golden grass in the old days always ensured a good age of railroading, a victim of economics and coat of railroad soot for one’s outer garments. changing preferences in public transportation. The section to the West once hosted a parking As Diana aims her arrow toward the Northwest, area for the old Bluebird Cabs of the late thir- the old edifice still retains an outer semblance ties and forties. of its long history, which began in the Victorian Gone for a time were the large concrete Era. Diana’s lack of costume might have urns that had embellished the lawns since the shocked the proper sensibility of that age, but Victorian Age. Now they, or good substitutes, she would no doubt receive an occasional ap- are back, in different locations, painted black, preciative glance, if only in the interest of art. and alive with flowers. The physical layout of the Depot evokes The big main entrance to the Depot no many a scene of the past; even more, it recalls longer has the six inch step up, making access long gone acquaintances that make old memo- much easier than in the old days. ries come alive. Within, the original hall floor is no longer Coming up the walk to the front entrance there, either covered over, or removed and of the Union Depot in the twenty-first century, replaced. On the right, there is an old shoe- one might feel that “nothing stays the same for- shine stand, probably one of the three that in 2 — PUEBLO LORE — November 2007 replaced. On the right, there is an old shoe- one for gentlemen. The renovators thoughtfully shine stand, probably one of the three that in provided doors that replicate the original depot times past had stood between the doorway to décor. the men’s restroom and that to the old baggage At this point another narrow hallway counter, off the main waiting area. marks what on the left had been the back end of a scullery section, where the restaurant’s huge pots and pans were scrubbed.