Organizations

: Mesa Conservation District (Mesa County, Colorado); A soil conservation district that promotes good soil and irrigation practices in agriculture. According to Richard "Dick" Woodfin, who worked as an agricultural extension agent in Mesa County from 1946, the conservation district was set up by the agricultural extension service. The Conservation District has several ongoing projects, including its work in partnership with Mesa County Libraries on the Discovery Garden.

: Mesa County 4-H Clubs (Colorado); A local branch of the national organization that develops youth into leaders in the agricultural industry.

: Mesa County Abstract Company (Grand Junction, Colorado); A title company owned by Joseph Measures in the early Twentieth century. Measures became a local postmaster and sold the company to E.W. Reame in the 1920’s. Reame, in turn, sold the company to Richard Williams in 1943. Williams’s father, Orlo Williams, was an abstractor for the Independent Abstract Company. Richard consolidated the company with the Independent Abstract Company, which he already owned.

: Mesa County Department of Human Services; The Mesa County Department of Human Services, once known as the Mesa County Department of Public Welfare, has delivered several services to Mesa County residents since 1936. The department contains several units, including: Adult Protection, Child Welfare, and Fraud Investigation. According to oral history interviewee Helen (Young) Johnson, who, beginning in late 1940's, worked at the department for 20 years, the Public Welfare Department was once housed in the Mesa County Courthouse at 544 Rood Avenue. Its offices are now at 510 29 1/2 Road.

: Mesa County Farm Labor Association (Mesa County, Colorado); An organization created in 1945 to deal with the agricultural labor shortage in Mesa County. Oscar Winfield Jaynes Jr. was selected as its first head.

: Mesa County Medical Society (Mesa County, Colorado); An organization of doctors, hospitals, and health services in Mesa County. It was founded on July 23, 1903. According to Winifred Bull, Dr. Heman R. Bull's daughter, Dr. Bull received a call from the Colorado Medical Society encouraging him to found a local medical society. He initiated the society’s founding shortly after. A group of local physicians met in his office and established the organization. The first members were Bull, L.F. Ingersoll, A.G. Taylor, Knud Hanson, F.R. Smith, and H.R. Henderson. The Medical Society donated the first obstetrical delivery table to the Plateau Valley Hospital.

: Mesa County Mental Health Association; An organization in Mesa County that provided mental health education and guidance. It helped found the Mental Health Center, which provided actual treatment for patients.

: Mesa County Oral History Project; The Mesa County Oral History Project was begun as a joint project of the Museums of Western Colorado and Mesa County Libraries in 1975. At that time, pioneers and the children of pioneers were donating items to the museum. Each of them had a story to tell, and Anne Saunders, Curator of Collections, realized the importance of those stories. She a secured a grant and the Oral History Project was born. The Oral History Project collected tape-recorded interviews with early residents of Mesa County and surrounding areas, and interviews with the descendants of early residents. The Central Branch of the Library housed the duplicate audiocassettes, while the Museum stored the master tapes. The Mesa County Historical Society also contributed significantly to the Oral History Project by collaborating with the library and museum to select interviewees, and by providing interviewers and other volunteers. Today, the Museums of Western Colorado continue to record oral histories with residents who have important knowledge of the area’s history. Mesa County Libraries (MCL) no longer keeps duplicate copies of tapes. But MCL is now working with the Museums of Western Colorado to digitize interviews from the Oral History Program, and to provide online access to the interviews through the MCL catalog. The original audiocassettes, interview transcripts, and other source material for the Mesa County Oral History Project are housed at the Museum.

: Mesa County Peach Administrative Board (Mesa County, Colorado); A Mesa County peach industry committee based primarily in Palisade, Colorado.

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