Organizations
Collection for organization entities.
Pages
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- Rebekahs Mesa Lodge #58 (Grand Junction, Colorado)
- As a companion organization to the local Odd Fellows Mesa Lodge #58, The International Association of Rebekah Assemblies met at the Odd Fellows Hall. According to member Helen (Young) Johnson, they met every fortnight. They changed officers every year. They had a subsidiary called a Past Nobel Grands club that met to do textile work in the afternoons (the time switched to evenings as more of the attendees started working outside of the home). Initially, members all had to be related to a member of the Odd Fellows. Now, any woman of good character may belong.
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- Red Cross Land and Fruit Company (Mesa County, Colorado)
- The Red Cross Land and Fruit Company managed the Cross Orchards, located at what is now 3073 F Road in the Fruitvale area of Mesa County, Colorado. Cross Orchards was the largest fruit growing operation in the county for many years. It was founded by Isabel Cross and later owned by her younger brother, Walter Bigelow Cross. Isabel (shown living with Walter as children in Vermont in the 1860 U.S. Census), apparently bought the land on which Cross Orchards sits in 1896 along with her half-brother Daniel (shown living with Isabel as children in Vermont in the 1850 U.S. Census). She shortly consolidated holdings on the land by purchasing the acreage owned by Daniel. She offered public stock on Cross Orchards in 1899, but had no takers, and so incorporated the Red Cross Land and Fruit Company in 1909. Walter Cross was rumored to be associated with the Red Cross Shoe brand and its fortune, but this was not the case. Rather, he was in various shoe business partnerships in Denver. His father seems to have been a successful merchant, but was in the tavern and grocery businesses, and not the shoe business. Cross Orchards was one of the largest orchards in Colorado between 1899 and 1923. In 1980, the property was acquired by the Museum of Western Colorado and became Cross Orchards Historic Site. To this day it is a tourist exhibit where visitors get a feel for the fruit farmer lifestyle in the old pioneer days of the Grand Valley. *Some of the information in this entry was acquired from the Museums of Western Colorado's docent guide. The above photo of a barn on the Cross Orchards property was shared with permission of the Museum.
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- Redlands Community Church, Mesa County, Colorado
- According to the website of the Redlands Community Church, it began in 1921 as a spiritual home for farmers who did not want to travel to Grand Junction or Fruita in order to go to church. It was, according to the site, the first church located in the Redlands. Kermit Brubaker served as the pastor there from 1965 to 1972. It is located at 2327 Broadway.
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- Redlands Company, Mesa County, Colorado
- It was established in 1913 as The Redlands Realty Company by Albert J. Schwartz, W. C. Osborne, and R. J. Bardwell. It was preceded by the Redlands Water and Power Company, which was organized in 1905. The history of the two companies intertwines, with the Water and Power Company conceived of as a means to bring to fruition the broader development and sale of real estate on the Redlands. According to William Rump, whose father Charles Rump was involved in the endeavor: “The first construction was started in 1905 and the first land was irrigated in 1907. In 1912, it became necessary to bring in outside capital for repairs to their system and to take care of past due obligations. Following negotiations with Fred L. Lucas, agent for Henry L. Doherty and Company, the property was taken over by Henry L. Doherty and Company. Mr. Lucas purchased 4643 shares of capital stock, of the 5000 shares issued and outstanding. Most of the land acquired by the company was in the undeveloped stage and for many years, farm operations were run with a larger idea in mind of a development of the project, rather than as a purely commercial farming proposition. Through the efforts, and at the expense, of the company, roads and bridges were built, land was surveyed, fences and ditches built, and farm improvements erected. Henry L. Doherty and company spent several million dollars on this project. Money at that time was hard to get. Losses mounted and in 1924 they started plans for liquidation. This was a long, drawn-out process, because land values in farm produce were at the very lowest. The first step was to get rid of the power plant and the irrigation system and it was given to the Redland farmers without cost. Negotiations were already in the making for the purchase by Henry L. Doherty and Company of the Grand Junction Electric, Gas, and Manufacturing Company, which included the electric plant, gas plant, ice plant, and the Grand River Valley Railroad Company. When the deal was completed, the Redlands Company was moved from the Reed Building to the Electric Building. By 1918, the main crops grown on the Redlands were alfalfa, wheat, oats, barley, corn, beets, potatoes, fruit, and vegetables of all descriptions. The fruit and vegetables were considered the best grown in the state. Through the recommendation of Professor Fulland, of the agricultural department of the D & RG Railroad, and Dr. Sam Steen, of the agricultural college, early in 1920, peach orchards were planted and, by 1941, some four hundred acres of fine peach orchards had been planted. Final dissolution of the Redlands Company came in the springs of 1945. A careful survey was made of each farm, the irrigable acreage determined. The price varied from a hundred and fifty to two hundred and fifty dollars per acre, depending on the lay of the land and its state of cultivation. In buying a farm of this kind, the purchaser pays only for the land that can be irrigated and farmed. No charge was made for waste land, which in many cases can be utilized for building areas, feed lots, and so forth. The Colorado National Monument bounds the greater part of the Redlands on the south. The Monument consists for approximately eighteen thousand acres, on which the Park Service had spent two million five hundred thousand dollars in construction of a finished highway. To my knowledge, the Redlands Company, Dad in-person, gave the Monument people – I don’t know – hundreds of thousands of cares, hundreds anyway, along the easterly boundary of the property. By 1941, a modern four-room schoolhouse, in addition to a kitchen, dining room, recreation room, had been completed. The Redlands also had a community clubhouse, which was probably the finest in any rural community in the United States. Corporate name, as of January 25, 1913: The Redlands Realty Company, Albert J. Schwartz, W. C. Osborne, and R. J. Bardwell. Name changed to the Redlands Company on October 21, 1919. Fred Lucas, president and Henry Tupper, secretary”. Charlie Rump and others were responsible for the development of orchard land in the Redlands area, including 100 acres of apples, with the orchards belonging to the company itself. These trees were removed after being afflicted by the coddling moth. Many years later, some peaches were planted. The company also constructed a ranch house and housing for 75 workers, located across from what is now Panorama subdivision. The ranching area had a main house, a West Camp, and a South Camp (which raised hogs). The ranch efforts were, in part, a funding source for other development projects in the area. They managed a small, low-grade coal mine, Blue Hill, near the river. They also built roads in the area.
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- Redlands Water and Power Company (Mesa County, Colorado)
- Originally called the Redlands Irrigation and Power Company in 1905, it was created to run irrigation operations on the Redlands area and run a hydro-electric plant. Currently, it's called the Redlands Water and Power Company and is a non-profit organization. The company was conceived as a way to provide the Redlands with the necessary utilities for growth as a community. It was organized in 1905 and incorporated in 1906 by F.C. Keifer, A.J. McCune, D.J. Stone, and R.A. Orr. The Water and Power Company preceded the Redlands Realty Company by 8 years, but the history of the two companies intertwines, with the Water and Power Company conceived of as a means to bring to fruition the broader development and sale of real estate on the Redlands. According to a history of the Water and Power Company as read by William Rump: “Their plan was to sell enough water contracts, at one hundred dollars per acre, to carry on the necessary construction. One share of water was allotted to each acre of irrigable land, and each share represented one third of a statute inch of water. Diversion of water for the Redlands Project is made from the Gunnison River under a decree from the State of Colorado, in Irrigation Division #4, District #42, as of July 31st, 1905, for 670 sections each. Plans for the development of the Redlands was well-conceived, but due to local opposition, which was assisted by the policy of the government land office, they were unable to secure titles for their land for a long time. The limited capital was exhausted, contents of title made it difficult to raise more money, so that the company had an uphill fight, which disrailed the development and robbed them of the greater part, if not all, of their anticipated profits. The first construction was started in 1905 and the first land was irrigated in 1907. In 1912, it became necessary to bring in outside capital for repairs to their system and to take care of past due obligations. Following negotiations with Fred L. Lucas, agent for Henry L. Doherty and Company, the property was taken over by Henry L. Doherty and Company.” According to Robert Gustafson, a manager with the Public Service Company office in Grand Junction during the early to mid-Twentieth century, the two companies exchanged power. Public Service director Charles Rump, who was also an early manager of the Redlands Company, may have initiated this exchange.
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- Redlands Women's Club (Grand Junction, Colorado)
- Created by people of the Redlands, it began as a social club that met in the homes of people around the Redlands in 1921. Viola Rump and other women were the primary founders. When the Grand Junction Country Club and Golf Course (now the Redlands Community Center) put its building and grounds up for sale during the Great Depression, the Women's Club held dinners and dances to raise money to purchase it. The Club held many luncheons, dinners and dances at the Community Center over the years.