A Digital Walking Tour of Salida
In the google map below, zoom in and click on a red pinpoint to view a historic image of a Salida building. Many of the photos contain detailed historical information from the Salida Historic Buildings Survey, courtesy the City of Salida and Front Range Research Associates. This Tour includes images from the Salida Library's Digital Collections.
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- 201 F Street
- Real estate appraisal card. 201 F Street, NELy 25' off lots 11-13, block 31, in Salida, Colorado. This site was where the disastrous fire of January 1888 started in Salida. At that date, Peter Mulvany was completing a three-story brick hotel on the site. A workman dropped a spark into a pile of shavings and within minutes the building was engulfed in flames. The fire soon spread to neighboring buildings, and the heat was so intense that buildings seemed to melt. Losses were estimated at $175,000, with nearly 60 businesses suffering losses. The fire led to greater construction of brick buildings in the downtown district. This building, erected in 1895, housed a fraternal hall of the Knights of Pythias on the second story and the First National Bank on the first story. The building was referred to as the Jones Block in early city directories, presumably after one of the founders of the First National Bank, E.B. Jones. The First National Bank of Salida occupied the main storefront from the time the building opened until 1934, when it moved to 200 F St. In 1889 the Salida News reported that the First National Bank would open in January 1890. The bank was the successor of the Continental Divide Bank. L.W. and D.H. Craig, operators of a pioneer dry goods firm in Salida, started the private Continental Divide Bank, in 1885. They incorporated as the First National Bank in the latter part of 1889. Stockholders were among the most prominent businessmen in the community. Officers and directors included: L.W. Craig, president; E.B. Jones, vice president; Frank 0. Stead, cashier; and L.W. Craig, E.B. Jones, J.G. Hollenbeck, E.R. Naylor, B.H. DeRemer, A.M. Alger, and J.B. Bowne, directors. In 1894 D.H. Craig became a director and in 1895 cashier, a position he continued to hold for many years. By 1900, the bank was called "without question Chaffee county's leading financial institution." Robert Preston, who was president of the bank by 1900, bought controlling interest in the institution in 1903, and the Preston family retained control for many years. In 1902 the bank was described as being conducted along "conservative yet liberal banking lines." By the 1920s it was the county's oldest financial institution. The bank later became a Thatcher bank and then a branch of Pueblo Bank & Trust. Salida had a large number of fraternal organizations. The Knights of Pythias was an international fraternity founded in Washington, D.C. in 1864 by Justus H. Rathbone. The primary goals of fraternal groups were to promote friendship and relieve suffering. Principles of the K. of P. included friendship, charity, and benevolence. The organization sought moral uplifting and purification of society. Strict morality, absolute truthfulness, honor, and integrity were required of its members. The organization began during the Civil War and was the first American order ever chartered by an act of Congress. Members of the organization in Salida were primarily railroad employees. In 1889, the Salida News Holiday Edition recorded, "Iron Mountain Lodge No. 19, Knights of Pythias, is a very popular benevolent society in Salida. It has a very large membership among the people of Salida, and its meetings are always well attended." Members of the organization meet at the Odd Fellow's Hall before they erected their own building. The upstairs of the building reportedly remains much as it was during the time It was a fraternal lodge. By 1914 an office space at the rear of the building facing 2nd Street had been created. For many years, this was the office of Charles F. Johnson, Realty. Johnson was also secretary-treasurer of the Salida Granite Corporation in the 1920s. He was born in Indiana in 1856 and moved to Colorado in 1878. In 1888 he moved to Salida, where he became a civic leader and successful businessman. He was elected city clerk and recorder four times and also served as county treasurer. Koster Insurance and Salida Finance were housed in this building from 1934 to 1986. Harold R. Koster established a real estate, insurance, and loan business in 1923 and the Salida Finance Co. in 1949. History Colorado's Architectural Inventory Forms have more information and are available at the Salida Library.
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- 204 E. 1st Street
- Real estate appraisal card. 204 E. 1st Street, lots 14 & 15, block 3, in Salida, Colorado.
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- 204 Lower F Street
- Real estate appraisal card. 204 Lower (or North) F Street, pt. SE 1/4, SE 1/4, Sec. 32 T 50N R 9E, in Salida, Colorado. The Palace Hotel was erected in 1906 by Ambrose Ramsey. The Salida Mail reported: 'Plans and specifications are now being drawn by Architect Anderson for a two-story brick block to be erected by Mr. A. Ramsey on lots owned by him on lower F Street adjoining the Windsor Cafe. The building will be 48 x 100, the first floor to contain a commodious office and cafe or business room as the owner may decide later, and the second floor will be divided into 25 comfortable sleeping rooms. The building will be strictly modern in every sense the word implies, being heated throughout with hot water and lighted with electricity. The front will be of cut stone and pressed brick and when completed will add very materially to the attractiveness of that section of the city.' Under the direction of Mr. Ramsey, and by April of 1909, the Palace Hotel was complete. The Salida Mail reported: 'Mr. Ramsey's taste in furnishing these rooms is the marvel of it all. Only the most expensive material has been used in the furnishings. Everything known to modern construction and furnishing is placed in this block and there is no argument when we say the building is the finest Salida ever had. It is finished throughout with Texas pine, drawn to the highest polish, even the doors being made of this expensive material, showing the natural grain of the wood ... The building is a credit to Salida and Chaffee County and Mr. Ambrose Ramsey is to be congratulated on finishing such a building. It will stand til eternity.' The cost of the building was $20,000. The 1914 Sanborn map showed that the first floor of the hotel was divided into a restaurant and a hotel office. The adjacent building on the corner to the south was also operated as part of the hotel. In the 1922 city directory, the Palace Hotel, operated by Mr. & Mrs. Egender, advertised 'European, commercial men's headquarters, free bus from depot.' In connection with the hotel, the Egenders operated the Palace Cafe. In 1927, the Salida Mail reported that Dr. R.B. Parris owned and operated the hotel, although most reports state that the Ramseys continued to own the building until 1970. Dr. Parris was from Nebraska and had worked as a dentist in Rocky Ford in 1908. His first hotel venture was in Gunnison, Colorado. The Palace, called a leading Salida hostelry, was described as 'ideally located on the main street within a stone's throw of the Denver & Rio Grande Western station.' By then, the hotel had 52 'sunshiny and airy rooms equipped with hot and cold running water, baths, and all modern conveniences.' History Colorado's Architectural Inventory Forms have more information and are available at the Salida Library.
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- 207 F Street
- Real estate appraisal card. 207 F Street, part of lots 9-13, block 31, in Salida, Colorado. This is the Crews-Beggs Mercantile Co. building. The B & C Dry Goods Store was located at 211 F St.
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- 210 E. 1st Street
- Real estate appraisal card. Approximately 210 E. 1st Street, lots 11-13, block 23, in Salida, Colorado. This building is no longer standing.
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- 214 E. 1st Street
- Real estate appraisal card. 214 E. 1st Street, lot 17, block 3, in Salida, Colorado. This terrace was erected in 1899 at a cost of $4,500 by Haight and Churcher, who conducted a furniture and undertaking business and were builders and contractors in early Salida. The June 5, 1900 edition of the Salida Semi Weekly Mail reported that each side of the terrace had six rooms, exclusive of halls and bathrooms. "These are strictly modern homes, everything that science has provided having been incorporated In them. It Is doubtful whether a handsomer or better arranged building is to be found in any city of similar size in this state. The owners deserve much credit for having given Salida so pretty an example of the builder's handicraft." Haight & Churcher engaged in building and contracting in Salida prior to 1887, and "did most of the heavy contracting and building" in the early days of the city. In 1887, they went into the furniture, carpet, and undertaking business. Haight had come to Cleora in 1878 and erected the first building at the settlement three miles below the future site of Salida. Frank B. Churcher moved to Cleora a year later. In 1900 the Salida Semi-Weekly Mail reported that the firm of Haight & Churcher was "one of the strongest in this part of the state. They carry a stock of furniture and carpets valued at over $20,000 and also own considerable improved real estate. Besides, they are financially interested in several outside business propositions." The 1905-06 city directory indicated that Frank B. Churcher lived in this building. History Colorado's Architectural Inventory Forms have more information and are available at the Salida Library.
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- 214 F Street
- Real estate appraisal card. 214 F Street, lots 1-4, block 32, in Salida, Colorado. This building is no longer standing. Part of the First National Bank is visible in photo, which is also no longer standing.
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- 215 E. 1st Street
- Real estate appraisal card. 215 E. 1st Street, lots 8-10 and part of lot 7, block 23, in Salida, Colorado. This is currently 223 E. 1st Street.
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- 216 D Street
- Real estate appraisal card. 216 D Street, lots 1-4, block 30, in Salida, Colorado. This house was built between 1914 and 1929. In 1931, Mrs. Genevieve E. Colman, who operated the Colman Advertising Service, lived here. The 1951 city directory indicated that John L. and Ruby O'Hrel lived here. John worked for D&RGW. Also living at this house was Norman and Mary Rowan Morrison. Norman (b.1905) was a conductor for D&RGW. Mary (b.1909) burned to death in November 1965. The 1965 city directory listed Corban G. and Carol M. Cotton at this address. Mr. Cotton was a state driver's license examiner. An Assessor's appraisal card indicates that Alex McKenzie was a previous owner of this house, followed by Norman H. Morrison, et al. History Colorado's Architectural Inventory Forms have more information and are available at the Salida Library.
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- 216 E. 1st Street
- Real estate appraisal card. 216 E. 1st Street, lot 18, block 3, in Salida, Colorado. This terrace was erected in 1899 at a cost of $4,500 by Haight and Churcher, who conducted a furniture and undertaking business and were builders and contractors in early Salida. The June 5, 1900 edition of the Salida Semi Weekly Mail reported that each side of the terrace had six rooms, exclusive of halls and bathrooms. "These are strictly modern homes, everything that science has provided having been incorporated In them. It Is doubtful whether a handsomer or better arranged building is to be found in any city of similar size in this state. The owners deserve much credit for having given Salida so pretty an example of the builder's handicraft." Haight & Churcher engaged in building and contracting in Salida prior to 1887, and "did most of the heavy contracting and building" in the early days of the city. In 1887, they went into the furniture, carpet, and undertaking business. Haight had come to Cleora in 1878 and erected the first building at the settlement three miles below the future site of Salida. Frank B. Churcher moved to Cleora a year later. In 1900 the Salida Semi-Weekly Mail reported that the firm of Haight & Churcher was "one of the strongest in this part of the state. They carry a stock of furniture and carpets valued at over $20,000 and also own considerable improved real estate. Besides, they are financially interested in several outside business propositions." The 1905-06 city directory indicated that Frank B. Churcher lived in this building. History Colorado's Architectural Inventory Forms have more information and are available at the Salida Library.
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- 217 E. Sackett Ave.
- Real estate appraisal card. 217 E. Sackett Avenue, lots 9 + 1/2 of 8, block 3, in Salida, Colorado. This house was built between 1898 and 1904. Leo Welch, a machinist with Denver & Rio Grande Railroad, lived here in 1910. He had married Pearl B. Welch in 1900. Mr. and Mrs. Welch were both born in Texas in 1879. By 1920, Thomas and Elizabeth Kennedy, both Canadian-English immigrants, lived at this house. Thomas Kennedy was born in Ship Harbor, Nova Scotia, in 1856. He came to the United States in 1897 with his wife and children. They all became naturalized citizens in 1919. Thomas worked as a locomotive carpenter with the Denver & Rio Grande. The Kennedys had five children by 1910: Thomas W. (b.1857), John A. (b.1884), Wilfred T. (b.1889), Mary K. (b.1893), and Agnes L. (b.1896). All of the children were also born in Canada. Like his father, John A. Kennedy was also a carpenter. Agnes worked as a saleslady at a dry goods store. Thomas W. was a railroad laborer. He retired on his railroad pension in 1926. The Kennedys still lived at this house in 1931. In 1930, John A., Thomas W., and Agnes still lived with their parents. Thomas Kennedy, a Salida resident for thirty-nine years, died in April 1936. He was 80 years old at the time of his death. Elizabeth died a few years later, in February 1941.
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- 217 E. Sackett Ave.
- Real estate appraisal card. 217 E. Sackett Ave., lot 9 + 1/2 of 8, block 3, in Salida, Colorado.