Real estate appraisal card. 122 Lower (or North) F Street, part of lots 24-26, block 5 in Salida, Colorado.
This building is one of the oldest in the commercial district and was one of the first brick buildings in the district. Erected by Elias H. Webb and Edward W. Corbin, it housed the Webb & Corbin Grocery Store in 1883. The store had previously been housed in a frame building on the same site. Webb & Corbin was one of the original businesses in Salida, beginning operation in 1880. By 1881, the firm had branches at Malta, Bonanza, and Sargents. The building was one of two on this block which survived the fire of 1886.
Edward Corbin was one of the most prominent of Salida's pioneer citizens. Born in 1855, he moved to Colorado from Illinois in 1879 and established a mercantile at Cleora. After moving to Salida he became on of its most active businessmen and civic leaders. Corbin served as mayor of the city, partner in a successful grocery firm, and investor in the Salida Opera House, of which he was the first manager. Following the fire of 1886, he helped created a fire code for the downtown district. In the 1880s, he formed a partnership with William E. Robertson and W.W. Roller to build the still-standing, but greatly altered, Central Block on F Street. When Corbin suffered an untimely death at the age of 34 (in 1889) following a tooth extraction, the Salida Mail wrote: 'Through the demise of Mr. Corbin, Salida has lost one of its best and most enterprising citizens, who had no superior in business circles in this city.'
Elias H. Webb was also prominent in early day Salida as an incorporator of the Salida & South Platte Toll Road Co., a member of the first fire company, and organizer of the first school. He later moved to Denver, Colorado, and served as Arapahoe County Sheriff. Webb died in 1898 at the age of 54.
By 1898, this building became a saloon run by Joseph Hafner, who according to the Salida Mail: '...had one of the finest refreshment resorts in the city. Joe carries everything usually found in a first-class sample room. Mr. A Reufly, an old and popular bartender, may be found at Mr. Hafner's place. Joe carries only the best goods and his bar is well patronized and very popular with all.'
Later on the building housed Sam DeLeo's Men's Shop, and then the Club Reo (also Club Rio).
History Colorado's Architectural Inventory Forms have more information and are available at the Salida Library.
