Town focused on business growth in 1910

January 06, 2010

By JoAn Bjarko

The Wellington

Attracting new businesses and promoting railroad connections dominated civic discourse in Wellington (Colorado) 100 years ago.

The 5-year-old town claimed a population of about 460. Larimer County tallied 25,270 citizens in 1910, and Colorado had about 900,000 residents.

Such numbers likely explain the following news item in The Wellington Sun, the town’s weekly newspaper: Looking south down Second Street on Jan. 20, 1910, Wellington residents had a splendid view of Pike’s Peak, 140 miles distant. Such views were common, the newspaper said, but this day’s spectacle was particularly grand.

The Wellington Sun kept tabs on the comings and goings of its local residents, as well as providing a smattering of state, national and international news. It also ran installments of short stories provided by national publishers.

The year’s news opened with an announcement that the Wellington area enjoyed a good beet harvest, shipping out 899 carloads by train. The Sun estimated local growers together earned $150,000.

Local businesses promoted all kinds of goods for sale. The State Mercantile Co. in Fort Collins advertised a sale on coats with prices from $7.50 to $22.50. James Angel’s store in Wellington sold a gallon can of apricots, peaches, pears or plums for 30 cents. Three large cans of sauerkraut cost 25 cents. At the Cash Store, 25 cents would buy three cans of tomatoes, three cans of Cove oysters, a pound of coffee or eight bars of Swift’s Pride soap.

Wellington Blacksmith Shop offered automobile repairing along with its traditional trade.

Called “one of the biggest irrigation projects in northern Colorado,” Halligan Dam, located 12 miles north of Livermore on the north fork of the Cache la Poudre River, was completed in May. It had a storage capacity of 7,000 acre-feet.

Before the year ended, there was talk of increasing Halligan’s capacity to 25,000 acre-feet and building many more dams on creeks in northern Larimer County.

Referring to the county assessor’s report of 1909, The Wellington Sun said the town had a property valuation of $112,631. Fort Collins’ valuation was $2,248,886, and Larimer County’s valuation was $9,156,965.

Wellington finished construction on a new town hall at a final cost of $2,900. Typical monthly expenses for town government included $3.10 for telephone, $64 for the marshal’s salary, $10 for the treasurer and $15 for the clerk.

Wellington’s municipal election in April 1910 attracted a small turnout. Of 250 registered voters, just 35 cast ballots. Residents elected E.T. Puleston as mayor for a one-year term.

The local school district began discussion about building a new brick school. In February, the monthly school report listed 54 students in first grade, 57 in second and third grades, 24 in fourth and fifth grades, 17 in sixth and seventh grades and 25 in high school.

Though the town seemed plenty busy, its leaders pressed to bring more business to the community. Wellington was in hot pursuit of a canning plant to be built by the Colorado Condensed Milk Co. of Fort Lupton. Other contenders were Windsor, Johnstown and Milliken.

The company said it would pay $4,000 to $7,000 a month for milk and $1,000 a month for wages. It wanted a guarantee that local farmers would provide milk from at least 600 cows. Wellington formed a committee to canvas the county to see how many cows could be secured. North Poudre Irrigation Co. offered to donate a building site and promised very low water rates.

Visiting in April, the milk company manager and president delivered the message that they wanted farmers to put more milk cows on their farms to convince the company local farmers would “go into the milk business in earnest.” The farmers wanted the company to make a showing before going to the expense of buying herds of cows.

On May 12, The Wellington Sun announced that Johnstown would get the plant. “The new plant will be about 20 miles from Fort Lupton and both plants will be under the same management,” it reported in a small article.

That loss did not deter the enthusiasm of the community, however. In September, The Wellington Sun announced: “Wellington has an excellent opportunity to get a creamery located here. All that is needed to insure the success of the project is an absolute guarantee on the part of the neighboring farmers that they will supply the cream from not less than 300 cows, and a suitable site for the building.”

The outcome of this endeavor was not found in the subsequent issues of 1910.

Two companies made plans to extend railroad lines through Wellington. The Colorado & Southern announced it would lay 33 miles of new track from Cheyenne to Wellington.

The Denver, Laramie and Northwestern Railway said it would build from Greeley, through Severance and Wellington and on to Laramie. Fifty or more automobiles loaded with stockholders and prospective investors visited Wellington in April.

Survey work stopped promptly in June on the C&S line and many others because of an injunction restraining railways from increasing freight rates. The Sun later reported that C&S would lose its franchise for the line if construction was not completed within a year. Work picked up again in January 1911.

While the Sun regularly reported on local population growth, one of its frequent advertisers, Union Pacific, tried to convince people they should leave the state on trains out of Denver. An advertisement declared: “Make your fortune in the Pacific Northwest where soil and climate combine for man’s prosperity. Low one-way fares in effect daily.”

Weeks later, UP urged readers of The Wellington Sun to settle in California. Another ad boasted that the distance Lewis and Clark covered in one year and six months could now be made by train in three days, “attended with every comfort and safety known to modern travel.”

National directives to the postmaster also made local news. In April, the postmaster received a letter from the division of rural delivery that all rural route patrons should paint their boxes and posts pure white to protect them from weather damage and “to fix their identity in all parts of the country as United States mailboxes.” Patrons were also told to imprint their names and street numbers in black box letters about 2 inches high.

The year started out with four months of drought that was finally broken in May with three days of rain turning to wet snow. Precipitation measured 2 inches in Wellington and 1 foot in the mountains. The summer was dry, however, and the locals feared crops would be ruined. Rain arrived again in August to make good sugar beet and wheat crops for the year. Alfalfa and fruit crops suffered, but oats and barley were plentiful.

The Sun also reported on professional salaries. The local school board set teacher wages at $55 to $65 a month, while principals were paid $100 to $110 per month. The town marshal received a raise from $60 to $70. Marshal Beers also served as street commissioner, water superintendent and sexton of the cemetery for that salary.

A report from the county superintendent of schools said it cost $3.21 to educate each pupil for one year, basing the cost on total enrollment, or $5.86 per pupil, based on the average attendance.

Schools in the county had a total enrollment of 6,964 students who were taught by 181 teachers. Teacher salaries totaled $120,247.

References: Microfilm archives of The Wellington Sun at the Main Library in downtown Fort Collins.