The early Colorado Transcript tended toward “aspirational journalism.” They would want some particular enhancement to the town so much that they wrote as if it was already a done deal.
115 Years Ago
In the spring of 1909, representatives from a Pueblo-based blasting powder company visited Golden. The were testing a new, non-freezing blasting powder in some of our clay mines.
The June 17, 1909 Colorado Transcript announced TROJAN POWDER COMPANY TO BUILD FACTORY HERE. The article stated that the Pueblo-based company would build a factory here and it would employ forty men. The previous week, the Golden Improvement Club (a precursor to the Golden Chamber) had wined and dined the representatives of the company and promised to donate a site if they would build a factory here.
Two members of the Improvement Club were authorized to locate an appropriate site and negotiate a deal for it. They did: they persuaded the Golden Pressed and Fire Brick company to sell ten acres of land between the brick plant and the rock crusher on North Table Mountain. This would be a bit north of the spot where Highway 93 intersects with Golden Gate Canyon Road (map).
A week later, the June 24, 1909 Transcript stepped back a bit: “As yet no decision has been reached by the officials of the Trojan Powder company in regard to locating the plant in Golden.” It seemed that Trojan’s Colorado representative needed to check with the company brass in New York.
The June 24th issue also responded to local concerns about having a powder factory so close to town. The Transcript‘s rival newspaper, the Golden Globe, had printed an article including this:
Records show that the effect of such an accident would blow every pane of glass in Golden to ballyheck, and North Table mountain would be scattered all over the valley for miles, leaving either a large hole in the ground or a good bit of farming land or a lake. We believe that five miles from Golden would be a safer distance to put a powder manufactory. However, we all ought to be prepared to die and perhaps ought to take the risk, seeing that it is a new enterprise for Golden.
The Transcript huffed back that it wouldn’t be that dangerous and gave various examples of dynamite plants that hadn’t blown up their neighbors. They concluded with the statement that “Golden needs industries with a payroll, and will not allow knockers to side track any that are headed this way.”
There was a brief article in the July 1st issue, saying that the issue was still under consideration, and a briefer article in the August 26th issue, saying that the Trojan Powder company would not be building a factory in Golden any time soon. Sometimes journalistic aspirations–no matter how badly you want them–don’t pan out.
Thanks to the Golden History Museum for providing the online cache of historic Transcripts, and to the Golden Transcript for documenting our history since 1866!
