38 Years Ago
The December 4, 1986 Golden Transcript offers interesting glimpses of life in Golden in 1986.
A part-time bartender at Sam’s Land had been caught selling amphetamines at the bar and had sold alcohol to two under-aged women. In consequence, City Council handed the bar a 10-day suspension on selling liquor.
The County’s plan to expand their gravel pit in Golden Gate Canyon was complicated when a group of scientists testified that the adjacent rock was radioactive.
Robert Horton, a professional geologist with experience in uranium exploration testified that if the county began excavating gravel from this site, there is a distinct possibility that the county would be “loading radioactive gravel into trucks and spreading it all over the county.”
The Holiday Inn advertised a dance contest every Friday and Saturday night.
The home at 822 10th Street was for sale at $135,000, and the current mortgage could be assumed, with its desirable 9-1/2% interest rate.
Mesa Meadows was under construction at the time, and four companies were busily building homes on the former Foss Ranch.
Rotary Club of Golden was chartered that year, and–as one of their first fund-raisers–they had commissioned a painting by Barbara Froula called “A Visit Downtown.” They were selling prints for $20 apiece. By taking some liberties with geography, the picture showed a number of interesting Golden highlights. Many of them are now gone, including Heritage Square, the Holland House Hotel, Foss Drug, The Merc restaurant, Sportsman Barber Shop, the original Mitchell Elementary, and Steve’s Corner Western Wear store. Folk dancers in the street represent the annual Oktoberfest. The long-running Scottish Highland games were depicted by a bagpiper, and Buffalo Bill rode through downtown on a white horse.
