The Caboose, Creepy Sculptures, and Depression Days

*Golden Eye Candy – Richard Luckin – Spring on the Creek – enlarge*

Virtual Events

9-9:55AM Strength and Cardio
11AM-12PM Kimodo for Balance

Real World Events

*The Caboose Tour today from 1-2PM – photo courtesy of the Colorado Railroad Museum*

10:15-10:45AM Toddler Time @ Golden Library – WAITLIST
1-2PM The Caboose Tour – @ Colorado Railroad Museum
3PM Vaccine, License & Microchip Clinic @ Foothills Animal Shelter

*Creepy Sculptures for Teens, 6-8PM – Golden Library*

6-8PM Teen After Hours: Creepy Sculptures @ Golden Library
7-9PM Paint Your Pet @ Over Yonder Brewing

Live Music

5-8PM Josh Blackburn@ Golden Mill
5-8PM Talk Box @ Goosetown Station
6PM Dave Frisk @ Dirty Dogs Roadhouse

7-10PM David Henning @ The Buffalo Rose

7-11PM Karaoke @ Wrigley’s
9PM Karaoke @ Ace Hi Tavern

Golden History Moment

*Washington Avenue bridge–before and after the 1937 rebuild – Golden History Museum collection – enlarge*

85 Years Ago
The March 25, 1937 Colorado Transcript described a few mishaps associated with a new Washington Avenue bridge. A crew from the WPA (federal government Works Progress Administration) was scheduled to come on Monday to begin construction. There were both gas and water mains under the bridge, and both were being temporarily rerouted. Residents on the north side of town were concerned when their water was turned off, and residents on the south side were worried when their gas was turned off. Both services were eventually restored.

One of the City workers injured his spine while working on the bridge bypass. He was loading rocks in a truck but slipped, hitting his back on one of the rocks. He was in St. Anthony’s hospital, in a cast, and was expected to remain there “for some time.”

*Citizens Candidate Albert Jones and Progressive Candidate Harold Ryland – enlarge*

There was a City Council election coming up, and two parties had been formed–one called the “Citizens” party, headed by incumbent Mayor Bert Jones, and the other the “Progressive” party, headed by Harold Ryland. Mayor Jones planned to continue with the austerity program that had seen the City’s debt drop from $300,000 to $150,000, resulting in interest savings of $6,000/year. His goal was to eliminate City debt and put Golden on a cash basis. Mr. Ryland planned to incur some debt and spend the proceeds on infrastructure, to encourage growth.

The most prominent front page article concerned an ongoing feud with the state’s highway engineer, Charles Vail. Golden and Jefferson County had been pushing for a number of years to build a highway through Clear Creek Canyon. They had even received a $1.5 million federal appropriation for that specific purpose. Vail did not want the road, and spent several years evading and avoiding the project.

There was a scandal in the Governor’s office at that time. Apparently he had used hidden Dictaphones to record conversations without the consent of those being recorded. The Transcript proposed installing seismographs in the Chief Highway Engineer’s office and imagined how shocked everyone would be if there were any indications of movement.

The editorial column included an interesting reference, which is a bit obscure to someone reading it 85 years later. They remarked on the phenomenal success of Margaret Mitchell’s recently published Gone With the Wind. They said it was inspiring people to read more. “Reading provokes thought–so maybe we are passing out of the harum-scarum, rag-time, syncopating, futurist period we have been experiencing since the World war.” Those are not terms that I would have associated with life during the Great Depression.

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!