96 Years Ago
The December 28, 1933 Colorado Transcript shows Golden in the first, heady months of the New Deal. The front page of the paper is dominated by stories concerning the effects of the various "alphabet soup" agencies.
Men Busy on C.W.A. Work Over County
On the last pay day $12, 492 was paid out to 769 men now at work in various parts of Jefferson County. You cannot travel far any where in this part of the county without seeing small crews of men at work.
The article says that crews were widening the Lookout Mountain Road to 26 feet. Some parts of the road had been only 16 feet wide. It also mentions a project in the Golden cemetery. The small office building in the center of the cemetery was built by the W.P.A., which also installed an irrigation system. The Armory building got a new roof.
Crews of men were improving 32nd Avenue while others worked on a flood control project on Clear Creek.
Goetz Gets Hell But No CWA Money
This article assured the reading public that Golden resident Oscar Goetze, who was managing the local relief office, was not being paid for his work. The rival paper, the Jefferson County Republican, had erroneously stated that Goetze had been paid $139.83.
Rural Housing, New Project Approved
This article reported that the National Reemployment Service office was looking for unemployed home ec. teachers to work on a rural housing survey.
Jefferson Co. NRA Workers Will Attend Jubilee Meet Jan. 6
Women of the NRA (National Recovery Act) were encouraged to attend a meeting in Denver where "reports of the work which the NRA drive has accomplished will be presented by the chairmen of each Colorado county."
CWA Worker Meets Death While on Duty
Myron King, who had been unemployed for two years before finding a Civil Works Administration job, was working on a road crew. He was trying to hop aboard a passing truck, but he slipped and fell beneath the wheels of the truck and was crushed.
Mary Gehl, 65, Meets Death in Car Wreck
Even this front page story had a Civil Works Administration angle. Mary Gehl waited, in her car, for the semi-hourly interurban train to go past. Once it had passed, she began to cross the tracks. Unfortunately, the regular train was immediately followed by a special train that carried the CWA workers from their project in Golden back to their home base in Denver. Mrs. Gehl was struck and killed by that second train.
