History Sleuth: A Jaunt to Junction!

By D.A. Brockett…

“The motor camp today is our finest American democracy. Informality is the password, snobbery is taboo, every man is your ‘neighbor.’ And all are bound together by an almost unbelievably powerful tie — the dust of the open road.” –Frank E. Brimmer, 1927…

There’s nothing like a vacation. My childhood memories of camping come to mind: the packed cooler, one suitcase for each of us (mine stuffed with Nancy Drew mysteries), and camping gear that promised fun. We’d wake at 4 a.m., pile into the station wagon with the dreaded cold egg sandwiches for breakfast, and then off to Yosemite!

The Artesia Motel complex was built around 1940, and was originally named White City Motel. On the right side of this vintage post card, you'll see part of the artesian water tower that served its guests.

Vacationing in America took off at the turn of the century, with automobile manufacturing.

Grand Junction visionaries campaigned from the beginning to bring visitors to the valley. They dubbed the area “Capital of the Kingdom of Mesa” and “Queen of the Sunset Slope.”

The first hotel in town was the Grand Junction House, a log “palace” on Colorado Avenue. Randall House, the first brick building, opened October 10, 1882, at Main and 5th. Helpful to the cause, The Denver & Rio Grande Railroad laid a line to the city in November 1882, and train travel boomed. By 1884, four hotels and several rooming houses serviced the area.

Shortly after crossing the 5th Street bridge, on Orchard Mesa, the remnants of the Artesia Motel sit on Highway 50. Today, the cabins are gone, while the water tower stands sentinel to the dismantled property, which is for sale.

Early visitors included salesmen and business owners. The pioneer town offered customary lodging for the time. Still, one itinerant preacher wrote of his visit: “I over-nighted (advisedly not slept because of bedbugs) in a rooming house and ate at restaurants.”

Reverend Theodore Juengel described the town as having “stagnant, mosquito breeding irrigation ditches along the streets” and when it rained, “oh, the soapy, slick mud!” Improvements were needed, and those eventually came.

Randall House, built on the northeast corner of 5th and Main Street downtown Grand Junction, was the second hotel in town. Notice Mt. Garfield in the distance. By 1884, four hotels graced Grand Junction, including the Brunswick at 4th and Main. Along with a saloon, east of the hotel, the establishment provided dining to its occupants and sampling rooms for salesmen. It also was a stop for the stage coach. Photos courtesy of Lloyd Files Research Library, Museum of the West.

Henry Ford’s assembly lines brought national ownership of automobiles from 8,000 to 2 million in just a few years. Vacationing emerged slowly due to few paved roads. When ownership reached 10 million, President Warren G. Harding signed the Federal Highway Act of 1921 to improve and expand the nation’s roads. Now, it was easy to hop into the Tin Lizzie — after packing fishing pole, cots, and a loaf of bread for breakfast — and be off on adventures!

This watch fob was a perk of staying at the Brunswick.

With low-cost travel, tourism during the Roaring Twenties picked up in Grand Junction. While the six local hotels put out their welcome mats, more and more vacationers were attracted to the charm of camping or renting a cabin where they could park close to the front door and marvel at nature.

The Brunswick Hotel

Enterprising as usual, the City opened a small municipal tourist camp, located southeast of Moyer Pool, at Lincoln Park. They charged $0.25 a day per car, collecting $758.25 during the 1924 tourist season.

Around 1927, the Claremont Tourist Cottages opened a few blocks away, in connection with the Texaco Station at 12th and Gunnison in Grand Junction. Lindsay Onan managed the Texaco and owned the cottages. When visitors stopped to refuel their cars, he’d direct them to his cottages for a good night’s rest.

Claremont Tourist Cottages, just off 15th and Gunnison, was most likely the second such camp to open in Grand Junction in the mid-1920's. Owned and operated by the Onan (aka O'Nan) family, it had a laundry-kitchen facility, as well as showers, bathrooms, and outhouses. Son, Floyd, remembers a man coming regularly and playing movies on the outside wall of the laundry (center of photo). Though mother Lucy disapproved of the showings, she allowed it for her guests. Floyd wasn't deterred by his mother's convictions. He would peek around the light pole (to the right) at night and happily watch the movies. Photo courtesy of the Onan family.

Despite the Great Depression, vacationing thrived. In Grand Junction, the La Court and St. Regis hotels offered exemplary accommodations to visitors, and were local hangouts. Many motor hotels — or motels — popped up along North Avenue, and on Orchard Mesa.

World War II and its gas and tire rationing temporarily curbed travel, but when the war ended, families took to the road again.

The beautiful Fairlawn was built in 1886 at 1st and White Streets in Grand Junction, and was home to banker W.T. Carpenter. After he went bankrupt, it was renovated into the Fairlawn Hotel, which became the most exclusive in town. But in 1908, it was remodeled to become Fairlawn Sanitarium. Today, the space is occupied by Gay Johnson's service station. Photo courtesy of Susan McCleery family.

Into the late 1940′s and 1950′s, streamliners and domed trains, such as the California Zephyr, competed with auto travel. Marketed as “…a vacation unto itself,” “Zephyrettes,” catered to every need, from tour guide to babysitter. Grand Junction’s train depot hopped during the Zephyr era.
The 1950′s brought Grand Junction a uranium boom. Hopeful miners filled every hotel and motel room for miles. Sold alongside milk and bread were alpha meters, Brunton compasses, and “Babbel” counters.

During this time, President Eisenhower signed the Interstate Highway Act, adding more than 42,500 miles of new highway. Automobile and trailer travel gained new fans, and still thrives.

La Court Hotel reigned at 2nd and Main until the 1970's, when it was torn down to make way for Two Rivers Convention Center. The Buthorns provided excellent hotel service, culinary cuisine, and beautifully appointed meeting spaces for city organizations and groups.

Today, the Grand Valley’s boosters sing the praises of digging dinosaurs, experiencing culture and music, tasting local, award-winning wines, learning our varied history, indulging in eclectic cuisine, and enjoying outdoor sports and festivals. Natural wonders include the Colorado National Monument, Grand Mesa, and the Colorado River.

Local lodging has certainly changed from the 1880′s Grand Junction House. Our valley has stellar hotels, bed and breakfasts, motels, and RV campgrounds. And Palisade offers its Wine Country Inn, named the 78th best hotel in the world.

The Grand Valley was then and is now a great vacation destination. ***

For more by award-winning author DA Brockett, visit www.dabrockett.com