Salida, Colorado Historic Buildings Survey, 2006-07: Final Survey Report

Simmons, R.; Simmons, Thomas; Front Range Research Associates, Inc.

From introduction: "Salida is the county seat of Chaffee County and its largest city, with a population of 5,504 in 2000. The city is the service, supply, and tourism and recreation center for the Upper Arkansas Valley. The Denver and Rio Grande Railroad bypassed the existing settlement of Cleora to establish Salida in 1880. Salida became a major division point for the D&RG, which erected extensive railroad facilities that included narrow and standard gauge roundhouses north of the commercial district on the bank of the Arkansas River. The railroad workers fueled the city' s growth, requiring housing (single family dwellings, boardinghouses, and hotels) and patronizing a multitude of local businesses and community institutions. In Salida, the D&RG erected a railroad hotel in 1883 and a hospital in 1885. The health care facility treated most of the medical cases of railroad workers throughout the D&RG system. Salida developed quickly, and became the hub of a prosperous mining and agricultural region within a decade of its founding. Railroad activity began to decline in the 1950s and, in 1971, Salida ceased to be a division point for the D&RG. Tourism, recreation, and arts-related enterprises grew in importance during the second half of the twentieth century. It is within this historic context that Salida' s architectural heritage emerged. Purpose: The goal of the 2006-07 survey of historic buildings in Salida was to conduct an intensive survey of one hundred properties in the northeastern portion of the city. The 24.8-acre survey area was bounded by the Arkansas River on the north, the Downtown Historic District on the west, 8 Street on the east, and Third Street on the south. Historic resources within the survey area were mostly residential in nature. All of the properties included in the survey were located in one of the areas of the city that a 2001 -02 reconnaissance survey had identified as having the highest priority for future intensive survey work. The surveyed resources were recorded on Colorado Historical Society Architectural Inventory forms (Form 1403) and were evaluated in terms of potential eligibility to the National Register and State Register and as local landmarks. The contributing or noncontributing status of resources within the area was addressed to assist future planning and survey projects, although no definite district boundaries were established. Project Results: The survey resulted in the documentation of one hundred properties on Colorado Historical Society Architectural Inventory forms (Form 1403), each with an architectural description, historical background, evaluation of significance, black and white photographs, and sketch and locational maps. Ten individual resources included in the intensive survey were evaluated as potentially individually eligible to the National Register (as well as potentially eligible to the State Register) and twenty (including the ten identified as National Register eligible) were evaluated as potential Salida landmarks." Funding for this project was provided in part through a fiscal year 2006 Historic Preservation Fund grant to the City of Salida (project number CO-06-017) administered by the Colorado State Historic Preservation Office (grant number 08-06-21508) and the State, Tribal, and Local Plans and Grants Division, National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior. Salida, Colorado is a Certified Local Government.

Salida, Colorado Historic Buildings Survey, 2006-07: Final Survey Report

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