Nostalgia & History > Railroad Salida Palace Hotel

There was an article in The Mountain Mail on Tuesday, April 10th , “Palace Hotel reopens.”

http://www.themountainmail.com/news/article_84369a3e-831f-11e1-86fa-001a4bcf6878.html

The following excerpts are from the above webpage.

“After more than three years of vacancies, the hotel portion of the Palace Hotel will open for business Saturday. The three-story, 1909 building at 204 N. F St. in downtown Salida has undergone a series of renovations over the past three years.”

“Responding to rumors, Vicki said, ‘I’ve never felt any ghosts,’ and she reported with certainty that there are no tunnels under the building. She did say she’s had several people stop in and share their stories and memories from the building – couples who got married in the lobby and even an older gentleman who recalled being a bellhop there years ago.”

I did a Keyword search on the Denver Public Library Digital Collections Quick Photo Search, http://digital.denverlibrary.org/cdm , for Railroad Salida Palace Hotel and got two photos. One of the photos from this search is below.

Picture 1, “Call Number: MCC-3996. Title: Salida, Colo. Creator(s): McClure, Louis Charles, 1867-1957. Summary: View of Salida (Chaffee County) Colorado; shows the Monte Cristo Hotel, Denver & Rio Grande Railroad depot, rail yards and cars, Colorado Power Company, Red Cross Hospital, Central School, Salida High School, Arkansas River bridges, church steeples, and signs: ‘Anheuser Beer Bush Company’ ‘Palace Hotel & Café’ ‘Geo. M. Vaughn Feed Store’ ‘Salida Lumber Company’ ‘F. E. Gimlett’ ‘Fish Bros. & Peter Schuttler-Wagons- Buggies’ ‘Salida Bottling Co.’ ‘Bon-Ton Hotel & Lunch Room’ ‘Crew- Beggs Mercantile Company’ ‘Bull Durham Tobacco’ ‘Kirkendall Shoes’ and ‘Barnes Circus.’ Date: between 1906 and 1920? Glass plate has oxidation, masking over sky, and retouching. Title, number ‘176’ and signature hand-lettered on glass plate; ‘Colo. Power Co.’ penciled on glass plate. Library owns additional iterations of this image in various formats: 1 photographic print; 12 x 16 cm. (4 1/2 x 6 in.), 1 copy negative; 9 x 11 cm. (3 1/2 x 4 1/4 in.). Physical Description: 1 negative: glass; 21 x 26 cm. (8 x 10 in.). Is Part Of L. C. McClure collection 1890-1935.”

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Picture 2 is MCC-3996 enlarged 30%. Palace Hotel.

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Picture 3 is MCC-3996 enlarged 50%. American Transit Company.

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Wikipedia has a webpage on the American Refrigerator Transit Company.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Refrigerator_Transit_Company

The following excerpt is from the above webpage..

“The American Refrigerator Transit Company (ART) was a St. Louis, Missouri-based private refrigerator car line established in 1881 by the Missouri Pacific and Wabash railroads. It is now a subsidiary of the Union Pacific Corporation.”

The above Wikipedia webpage has a chart showing the decade and the number of refrigerated cars.

Wikipedia has a webpage on the history of the Refrigerator car.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Refrigerator_car

The following webpage, “First Refrigerated Rail Car.”

http://www.southernmostillinoishistory.net/strawberries.htm

The following webpage, “The Impact of Refrigeration.”

http://www.history-magazine.com/refrig.html

I did a Keyword search on the Denver Public Library for American Transit and got 6 photos. Three of the photos from this search are below.

Picture 4 is enlarged 25%, “Call Number: Z-6783. Title: Box cars two blocks up Victoria Ave. from Union Station these were floated down from the Santa Fe yards several blocks distant. Summary: Two refrigerator cars carried by Arkansas River flood waters sit mired in dried mud on Victoria Avenue in Pueblo, Colorado. Utility poles, a fence, and debris are scattered near the railroad cars. Shows the American Refrigerator Transit Company logo on the side of a refrigerator car. Date: 1921. Title typed on verso of photographic print. Physical Description: 1 photographic print; 6 x 11 cm. (2 1/2 x 4 in.). Source: unknown.”



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/14/12 06:31 by flynn.

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Picture 5 is enlarged 50%. “Call Number: RR-1729. Title: D&RGW, Alamosa - Antonito line, Hartner, Colo. D&RGW standard gauge (2-8-0) 1167 mixed gauge train, on Alamosa - Antonito line. Creator(s): Richardson, Robert W. Summary: View of a Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad Company freight train at Hartner (Alamosa County) Colorado. Locomotive 1167 (standard gauge 2-8-0) vents smoke. Boxcars read: ‘American Refrigerator Transit Co.’ a sign reads ‘Hartner.’ Date: 1956. Title penciled on negative sleeve. Physical Description: 1 negative : nitrate; 7 x 11 cm. (3 x 4 1/2 in.).”

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Picture 6 is enlarged 20%. “Call Number: RR-2066. Title: D&RGW. Creator(s): Richardson, Robert W. Summary: A railroad worker stands on a flat car at the depot in Hooper (Alamosa County), Colorado. Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad locomotive #497 (2-8-2), with a mixed train, is stopped to switch standard gauge cars. The one story frame depot has a hip roof. Shows ‘American Refrigerator Transit Co.’ cars nearby. Snow is on the ground. Date: 1949 January 14. Title and descriptive information penciled on negative envelope. Physical Description: 1 negative; 7 x 11 cm. (2 1/2 x 4 1/2 in.). Source: Robert W. Richardson.”

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Picture 7 is enlarged 20%. “Call Number: Z-6780. Title: Wrecked Missouri Pacific train above Nuckoll's Packing Plant. Summary: Wrecked Missouri Pacific railroad cars, a storage tank, and debris are scattered beside railroad tracks near the Nuckolls Packing Plant after a flood on the Arkansas River in Pueblo, Colorado. A refrigerator car with an American Refrigerator Transit Company logo is buried in mud. Buildings and houses are on a bluff in the distance. Date: June 1921. Title typed on verso of photographic print. Physical Description: 1 photographic print; 6 x 11 cm. (2 1/2 x 4 in.).”

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Picture 8 is enlarged 30%. Call Number: MCC-3180. Title: C&S, U.S. Mail and Express car. Title-Alternative: L. C. McClure collection 1890-1935, album III, 108. Creator(s): McClure, Louis Charles, 1867-1957. Summary: Colorado and Southern U. S. Railway Post Office, American Railway Express car 401 with a self propelled gas engine; Electro-Motive Corporation 302, in the Denver, Colorado, coach yard with team tracks; shows Pride of the Rockies Flour Mill, Twentieth Street Viaduct iron bridge, automobile, and American Refrigerator Transit boxcar. Date: between 1930 and 1936. Copy attributed to McClure, original probably an O. C. Perry. Copy negative made from vintage photographic print. Nitrate negative deterioration; retouched by photographer. Nitrate negative number moved from left corner to right corner. Title from inventory prepared by Western History Department, Denver Public Library. Physical Description: 1 copy photonegative; 9 x 11 cm. (3 1/2 x 4 1/2 in.); 1 photonegative: nitrate; 19 x 24 cm. (7 1/2 x 9 1/2 in.); 1 photoprint; 19 x 24 cm. (7 1/2 x 9 1/2 in.); 1 photoprint; image 14 x 24 cm. (5 1/2 x 9 1/2 in.) on sheet 19 x 24 cm. (7 1/2 x 9 1/2 in.). Is Part Of L. C. McClure collection 1890-1935, album III.”

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