101 F Street

Description

Real estate appraisal card. 101 F Street, part of lots 10-13, block 22, in Salida, Colorado. In 1886, S.B. Westerfield (a mayor of Salida) erected this building on the site previously occupied by W.W. Roller's real estate agency. In August, the Salida Weekly Mail reported: 'The building will be two stories high and contain five offices on the second floor. The front glass will be plate, seven feet high, and an iron front will be used. The main entrance is on the corner by very wide doors between iron posts, Entrance to the stairway is on First street opposite E.W. Hively's new building. Upstairs a corridor runs the entire length of the building. We understand that the ground floor is spoken for by A.M. Alger, the druggist, who will have a room fine enough for a city.' Westerfield had arrived in the city in 1882, served as mayor in 1884, and had invested extensively in real estate in Salida and had erected several buildings. In December 1886, Alger moved his stock of drugs to the new building. The Mail reported: 'Mr. Alger now has a store that would rank first class in any city in the country. New cases of solid cherry adorn the sides and present an imposing array of bottles and medicines ... The cases and shelving together with other improvements have cost Mr. Alger in the region of $1,000. The building's cost was said to be $7,000. The Continental Divide Bank, which had been established in 1885 by L.W. and D.H. Craig, was located in the south storefront. The Craigs came to Salida in 1881 and operated a dry goods business. They became the sole proprietors of the private bank, the Continental Divided Bank. In 1889, they organized the First National Bank of Salida, opening up for operation in January 1890.This bank later became the Thatcher Bank, and then the Pueblo Bank & Trust. A drawing of the building was printed in the Salida News in 1889 and showed Alger's Drugstore and the Continental Divide Bank in the first story, with the names R.K. Hagen and George P. Jones displayed in the upper story. The building was identified as the Craig-McGovern Block. George McGovern was a pioneer of the state and had lived in Salida since 1883. He had conducted a successful grocery, served on the board of trustees, was elected mayor, helped organize the Salida Opera House Association, was superintendent of the Salida Electric Light Company, and served as police magistrate. In 1900, the Salida Semi-Weekly Mail reported that the building was owned by George McGovern and located 'on one of the principal business corners in the city. It is a modern and highly substantial structure and an ornament to the city of Salida.' By 1903, Theodore C. Bode, druggist, was operating in the space formerly occupied by Alger, While Joe P. Williams, grocer, occupied the other storefront. Abraham J. Overholt, a physician and surgeon specializing in genito-urinary diseases was also listed in this building. In the 1905 city directory, the building was identified as the McGovern Block, and businesses included Theodore C. Bode ('It's right if put up by Bode, the Druggist'), Lyman Hensley's real estate and insurance office, and J.S. Dingman, stock broker. Waggener's Pharmacy operated in this building for 84 years, from 1911 to 1995. By 1927, the Salida Candy Company, operated by William Pates, and James Anos, occupied the other store front. The building retains the original wood cases built by A.M. Alger in 1886. History Colorado's Architectural Inventory Forms have more information and are available at the Salida Library.