Did you know that the Mesa County Fairgrounds at Veteran’s Memorial Park were once known as Uranium Downs? People who attended horse races, motocross, WWF style “wrestling,” and other events back in the day might remember this nod to Mesa County’s mining (and radioactive) legacy. The Mesa County Fairgrounds opened in their current location in […]

One of the most desirable spots for recreation in all of Mesa County is unarguably the Grand Mesa. At an area of about 500 square miles, the Grand Mesa is the world’s largest flat-top mountain. Tens of thousands of years ago, this geologically unique feature was born from a burst of extreme volcanic activity, causing […]

  Back in the wild, smartphone-less days of the west, sometimes all a man had to do with his time was to kick back, reflect, and write a bit of poetry. Kip Wood was one such man.  Kip was an early Colorado pioneer and cowboy who spent a winter with Butch Cassidy and befriended local […]

When Glenn McFall was a teenager riding the rails and looking for work to support his mother and siblings, he landed flat broke in Salida. He had sent all the money he had earned back to his mother, not thinking to save anything for food. He and a friend went door-to-door, asking for something to […]

Palisade peach season– it’s finally here! For over 125 years Palisade, Colorado has been utilizing the area to grow peaches that are loved far and wide. The first peach trees were planted in 1882 by a man named John Harlow who described the peaches as “ripening in the sun acquired a brilliant color not found […]

This past weekend, the Grand Junction Regional Airport in Colorado and West Star Aviation hosted a spectacular air show featuring the U.S. Navy Blue Angels.  The crowds looked on in awe as the experienced flyers executed great skill and performed exciting stunts over the Grand Valley region.  I feel accomplished when I parallel park my […]

It may seem unlikely to the Grand Valley’s newer and/or younger residents, but for many years, North Avenue was a big commercial and social destination that went beyond fast food restaurants and discount stores. In the original platting of Grand Junction in 1881-2, North Avenue served as the northern boundary to town, and a quick […]

In early Mesa County, first there was the fruit boom, then came uranium. The Grand Valley experienced an explosion of activity like no other in the 1940’s when it became “The Uranium Capitol of the World.” Unbeknownst to me before listening to Wayne Farley’s Mesa County Oral History Project interview, the Manhattan Project was a […]