100 years ago: “the fear that the water in the streams may run low before the close of the irrigating season has largely been dispelled by the early coming of summer rains. A record crop year for the Pine River is now assured.” – Ignacio Chieftain

75 years ago: “Durango Lodge No. 507, BPOE is sponsoring a special train to Silverton to take lodge members to a joint meeting with other Elks lodges and also as a goodwill tour from Durango.”

50 years ago: The following appeared in the section titled Gem Village News: “It has also been noted that travelers have increased this past week, with tourists and inquiries from as far east as Mystic, Connecticut and various points in between.”

25 years ago: Silverton – “Town Board members here have reversed an earlier decision and voted to build a visitors center at the bottom of the Idaho Gulch avalanche path. Two weeks ago, the town leaders voted to halt the construction and more the center to another location after an avalanche engineer told the trustees a ‘100-year avalanche’ has the potential of destroying the center. But the town board decided to go ahead and locate the structure at the bottom of the avalanche path, where excavation work for the foundation already has begun, after leaders were informed that money from the Colorado Mineral Impact Fund wouldn’t be available to cover the $20,000 incurred at the abandoned construction site.”

Most items in this column are taken from Herald archives, Center of Southwest Studies and Animas Museum. Their accuracy may not have been verified.