100 years ago: An advertisement for Strater Hotel read, “Leading hotel in Durango. All rooms are steam heated. All cleaning done by vacuum.”

75 years ago: “Many people attended and enjoyed the Oxford School Carnival following a clever program the remainder of the evening was devoted to dancing. Proceeds from the carnival were put into a fund for a Christmas treat for the school children and for school supplies.”

50 years ago: “The mountain snowstorm over the weekend dumped eight inches of new snow on Coal Bank hill, five inches on Molas Pass and Silverton, four inches on Red Mountain and Wolf Creek passes and three inches in the Lizard Head area.”

25 years ago: “There’s nothing like the real thing to pique the public’s interest. And so it is now that the handsome La Plata County Courthouse clock and bell tower stands tall over the city. People have been mailing contributions to the Clock and Bell Tower Committee like mad. The committee has raised over half its goal of $40,000. The money will pay for the restoration of the 1891 courthouse Seth and Thomas click and bell, their installation in the tower and construction of the tower itself.”

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