Fountain Valley News - Your Hometown Community Newspaper

As we are almost Mid Summer and still are getting snow on Pikes Peak I thought this April, 1927 story of opening the railroad up Pikes Peak would be interesting. I started working on the railway just...

As we are almost Mid Summer and still are getting snow on Pikes Peak I thought this April, 1927 story of opening the railroad up Pikes Peak would be interesting. I started working on the railway just...

We think nothing of jumping in the car, starting up and driving away. Some of you have no idea how to drive a car with a stick shift. A hundred years ago is my typical time of this column, so how...

Now this could be an interesting story in many ways, but, it is actually a story of a change in times. A hundred years ago there were many more independent newspapers to be found. As a train traveled...

I have done several stories over the years, including how Peterson Field got going, but to me this one was a real surprise. Did you know there once was a Manitou Airport? As I have looked into our...

I mentioned last week about the change in the highway from Colorado Springs to Pueblo. Today I want to go deeper into the story. It was January, 1928 while the highway department was looking to build...

When we travel around, we see new work on the roads quite often, but how often do we think about where our roads have been changed? For example north of Colorado Springs the Interstate is now being...

Chief Ouray was almost the most well known chiefs of the Uncompahgre Utes at the start of the 20th century. When Ouray was striving to settle some of the Ute tribe's difficulties, Chipeta, his wife...

I mentioned a few of our crops last week, but I have long known that potatoes were a big crop up in the upper Ute Pass area in the 1920s into the 1940s. This story goes back to that area in the 1890s...

Here we are, maybe we can plant gardens now, but then again maybe it will snow again! When it comes to gardens, it seems fewer and fewer family gardens are seen in our yards. You might be surprised...

We do not often think that our major product might be wood. The first building material for Denver was from the Pike's Peak Region's forests. Not only that but it came from Black Forest. Early rancher...

I was recently reminded of this story and thought I would repeat it for you. One of the most exhilarating sports known in the west a hundred years ago was hunting Jack Rabbits! Such was the tale told...

It being Springtime, and a bit of rain has been in the area, I thought I would talk a bit about conditions that were fairly common a hundred years ago. This is one of those that bothered many a wife,...

I recently found a farming story that was not really new to me. I knew that potatoes were a big crop up in the upper Ute Pass area in the 1920s and 1930s. This story goes back to that area in the...

After last week's story I had a few questions about Franceville and the railroad. Franceville was named for Matt France, an early Colorado Springs man. Not far away was McFerran, named for Judge...

This area has a lot of ghost towns. Many are now included in other towns, but some around here are not even as much as a pile of old wood. Some were farm towns, while a few were railroad towns. This...

Perhaps you know about the big gravel pit at Midland, near the entrance to Mueller State Park. Did you know a lot of it was taken to Kansas and Nebraska? That disintegrated granite found in the...

I told this story a few years ago, but recently I was asked about the timing of train rides from Pueblo to Denver. In October, 1901 the Colorado and Southern made their fastest trip to Colorado Spring...

I was recently asked about this story. Today there are many herds of buffalo, preserved all over North America. Some of the largest are in South Dakota, Wyoming and here in Colorado. The situation...

I have become quite amused by an early businessman of the area. There is an interesting twist to the story. Today I want to share this man's story with you. The development of this area by General...

I talked last week about the "crooks" of the early Cripple Creek days, so how about the real big business opportunities of the day. What business would you think was the big money maker of the day?...

As a fan of TV westerns, I often wondered what it was really like in the early days. As I read about how it was, in the old newspapers, I find the answer to some of those questions. The truth is...

We have a bit of time to go before we can get away from cold weather, but I thought I would share a bit of a story about Summer weather. We can do without the problems we had last summer , but this...

I have been watching the new crossing of the railroad tracks up on 85, and I think today I will share this with you. This spot has been featured in several of my old columns. This spot is where the... Full story