From the muddy wallows of wagon ruts to a four-lane highway, Delta’s
Main Street has held the distinction of being the center of commerce,
transportation, and community life since 1882.
 |
| Delta's Main Street in 1893. Note the mature trees which line the street, suggesting they were placed there years earlier. Delta County Historical Society photo |
As streets were laid
out, and a main street designated, it quickly became apparent that there needed
to be a mechanism to maintain the public right of way. When Delta County was
established in 1883, a plan was devised and was implemented in 1884, whereby
each able-bodied male from 21 to 50 had to pay $3.00 per annum or contribute 2
days of labor in helping keep the sixty-foot wide roads usable. Though well
maintained, the original dirt street would have been very muddy in winter and
spring. Livestock fouling in the road and the occasional spitting of tobacco
would have greeted visitors with a familiar Wild West smell.
In 1913, the old State
Highway Commission was replaced by the State Department of Transportation; and
on the national level, a federal income tax was ratified. By 1916, the federal
government joined the road building business by creating matching funds for
transportation projects. Many small towns’ life or death was determined by a
state or federal highway passing through, giving agriculture, business, and
industry access to national markets.
 |
| Delta's Main Street in 1924 before paving, showing excavation for sewer line; 500 block looking south. Delta County Historical Society photo |
As the automobile
replaced horse and buggy as the main method of travel, Delta finally began
paving Main Street. The City Council opted to replace water and sewer lines
prior to paving and the first paved section of Main was from First to Seventh
Street. The project was completed at a cost of $92,000 in the autumn of 1924.
On Armistice Day (now called Veterans Day), Delta held a special parade to
dedicate the newly paved street. The following year, the county opted to resurface
dirt roads with gravel.
In late 1925, the Joint
Board on Interstate Highways approved the preliminary report which created
“U.S. Route 50,” a major east-west highway, which would combine portions of
existing auto trails and link others to create a continuous route from
Annapolis, Maryland and Washington, D.C. to Sacramento, California. In 1926,
Delta’s Main Street was designated U.S. Route 50. This designation was huge for
Delta County, as in an era before the Interstate Highway system; the U.S. Route
network linked the nation from coast-to-coast and provided rural America much
needed access to urban centers. In turn, the automobile and newly paved roads
opened up rural Colorado to tourists and sightseers. By June 1931, the Highway
50 Association was organized to pave the previously unpaved portions of the
highway in Colorado and by November 1939 the last segment of Monarch Pass was
paved, which completed the highway as America’s backbone. Delta had now entered
the age of shared responsibility and use for Main Street.
 |
| Egyptian Theatre circa 1954, note the parking meters and orientation. Delta County Historical Society photo |
By the mid-1950s Delta
was booming. The Ag community, Sugar Factory, the Canning Factory, Delta Brick
& Tile, Skyland Foods, the Tannery, and the Delta Sand & Gravel were a
few of the large industries that were expanding and hiring. The County Commissioners
were completing plans to build a brand-new courthouse. It was typical to see
the Egyptian Theatre with four or five dozen bicycles in front during a
Saturday matinée. The 4-H Beef Roasts would attract close to half of those
living in the county. To top off the golden age of the 1950s for Delta, the
President of the State Senate and the Speaker of the State House both hailed
from the city.
In 1955, Gov. Ed Johnson
proposed widening and resurfacing Main Street (US Highway 50), along with
constructing a state highway from Eckert to Cedaredge. Traffic on Main Street
had become so congested, that in 1955, the City of Delta restricted cars from
making a left turn across traffic, as the wait for an opening caused an even
greater traffic jam. At this time, Delta’s Main was a two-lane street with
diagonal parking.
By January 1956, the
City of Delta, Bureau of Public Roads, and the State Highway Department began
discussions of adding a 13-foot median strip which would include 9-foot turn
lanes. At first, the BPR told Delta to “forget the median strip.” However, a
team consisting of Leonard Kulper, Allen Brown, and Al Neale traveled to Denver
to convince state officials to put a median and curbs on the agenda. The
roadway was 60-feet at the time, but the state told Delta that if they wanted a
13-foot median, then the roadway would need to be widened to 75-feet in order
for state and federal funds to cover the cost.
On February 15, 1956,
the Delta City Council debated whether to accept the State’s all or nothing
offer that included the median. Councilman Cliff Sammons opposed the widening,
arguing that Montrose and Grand Junction didn’t have medians. Also joining the
naysayers was Councilman C.A. Bowle who feared a wider Main would decrease
property values and have a negative impact on downtown business. Prior to the
actual vote, the city held a straw poll and found that 64% of the gallery
favored a median strip. The vote passed and City Manager Kulper’s dream for
Delta was becoming a reality.
Construction began
during the spring of 1956 and Main Street was widened from 60 to 75-feet,
parking was changed from diagonal to curbside, and a 9-foot turn lane was added
for left-turns at each intersection. The current traffic layout has met the
needs of Delta for the past sixty-plus-years.
SIDEWALKS:
FROM WOOD PLANKS TO CONCRETE
As Delta emerged as a
fledgling town in 1882, sidewalks quickly emerged as businesses began building
along Main Street. The original sidewalks were made out of wooden planks that
were half a foot wide and eight feet long. In the residential area of town, the
wooden walks would have only been four feet wide. During this era of dirt
streets and wood sidewalks, the man walked on the street side and the lady on
the building side, so that the man could protect his lady from any passing
wagons or horses splashing mud. This is still proper etiquette today, though
few young couples know this custom.
By 1905, the original
wooden sidewalks were falling into disrepair to the point of being dangerous.
The women of Delta were constantly complaining about the rough, uneven boards
and loose nails which would catch shoes and tear dresses.
 |
| Delta's Main Street showing angled parking, concrete sidewalks, and paved street, but no median or trees.Delta County Historical Society photo |
In February 1906, the
town announced it would replace the wooden sidewalks, between Fourth and Fifth
Streets on the west side Main Street with concrete sidewalks. By May, the west
side of the next block was under contract, but no mention of other blocks, or
the east side of Main.
“The walks are beyond
repair. In the meantime, it behooves citizens to cast many an anxious glance on
the boards ahead. No one can tell what wonders they may bring forth. It was
only the other day we were obliged to turn our head the other way while we
caught a glimpse of flying petticoats, rusty nails, weather-beaten planks and
open work sox,” wrote the editors of the Delta
Independent in July 1906.
Delta citizens were
becoming more and more vocal about the need to replace wooden sidewalks with
concrete. The town then asked property owners to sign a petition saying they
would pay for the portion of concrete sidewalk in front of their home or
business.
In September 1906, the
town awarded Frank Waller of Salida the contract to pave the next three blocks
along the west side of Main with cement. Waller constructed most of the
original concrete sidewalks and was so skilled with a cement trowel that he even
built a concrete house at the base of Garnet Mesa hill.
In 1907, Delta’s Model
Block, a housing development by the Stockham Brothers and Millard Fairlamb,
from Fourth to Fifth Streets and between Grand and Howard Streets, was the
first residential area to see concrete sidewalks. A sample of the original
concrete sidewalk is on display in the Delta County Museum.
Concrete sidewalks were
not complete along Main Street and several side and parallel streets until June
1908. It would be another 16 years before Main Street would be upgraded from
dirt to pavement, but in the meantime, the citizens of Delta were ecstatic to
have smooth, solid sidewalks.
PARKING, METERS, &
FINES
As Delta grew and the
demand for parking along Main Street increased, so did the need to help the
downtown business community by freeing up parking spaces from time to time. In
1928 the first patent for a parking meter was issued and two decades later
these devices graced Delta’s Main Street.
 |
| Parking meter policeman, Carl Wise, shown circa 1956/57 on Delta's Main Street. Meters were removed in 1977. Carl's friendly and witty disposition earned him the title of Delta's Ambassador.Delta County Historical Society photo |
On Monday, May 5, 1947
at 8:00 AM, Delta’s Main Street Parking Meter Ordinance officially went into
force. The meters were installed by CarPark Meter Company of Cincinnati, Ohio
and ran along Main from Second to Sixth Streets, and also extended for a half a
block on the streets parallel to Main. There was a total of 270 meters.
One cent granted the
operator of the automobile a license to park in that space for 12 minutes; a
nickel bought the driver the full hour. Failure to pay the meter was a
violation and carried a penalty of 50 cents for the first offence. Subsequent
offences carried fines of not more than ten dollars. Delta Mayor John Crawley
was a stickler for the rules and made sure the ordinance and regulations were
enforced, including a prohibition on “meter feeding.”
During this time,
parking along Main Street was parallel and the center median did not exist like
it does today. In April 1955, Delta Police Chief Hanson issued parking tickets
to car owners who blocked driveways, parked on the sidewalk, and caused their
car to impede traffic in the street. Apparently quite a few frugal drivers had
found all sorts of ways to circumvent paying for parking.
In 1956, Delta’s Main
Street was widened to add the median and another traffic lane in each direction;
also at this time, parking orientation was changed from parallel to curbside.
No letters complaining of parking orientation were published in the Delta County Independent, but one reader
did register his objection to a median and left-turn lanes.
 |
| Delta's Main in the 2000s, notice the abundance of open parking and trees. Author's Collection |
*This article, published in the Delta County Museum's quarterly newsletter, is part one in a two-part series covering the development of Delta's Main Street and the politics relating to it.
Soper, Matt. "A history of Delta's Main Street." Delta County Historical Society (Delta, Colo.) Newsletter Iss. No. 86 (Apr-Jun 2016) p4+
