register |  login
› GOLDEN
Loading Ad
Visit Other Hubs:
ADVERTISEMENT
Loading Tower
RECENT STORIES

Demolition party in Golden

Contributed by: Richard Gardner on 8/8/2006

At 9 a.m. on Aug. 12 comes an event long-awaited by many Goldenites: the demolition of the derelict Hesteds Department Store at 13th and Washington. The NexCore Group, developers of the site, will be holding a demolition party for all to celebrate, and coffee and donuts will be served.

At 9:30, bricks from Hesteds will begin being sold for $5 each as a fundraiser for the Golden Landmarks Association, to preserve Golden's true historic landmarks, and NexCore Group will match the funds raised. It's a fun way to come see the turning of a chapter in Golden's history, and an opportunity to grab a piece of it that is passing to the ages.

The Hesteds bricks are Golden-made bricks, created right here in 1957 and 1962. If you buy one, you are getting among the last made of Golden's own. Many are Norman style bricks, longer than normal Golden bricks, of which no others are available for the public to have.

These bricks made up the original Hesteds, the south 54 feet of the present building, and were laid in 1957 by Ralph Neal and Harry Multer. The others, among the very last Golden bricks made the year before the plant shut down, were laid by Clyde Clayburn in 1962. The cast concrete square tiles were made by Jefferson Transit Mix Company that same year, another area home industry. It is not very often Golden bricks from a Golden storefront come up for grabs.

If the Hesteds bricks could talk they would tell of a time when they were brand new and full of promise. Hesteds was originally constructed in 1957, the first building to grace the northeast corner of 13th and Washington.

Before that the tramway stopped here, taking passengers and freight, for over half a century dating all the way back to 1891. Once it ceased operation, downtown businessman Cliff Evans, who had already owned the Golden Bowling Alley and Golden Furniture, purchased this lucrative corner. He found a tenant in Hesteds Department Store, a chain founded in 1909 by E.J. Hested in Fairbury, Nebraska. Hested modestly entered the variety store field that year, purchasing the fire sale stock of a wholesale house in Omaha along with small quantities of new fill-in merchandise and opening a very small sales room. According to Hesteds district supervisor Walter Kayler, speaking to the Colorado Transcript "Business was not very good in those days and quite frequently it was a race to the bank with a small deposit to beat the deadline on checks to suppliers for merchandise."

From that beginning Hesteds grew in to a regional chain across Iowa, Nebraska, South Dakota, Wyoming, Montana, and Colorado. Golden's new store was the 90th they opened, and 24th in this state.

The new store building was state-of-the-art modern, featuring air conditioning and new cold cathoid "slim light" installations illuminating the entire interior. Manager Keith Epperson, who moved here with his family from Laramie, Wyoming, strongly believed in operating a "home town" store, and said versatility in buying was a keynote of Hesteds. While buyers sought merchandise generally wanted, they also kept an eye out for goods not usually offered at variety stores that Goldenites might want. Epperson stated to the Transcript "Our merchandise ranges from sewing needs to household goods, to toys and candy for junior, to clothing for mom, daughter and brother." Hesteds had its grand opening September 28, 1957, offering 23 well-stocked departments, offering potted plants to the first 500 ladies to arrive, with balloons and rides for the kids.

With Epperson stating Hesteds was "looking forward to a long and happy sojourn here", the building was constructed to be able to add a 2nd floor at a later time. Its easternmost 25 feet served as offices for dentist Paul Jennings, the law firm of Bradley, Carney and Johnson, and for Cliff Evans. For its grand opening Hesteds offered Chenille bedspreads for $2.99, boys' jeans for $1.99, silk scarves for 9 cents, fancy sofa pillows fror 88 cents, daffy apples for 5 cents, jersey blouses for 77 cents, 2 pounds of orange slices for 29 cents, and chocolate and vanilla creme-filled sandwich cookies for 67 cents per 3 pounds.

The new store was quite popular in Golden, at it competed with the Ellis and Eakers department stores in adjoining blocks. Soon an expansion was in the works, and Hesteds sought to make Golden's store its greatest in Colorado. In 1962, Evans tore down 3/4ths of the historic Linder Block next door, which had stood on the site since 1867, to make way for a huge expansion that would make Hesteds the largest storefront downtown Golden had ever seen. Adding onto and modifying the original building, the reborn Hesteds rose as a 125x140-foot edifice, featuring a false front of more space than all others in the old west town's history combined, with a backing of white concrete tiles to its blue illuminated script letter sign. A ribbon of glass displays beneath a radical accordion canopy stretched nearly the full length of the storefront, and a second grand opening was held on September 14, 1962.

Manager Marvin Pethoud oversaw a new 20,000 square foot store, quadruple its original space, with 6,000 feet of storage, office and warehouse space to spare. New departments included a men's department, sporting goods, and women's shoe department, with expanded casual wear, records, infants clothing and women's sports departments. The original part of the building was completely remodeled with a new luncheonette counter along the south wall, and beneath the addition was more retail featuring toys, hardware, yard goods and small appliances. It had truly become a great anchor to the downtown landscape.

Goldenites often shopped at Hesteds, even once being too eager with a car crashing through the storefront, and the store was about the most prosperous the chain had in Colorado. However, its good story came to an end on January 13, 1977. The chain decided to pull out of Colorado, taking out all of its stores no matter how profitable, and Golden's store met its demise. Once it went dark it stayed dark for many years to come.

However, the dark age of this corner was not without some light, as the Golden Civic Foundation began its annual auction here in 1977, featuring the colorful odyssey of the can of Billy Beer, which found itself auctioned again and again and again. Fire chief Gray Granquist donated the can of Billy Carter brew that first year, after his parents had bought a 6-pack while traveling in President Carter's home state of Georgia. Pete Coors signed it to auction off, and fire department members Lee McBride, Will Maley and Bob Ensminge bought it for $100. Coors matched that amount and Heinie Foss matched the $200, making the first $400 can of beer sold in Golden's history. In 1978 they donated it back to the auction, and bought it back for $190, with the signatures of Bill and Joe Coors added. In 1979 the firemen again donated it back to the auction, but this time McBride was the sole bidder from the fire department, buying it for $110. "The other guys weren't around when it was auctioned, so I bought it myself," McBride explained. Foss again matched the $110, so the beer became the highest valued beverage Golden ever had, by then worth $810. In 1980 McBride donated it back for one last hurrah, and it bowed into history since Ronald Reagan had been elected president. When asked what the beer must have tasted like by then, McBride admitted to the Transcript it must taste "pretty bad. But it was pretty bad when it first came out."

The auction had other fun too, such as when Golden attorney Conrad E. Gardner donated a free divorce, resulting in a fierce bidding war between banker Frank Sweeney and his wife. It is believed Mrs. Sweeney won, but she never activated the prize. The auction has since moved to larger, more elegant quarters than old Hesteds, but the memories will always remain. Today the Golden Civic Foundation is helping bring about the new Gateway Station development that will take the building's place.


SUBMIT COMMENT

Rate the above story



Current Rating
Based on 3 user ratings.

Talk Back : submit comments to the story

*Note: you need to log-in to add a comment or rating.

Showing 1 of 1 comments
Submitted By: H Dana Moran
posted on 8/11/2006 @ 3:57:31 PM
Rated Story
Thanks again to Rich Gardner for a fascinating story, another chapter in Golden's colorful history
[Report as objectionable]
Showing 1 of 1 comments
CONTRIBUTOR INFORMATION

Richard Gardner

Golden , CO

Richard Gardner has posted 97 stories and 1 comment since joining on 9/15/2005. Richard Gardner 's average story rating is 4.95.
SAVE AND SHARE THIS STORY
STORY RSS FEEDS
WANT TO WRITE FOR YOURHUB.COM?
Want to see the stories you write and the photos you shoot featured in the YourHub.com Thursday print section available all over the Front Range and with home subscriptions of the Rocky Mountain News and The Denver Post? All you have to do is register, then post a story or column, start a blog or tell everyone what events are happening in town. We will print the best stories, columns, event listings, photos and blog entries in our print sections.

ADVERTISEMENT
Loading Ad

Loading Ad
ADVERTISEMENT
Loading Ad

This YourHub.com community is produced by The Denver Newspaper Agency
Web Development and Channel Analytics provided by Indigio

terms of use //  privacy policy
the staff //  advertise //  help & faq
buy photos