The town of Granada saw many changes in the beginning, mostly name changes, but even the site changed. In 1872, a commisary and store had been built by T.B. Nolan, and Chick, Brown & Co. of Kit Carson, a mercantile firm, began laying out a town.
Grenada was platted on June 10, 1873 in Bent County, about 12 miles west of the Kansas state line. It began about the time the Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railroad arrived in Colorado. Because railroad funding ran out, Granada could have become a ghost town, but instead, became a thriving community. It was the second largest community (Las Animas was the largest) in Bent County, and one of the largest in the state by 1876.
A post office was established in August 1873 and by 1874, Granada had a public school, two hotels, three grocery stores with hardwares, a drug store and several restaurants. The majority of the population was made of railroad employees, miners, cowboys, freight employees and gamblers, totalling about 1500. There was very few church activities and a newspaper had not yet been established. The only law enforcement was the marshal. Old Granada, as it was later known, was never incorporated.
Since the railroad had laid its tracks on the north side of the Arkansas River and Granada was built on the south, a railroad bridge was built. They also added an extension so that wagons could use the bridge. The A.T.&S.F. stationed Adam D. Snowden, an employee, to collect tolls and protect it from hazards such as prairie fires.
The railroads coming into Colorado caused the buffalo herds to separate. The southern herd was thick south of the Arkansas River, but north of the Canadian River. Granada became a popular site for buffalo hunters. It was the central shipping location for eastern markets. Hundreds of freight wagons could be seen camped at or near Granada.
The Kansas Pacific railroad was also laying track from Kit Carson to La Junta, and competition between La Junta and Granada began for the New Mexico trade. A second mercantile moved to Granada by the name of Otero, Sellar and Company, and along with Chick, Brown and Company received their goods by rail in Granada. They sent their freight to Santa Fe by ox teams.
Old Granada was abandoned because it wanted to grow. When the railroad continued west, the town lost much of its population. It still had a post office, school house, a few houses and a store. The railroad station was still there as well as a hotel and saloons. It continued to function as a town until 1885.
Besides the railroad, another possible reason for its demise was a real estate purchase. The Chick, Brown and Company land, the XY Ranch, and other land, about 3,000 acres, was purchased by an entreprenuer named Frederick H. Harvey. The land extended from the river bridge to the present town of Granada, land that basically surrounded Old Granada. Mr. Harvey of the Harvey House Restaurants was in partnership with the Santa Fe Railroad to feed its passengers along the line.
By now, rumors that a U.S. land office was to be established in the area, prompted Granada businessmen to ask Mr. Harvey about selling some of his land to expand Granada. Mr. Harvey was unwilling so it was decided to move the town to another location that could accommodate growth. After thirteen years, the town was hauled three miles west near Wolf Creek. The new location was land homesteaded by William Grooms and purchased by the Bent County Town Company on April 26, 1886. The Bent County Town Company listed Thomas Doak as president, A.D. Snowden as secretary, and listed D.A. Mims, E.N. Keep and Dickinson. Not only were many of the buildings moved from the old site but the surveyors borrowed the plat. The railroad station remained at Old Grenada on the XY Ranch but the Santa Fe Railroad renamed it Adana.
As the new town was getting under way, a meeting of its citizens decided that the most important need was a school. A proposal was made to collect funds to build a school house but another suggestion was made that a seldom used schoolhouse east of Granada on the XY Ranch, be swiped. It was, and an extra room was added on immediately. The first teacher was C.O. Barton.
A petition to incorporate the town was submitted to the Bent County Judge on June 10, 1887 and an election was held July 5, 1887 with 18 for incorporation and 7 against. After all legal notifications were made, the town was declared incorporated on July 23, 1887.
They still lacked a railroad station so the town fathers suggested that the Santa Fe Railroad officials move the station from Old Grenada to New Granada. The officials decided that the depot would move if they received 51% of all unsold lots and 51% of money already received on lot sales in the new town. The town leaders felt they had already paid their dues at Old Granada so they refused. The Santa Fe Railroad bided its time and then sent surveyors in the location to become Lamar. Lamar was also to be the new location of the U.S. Land Office. The town, in 1886, managed to be assigned as a railroad switch so that even if there wasn't a depot at least trains stopped.
The frontier life that was the environment in Old Grenada continued in New Granada. There were several saloons and many confrontations. In the first six months, "12 men died with their boots on". At the time, Granada had more shootings and fatalities than any other town in Prowers County. The unsavory reputation put a damper on any settlers coming in to homestead the land. By September, 1887, the Santa Fe Railroad put a station in at Granada although their records do not list a station agent before 1890.
In 1889, Prowers County was formed from Bent County, and so started the race for county seat. Granada's bid didn't pan out, instead going to Lamar.
Old Grenada and the XY Ranch, was renamed Adana by the railroad, but in December, 1891, the U.S. Post Office changed the name to Byron. However, in January, 1892, it was discovered that the name was in use elsewhere and again changed the name, this time to Zuck. The name was less acceptable so the cowboys and homesteaders petitioned the government to change the name back to Byron. They were ignored until the turn of the century when the name was changed to Barton.
The town was prospering until New Year's Day in 1893 when two major fires destroyed most of the business district. The first fire was believed to have originated in Mrs. Frank Barton's restaurant. Before the town had a chance to rebuild, another fire started April 17, 1893. This time it was believed to have originated in the drug store caused by spontaneous combustion. Most of the buildings involved had been moved from Old Grenada but the entire new town was built of wooden frame structures. Another fire was to destroy the business district in September, 1910. It began with the Exchange Saloon.
There are few buildings left that date before 1900. Many of the business owners who were burned out chose not to rebuild and moved away. Granada continued to survive.
The Colorado Telephone Company constructed a telephone exchange in March, 1903 and by June 10, 50 phones were working. Granada's first high school, the Granada Union High School, was built in 1903. The First National Bank of Granada was the first bank in Prowers County and had been established right after the town began. The first hotel was opened in 1886 known as Mim's House.
With the start of World War II, a relocation center for the Japanese was constructed and opened on August 27, 1942, just southwest of Granada. It was named Camp Amache in honor of Amache Ochinee Prowers, wife of John W. Prowers, for whom the county was named. By September 30, 1942, the center was full. It was self-supporting and included a post office, fire station, police, schools and a 150-bed hospital. Today there is little evidence of the once thriving community that added to Granada's existence. By October, 1945, the project that included more than 10,000 acres, had been turned over to the Federal Land Bank of Wicheta, KS for disposal.
Granada was to become a quiet agricultural community. Many buildings are still standing but empty, evidence of a once thriving town.
Sources:
Prowers County, Colorado-A Prowers County History, by Ava Betz, Published by The Prowers County Historical Society, Big Timbers Museum, Lamar, Colorado 1986
1873-1973 Granada Centennial, June 16, 1973-"The First One Hundred Years", Published by Robinson Printing, Lamar, Colorado June, 1973
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This page was last updated Saturday, 27-Nov-2004 06:37:48 CST