Cobweb Express

The Back Road
by Mel McFarland

I have a map on my wall of this area in 1909. It is fun to look at some of the roads. I have enjoyed finding some of these roads over the years. As a kid I often rode with my grandfather in Black Forest. He had lived in that area in the 1940’s and still had friends up that way. In traveling up there we would go out on dirt roads that are long gone now. I still have images of the old farms and Fox Farms and even though I know right where a couple were, you can not even see a sign of them now.

As I started driving it was fun to investigate some of these back roads. I wonder how many of you have taken the old road from Fountain to Pueblo, or out east. I miss the old roads and the scenery. Several of my old College friends and I would drive Old Pueblo Road just because we were tired of driving I-25. Some of these roads are hardly back roads now! The flood of 1965 took out many bridges, some of which are still gone. I remember most of the road was dirt, even the roads off of it are main roads now. You have to get fifty or more miles east of the mountains to start finding people who do not drive into Colorado Springs to work, and even that is not that unusual. I have a friend who lives near Limon, but drives into Colorado Springs to work, and rarely has to miss a day because of the weather.

On the map there are towns that have changed. Some of this is because of 1-25, others are gone for other reasons. The route that is now 1-25 was there a hundred years ago, but it w,as not regularly used as a main road until the 1930’s. Old Pueblo Road was replaced at that time by a paved highway which grew into the interstate. Midway was a town, as is still Pinon and Eden is slowly becoming part of Pueblo. Wigwam stopped being something you might call a town sixty years ago. These were important stops up into the 1950’s. You might need gas, or something might need to be fixed. Todays cars, tires and roads are so much better now than even in the 1950’s. You might even want to take a break and have a cup of coffee or pie. The cafe at Midway had great food as I remember! The interstate from south Nevada all the way to Fountain was not built on an old road. When it opened in the late 50’s it was seen as such a great step. They would never believe that there would be four lanes through Security, Widefield and Fountain! Well back then there was barely Circle Drive, and no Academy!

CONTACT THE WRITER • MCMIDLAND@YAHOO.COM

MEL'S ARCHIVES
4-11-07 | 4-18-07 | 4-25-07 | 5-2-07 | 5-9-07 | 5-16-07 | 5-23-07 |
5-30-07 | 6-6-07 | 6-13-07 | 6-20-07 | 6-27-07 | 7-4-07 | 7-11-07 | 7-18-07
7-25-07 | 8-1-07 | 8-8-07 | 10-24-07 | 11-1-07 | 11-5-07 | 11-12-07 | 11-26-07 | 12-5-07
12-12-07