World's First Harvey House

 

World’s First

Harvey House

 

Fred Harvey did not start off in the food business, he worked for a railroad.  His job required him to travel a lots and the food served him at the RR places was not good by his standards.  So Fred set out to change the food quality served to RR workers. 

 

Fred, along with a partner opened their first dining establishments on the Kansas Pacific railway in Hugo, Colorado and Wallace Kansas.   The railroad hotel served as the host for Fred Harvey’s lunchroom, 

 

The cluttered lot, where the first Harvey House had been.

These first eateries set the stage for Fred Harvey to begin a chain of restaurants across the western US. 

 

The Santa Fe RR contracted with Fred to establish dining houses along the Santa Fe route.  Standards were set for food preparation and apparel for the staff.  The Harvey girls as they were known had a manual of guidelines to follow to be a food server in a Harvey House.  The quality of food and the girls became the mark of a Harvey house. 

 

Not only did Fred Harvey have eating places along the rails, He also got them in various National Parks.  Across the SW US the Harvey house was well known. 

 

Today, most of the Harvey Houses are gone as are the RR hotels that hosted them.  In a few towns, the old hotel has been restored and the restaurant is back in operation.  These places still trade on the Harvey House name and there is a Harvey House fan club. 

 

The location of the first Harvey House in Hugo is a vacant lot full of stuff.  There is no reminder that the world’s first had been there. 

 

The Kansas Pacific RR built a roundhouse in Hugo in 1870 when Hugo was designated a division point on the railroad.  In 1870, the government changed the regulations covering rail workers.  As a result, Hugo was no longer a division point. 

 

The roundhouse was closed and torn down.  The hotel was shuttered and demolished along with Fred Harvey’s first lunch room.  Into the dim memory box this page of history faded.    Around Colorado, there are a few places where the building still stands where there was a Harvey house.

 

What would be cool, is somebody open an INN of sorts on the site of the old Harvey House.  At corner of the lot is an old vacant 50’s style gas station, a classic icon of a bygone era. 

 

The railroad town of Hugo is still a town by the rails.  In 1909 government regs changed again and Hugo became a division point again.  A new roundhouse was built on the west side of Hugo and it is still standing. Many of the old railroad houses and section houses are still in use in Hugo and the depot is in the park. 

Looking across the RR park from where the depot had been located.

US 40, America's Highway, is part of the Port to Plains route.  

US had it origins on the Smoky Hill Trail In 1870.  

Stormy Night

 

Dark and Stormy Night

 

Jeff strode through the woods, that dark and stormy night.  The wind danced over the trees, clouds played tag with the moonbeams.   Jeff was making rapid footprints as he strode down the path.  Lantern at his side, light beams lighting the way, penetrating the darkness. 

 

Shadows from the lantern light, bouncing off the shrubs.  Oh what a night for a horror story, Jeff thought.  This is the path the coven would dance down to their bonfire what a witching New England night it would be.  Jeff’s mind raced on that dark and stormy night.  Other images came forth as werewolf’s sat among the trees serenading the witches.  Naked warlocks scattered among the waving trees.  Bodies writhing and weaving to the sound of the rustling wind.  The thump of the branches pounding on the ground, a frenzy of dancing around the fire.

 

Jeff continued his pace along the path, watching the shadows dance across it.  The storm had pushed the wildlife into their burrows.  Looking ahead, Jeff could see the path ahead, lit by the silver beams of the moon. 

 

Oh what a romantic night this could be Jeff thought.  Walking my girl back home after the dance.  Brief interludes in the hidden shadows.  Jeff felt her warm body beside, rubbing on his arm.  

Bakersfield

 

Bakersfield, Colorado

Bakersfield, CO, was a small country Post Office on the Plains of Eastern Colorado.   SW of Vona or SE of Seibert.  It served local farmers and ranchers, early 1900’s out of their house.  Where the map showed the location, there were a couple of homes.  One was an abandoned farm, now home to grazing cattle.  Nearby was an operating farm, with equipment and well kept yard.  The empty farmyard is probably where the PO was located. 

 

It is an area of rolling hills, of mostly pastures, with some farmland.  Cattle pause their browsing to look at the interloper, the buffalo have a look of curiosity and the deer and antelope scurry for cover and distance.  The fox and coyotes wander the area as do other critters.  Then there are the birds, Eastern Colorado has one of the largest, most diverse variety of birds in the state. 

 

Because it is mostly ranchland, the area is pretty empty.  Homes are few and far and the little country Post Office may have had a couple dozen customers. 

 

Nearby is the Mennonite community of New Fredericksburg. The church has been boarded up, but it appears the graveyard is still used and taken care of.   Probably there are still some ancestors in the area.

 

It is a land that holds memories of dreams from years ago. 

Oriska, Colorado

 

Oriska, was a rural Post Office, located in East Central Colorado, just south of Seibert. 

 

The map shows there had been two Orica’s, one located on SH Hwy 59 and the other just a couple miles to the east.  Both were in operation during the early 1900’s.  When the contract for mail service was changed, it appears the name stayed with the PO.  On occasion when the rancher would get the PO contract, he would change the name of the Post Office, using his last name. 

 

Along the highway there is not much left of the ranch.  A few out buildings and corrals.  According to the map, Oriska was just south of the corner store.  The General Store, would be located on the corner of the correction line road curve. 

 

Here there are a few old building and houses.  Often these little general stores would get the Post Office but according to the map, no PO was located at the curve. 

 

These little country Post Offices would serve around 12-20 customers.  Located in the ranch house, it would also be a place to pause and visit and learn the gossip about the neighbors.  The postal customers of Oriska were probably consolidated in the Post Office at Seibert.