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The 1980s<p>Palisade's agriculture economy continues to evolve. The oil shale boom, which siphons off rich, agricultural land for employee housing, finally bursts. Palisade families create the Mesa Land Trust to offer financial incentives for conservation easements to save the unique farmland at the east end of the Grand Valley. Fruit growers suffer another severe winter kill in 1989 which damages trees and newly planted wine-grape vines. Wineries open, bringing another reason to visit Palisade.</p>
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1979<p>Palisade Art Lovers (PALS) is started by nine members. The first Art Show was held soon after, on December 15, 1980 at the Palisade Public Library which was located in the Municipal Building on East 3rd St.</p>
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1978<p>Salinity environmental studies completed for stage one of the salinity project.</p>
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1977<ul> <li> <p>United Fruit Growers' association platform west of Kluge Avenue burns January 9.</p> </li> <li> <p>Colorado Limited Winery Act in 1977 establishes a class of winery producing less than 100,000 gallons of wine per year and using at least fifty percent of Colorado grapes.</p> </li> </ul>
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1976<p>Monitoring Stage One for Salinity Control begins and continues through 1984. The project is designed to reduce the amount of salts flowing into the Colorado River by lining canals and encouraging water saving irrigation methods.</p>
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1974<p>Salinity Control Act (Public Law 93-320) passes.</p>
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1971<p>Co-op (Mountain Lion) and United Fruit Growers' associations merge. Mountain Lion platforms burn to the ground in August, although the brick office is saved.</p>
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1970<p>1910 High school building demolished in December.</p>
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Transportation<p>The United Fruit Growers Association begins shipping peaches via refrigerated semi-trucks rather than refrigerated railroad box cars in 1975.</p> <p><em>Courtesy of Palisade Historical Society</em></p>
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Culture<p>The Palisade Women's Club project provides local artists an opportunity to have their paintings hung on the west wall of the Independent Lumber building across from the Post Office until the wall was torn down.</p> <p><em>Courtesy of Palisade Art Lovers (PALS)</em></p>
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Community<p>A popular tradition for Palisade residents every April is attending Blossom Sunday Dinner at the Orchard Mesa Community Center. The women on East Orchard Mesa hold bake sales and fundraising events to build the "Club House" starting in the mid-1930s. The public was invited to the annual fundraising event until the last one in 1975.</p> <p><em>Courtesy of Priscilla Mangnall</em></p>
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Business<p>With diminished fruit shipments, the Mountain Lion Co-op and United Fruit Growers' associations merge. The Mountain Lion platforms burn to the ground a few months later. The offices included Entomologist Max Sisson's work with the Palisade Insectary.</p> <p><em>Courtesy of Palisade Fire Department</em></p>
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Agriculture<p>With the devastating winter kill in 1962-63 and depressed prices for peaches, Curtis Talley, the agriculture teacher at Palisade High School, and other orchardists Fred (Danny) Bracken, George Zimmerman, and Ralph Blatnik, replace their fruit orchards with 20 acres of grapes in 1973. Gerald Ivancie of Ivancie Winery in Denver encourages wine grape planting in Palisade. The 1973 plantings succeed.</p> <p><em>Courtesy of the Bracken Family</em></p>
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The 1970s<p>Diminishing fruit shipments mean by 1975, Denver and Rio Grande Railroad refrigerated box cars are no longer used to ship fruit. Mesa County rezones much of Palisade as R-3 (high density housing) to encourage development in response to the Oil Shale boom in Rifle. Wine grapes are introduced as an alternative to the devastating loss of fruit trees from the winter kill damage of the 1960s. With no passenger train service, Palisade's second depot is torn down.</p> <p><em>The Palisade Tribune</em> publisher, Bill Lorenzen, writes articles noting Palisade has 850 people and 1 grouch.</p>
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1969<p>Cameo Mine closes.</p>
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1968<ul> <li> <p>Winger/GoBoy Mine in Rapid Creek closes.</p> </li> <li> <p>Palisade Library/former Bower Garage on 3rd St. demolished and replaced by Municipal Building.</p> </li> </ul>
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1963<p>Severe temperature changes in a few hours kill virtually all the fruit trees in the Valley. Many orchards are pulled and not replanted. United Fruit Growers' Association shipments drop to 25% of previous year. By 1966, UFGA shipments total only 58 refrigerated boxcars of fruit, down 95% from a decade earlier.</p>
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1962<p>Bill's AG Market moves to a new building across Main St. from the former Bancroft Grocery store location on the east side in the Purcell Building.</p>
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1961<ul> <li> <p>Downtown Palisade streets and alleys are paved.</p> </li> <li> <p>Migrant Labor camp shuts down due to Federal regulations; growers forced to make alternate arrangements for seasonal workers.</p> </li> </ul>
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Transportation<p>The second, much larger Palisade depot opened in 1909. It was located on 2<sup>nd</sup> Street between Bower Ave. and Main St.</p> <p>By the late 1960s, trains no longer stop in Palisade. Three passenger trains a day as well as freight trains once stopped at this depot.</p> <p><em>Courtesy of Rebecca Harris</em></p>
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Recreation<p>1969 Palisade High School State Champion AA Baseball Team</p> <p><em>Courtesy of Geraldine Burdick</em></p>
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People<p>Rena Mary Taylor served as a State Legislator from 1950 until 1962, serving in both the Colorado House of Representatives and Senate. Among other accomplishments, in 1957, she introduced a bill to abolish the death penalty. It got out of committee, but died on the House floor.</p> <p><em>Courtesy of the Taylor family</em></p>
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Education<p>A woman on the steps of the building near the 1910 School building which houses the bathrooms and boiler room.</p> <p>Palisade Junior High School and some high school classes are held in the 1910 school building in the 1960s and 1970s. The 1910 school is demolished in December 1970.</p> <p><em>Courtesy of Lillian Eyre</em></p>
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Culture<p>With a grant from the State Library Board, the Town demolishes the former Bower Garage building which housed the Palisade Public Library since 1952. In its place, a Municipal Building-which includes Town offices, the library, a jail and court room-is completed in 1968.</p> <p><em>Courtesy of Bowman Family Collection</em></p>
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Community<p>The Palisade Women's Club successfully lobbies for a new post office building to replace the outgrown space in the Purcell building where it had been for 50 years. They also enlist local artists to create large paintings to decorate the Independent Lumber building's plain wall across Kluge Ave. from the Post Office.</p> <p><em>Courtesy of Bowman Family Collection</em></p>