61 Years Ago
The April 23, 1964 Colorado Transcript described a mild protest staged by Colorado School of Mines students.
Spring fever traditionally has had an upsetting influence on collegians. Wild beach parties, raids on girls’ quarters, Volkswagen and phone booth stuffing, and even an occasional swallowed goldfish are part of the campus spring fever tradition. Unfortunately the Colorado School of Mines students have few of these outlets. No girls’ dorms (yet), no beaches, few goldfish and stuffing phone booths and compacts has gotten old.
Colorado Transcript – April 23, 1964
The article explained that the students—unhappy with the state of Golden’s streets—had posted a banner under the Welcome arch saying “Home of the Nation’s Worst Roads.” The Transcript interviewed one of the students, who claimed that Golden’s streets were full of chuckholes [potholes], some of them nine inches deep. He said that his car was a junker, but many of the students had good cars, including sports cars, and some had suffered wheel damage from Golden potholes.
City officials were offended and quickly took down the banner. They were proud of Golden's facilities, which included a new municipal building and pool. They pointed out that “…there has been more street construction accomplished by the city during the past six years than at any time in the city’s 100-plus years…. Only about 35 blocks in the city remain to be paved.”
Post Script: In 1991, Golden voters approved an extra 1% sales tax to be used for infrastructure maintenance. Our streets, gutters, sidewalks, water, and wastewater systems have improved every year since then, and now it’s rare to find a pothole in Golden.
