YourHub.com \\ Old Colorado City \\ Stories \\ Around Town

SCOTTY

e-mail to a friend | print this | link to this

Contributed by: Dave Hughes on 4/29/2008

Pearl "Scotty" Price Scott died August 6, 1979. There was a nice "In Memoriam" piece in the Gazette Telegraph back then when they still did such things. No more - relatives have to pay a stiff advertising price to say anything nice about their deceased relatives or friends now. So much for "community" newspapering. He was 93, having been born in 1886 in Newton, Kansas.

But Scotty is worth remembering on the Westside and in Old Colorado City. For he arrived on the Westside in 1919, two years after Colorado City was dissolved as a town and was annexed to Colorado Springs.

Times were tough and the westside was in economic decline after all the money that the saloons brought in had to close and the effects of World War I were still being felt. But Scotty was an optimist, bought the already old frame building at 2516 West Colorado Avenue, and continued to operate his "Scott Decorating Company" which specialized in decorations for conventions, fairs, and those American traditions - political speechmaking.

But he was also civic minded, and he took over the reins of the "West Colorado Springs Commercial Club" the business association whose roots go back to the 1859 "El Paso Commercial Club" which hung thieves, ran the town, and recorded the first deeds of Colorado City while it was still part of Kansas Territory with no local government offices.

One of the first things he did was organize, in 1920 the Clean Up of the westside and its commercial district. After dissolution of the town government there was no effective municipal services. For as he once said in an interview "In those days, people would open a can of sardines or a can of corn and throw the can out the window. We cleaned up the whole town."

One of the best kept secrets was that the "dump" they created is today under the grass on Vermijo Park off 26th street. Someday someone will take a backhoe to that area at night and turn up treasures dating from the 1870s and 80s.

All that Scotty did was smile and hold his eternal pipe when he told those stories.

The other and wonderful thing he did was organize the efforts to save the Carnegie Library on Pikes Peak which the City was preparing to shut down for lack of patronage on the depressed 'westside.' It was saved by the efforts of the business association led by Pearl Scott, and today it is the busy and high tech Old Colorado City Branch Library. Can you imagine if there was no branch library west of I-25? His actions typified the local total westside community cooperative spirit when the public library was saved by the business club.

Pearl had a lively wife Mildred who was an artist, and a daughter Lavonne. And even then in 1979 had a granddaughter and great granddaughter.

Fast forward to 1975, when I arrived on the scene to do what I could to help save "historic" Colorado City by perpetuating that small business, cooperative neighborhood efforts, and sense of itself and its history rather than tear down the buildings which the City was prepared to do.

By this time Scotty, who was leasing his building to Gene Brent, who had just started up "Brent Arms" was getting really old and was ready to sell it to Brent. I think the sales price was about $23,000. (it is for sale again, for some $350,000 or more)

And it was around, literally, a pot belly stove in the gun shop whose 1880s building still stands where Gene and I, with Scotty chiming in from time to time, hatched the plans to revitalize the westside as an historic business district.

There was an interesting thing about the building - on the eastside of the main structure was a shed that stuck out into empty space between buildings. When the city wanted a 'walkway' back to the new parking lots in the rear, it was able to buy it from Gene. It was in fact, one of the famous Horse Alleys of Colorado City left there when only horses were around and the wooden boardwalk. And over the walkway is the name 'Brent Path' and our Historical Marker is on the wall on one side/ I have included before (1976) and after (1990) photos of the building.

Scotty, often wearing his plaid coat and cap, smoking his pipe pictured here and now kept in the Historic Society Museum, could be seen on the avenue even long after he retired. His wife was a perennial artist in our first Old Colorado City Art Gallery after revitalization - Arati Artists.

Fortunately before he passed away, we were able to honor Pearl with 'Scotty Day' in July, 1979. For he is still remembered by the really old timers around here.

[Report this as objectionable content.]

SUBMIT COMMENT

Rate the above story

Talk Back : submit comments to the story

*Note: you need to log-in to add a comment or rating.

Thank you! Your comment has been updated.

CONTRIBUTOR INFO

Dave Hughes

Colorado Springs , CO

Dave Hughes has posted 69 stories and 79 comments since joining on 3/1/2007. Dave Hughes 's average story rating is 4.89.

view profile » view other postings from Dave Hughes »