The best time of Creston

I hope to hear from Creston’s oldest residents; those who have lived here, maybe since day one of their lives. Prepare for many questions.

When was the best time for Creston? When did Creston have everything going for it? What made Creston that way?

I know, those questions are very subjective. Some people who have a steady job, feel good about their kid in school and are thrilled with what they get in Creston may say now is Creston’s best time. I won’t say they are wrong. That is all based on attitude and perception. Maybe no one is alive today to say when Creston was at its best.

But there are other ways to look at the questions. Who remembers when they couldn’t remember a vacant store front, or very few, in Uptown? Who remembers when people thought going to Creston was the equivalent of people today going to Des Monies? I’ve been told stories of people who were in their youth in the late 1950s and Creston then had all that was needed. Going to Des Moines then was more of a luxury or rarity, probably more luxury.

I remember my my first time working in Creston which was from May 2002 to October 2005. I had already become familiar with Creston before 2002. When I returned in April 2021 I thought the town was essentially the same. I don’t mean that as a criticism. At least the town had not gone significantly backward in those 15 years like some other places have. Creston still has the essentials and a bit more.

Creston, and people’s perceptions of its better times, are not alone.

Gold was discovered six miles northwest of Victor, Colorado, in 1890. Victor is about 50 miles west of Colorado Springs, as the road winds around Pikes Peak. As more gold was unearthed, Victor was founded in 1893.

About 500 gold mines were started in the area and Victor was the benefactor. For about the next 70 years, more than $800 million in gold was removed from Gold Camp, which was a 6-mile square area. The value was based on when gold was capped at $35 per ounce. Consider in 2022, gold was at $2,000 an ounce.

All those zeroes turned into a hospital, banks, churches, schools, a 1,200-seat opera house, hotels, restaurants, saloons and a variety of retail. Victor had two trains an hour. According to historical material in Victor, about 8,000 people lived in the town during its heyday. That number is similar to today’s Creston. At least that many people are estimated lived outside of the town but utilized Victor’s services. Wouldn’t that be what Afton, Lorimor, Cromwell and Prescott are to Creston?

Then things changed. Gold lost its value because of labor disputes between the employee unions and the mine owners. The deeper the mines got in the mountains, the better chances of flooding the mine happened. Revenue couldn’t keep up with costs and the government’s fixed price on gold didn’t help. Don’t forget the two world wars either. The mines started to close or consolidate. Then the people left Victor. There were an estimated 4,600 people in 1910. Victor was less than 1,000 after World War II and is about 500 people today.

Gold mining had a resurgence in the 1970s when Congress ended the $35/ounce price for gold and let the market determine its value. Mining technology has also changed over the years as it’s less labor intensive.

You can still see Victor’s famed past. Various pieces of historic mining equipment are visible throughout town acting like tourist attractions and backdrops for selfies. Large, vintage brick, two-story buildings still stand. Some are used for antique stores, gift shops and the like. The town’s public bathroom is immaculate. Gold is still mined in the area. Colorado allowed casino gambling in the early 1990s. A casino is in nearby Cripple Creek, but neither Cripple Creek or Victor have boomed because of gambling.

What would be Creston’s story over the years, decades and generations? What changed for Creston, like the mining industry in Victor? The rail industry, which helped put Creston on the map, is still here. The conversion of some electric generation plants to natural gas reduces the need for coal to be mined and shipped across the country. Creston has vacant store fronts Uptown. Maybe the growth in online shopping is only part of the blame. All of our public school students are only between two buildings.

Iowa’s rural, farm culture and economy changed after the 1980s farm crisis. Farms now are fewer, farther apart but maybe bigger in size. Farm families are smaller in number; two kids instead of five or more. Corporate hog confinement buildings and wind turbines are other considerations for farm revenues. I don’t think the ethanol plant expansion the past 20 years hasn’t drastically improved the towns that have one.

Who can say they remember when Creston was at its best and why?