| What makes it historical? |
As the railroad made its way into Grand Junction, a lot of Italian immigrants came along because the railroad gave them jobs! During the 1890s, a Little Italy arose near the train station here and peaked at a population of 40,000! To keep all these folks fed, Carl Stranges opened a grocery store here in 1909, in a building crafted by stonemason, Nunzio Grasso, out of sandstone from the Book Cliffs!
Mr. Stranges’ groceries weren’t too strange, mostly canned goods, veggies, sausages, and newspapers to give folks a taste of home. He ran the store all the way until 1942, despite the many changes to the neighborhood. In the 1920s, as discrimination against Italians decreased, more folks moved out of Little Italy, and during the Great Depression, even more left to find work wherever it was available! As customers continued to decline, the Stranges store was finally vacated in 1963 and today, it’s the only unaltered Italian grocery building in Grand Junction! |
