Pages past — July 1

linkOn this date ...

1991: Eastern New Mexico University-Clovis officially separated from ENMU-Portales to become Clovis Community College.

1942: Floyd Golden was named the second president of Eastern New Mexico College. He kept the job until 1960. No one has been president of the Portales university longer, before or since.

1908: Fire wiped out the east half of Portales’ business district, causing $30,000 in damage.

Pool players in a saloon sounded the alarm in the wee hours of the morning.

“... A bucket line was formed from the courthouse tank to the burning buildings, but although everyone worked heroically, their efforts were of no avail except to save the concrete buildings ...,” The Portales Times reported.

Bird business ...

1960: Adult male parakeets, regular $2.49 each, were on sale for $1.19 at Woolworth’s in Clovis. All-metal cages were $3.29 and up.

In state news ...

1975: New Mexico’s minimum wage was increased from $1.60 an hour to $2 an hour for most workers.

Minimum wage for agriculture workers increased from $1.30 to $1.80.

Changes in the state minimum wage were passed by the New Mexico Legislature to match federal minimum wage standards, which had been at $2 an hour for about a year.

Pages Past is compiled by Editor David Stevens. For more regional history, check out his weblog at:

http://www.highplainsyesterdays.com