Collection
M 132: |
Years this material was created: 1947-1968
Quantity: 5 linear shelf feet (in 10 document cases and 1 records box)
© 2005 by Fort
Lewis College Foundation, Center of Southwest Studies account
Links to contents
Introduction/ Scope and contents
This collection contains the historically significant records and printed materials pertaining to developments of Riverview (a residential area of Durango), Town Plaza (a shopping center near Main St.), and other Durango (Colo.) real estate development. It includes maps, photos, city directories, and real estate materials.
Subject access terms:
Real estate development--Colorado--Durango
Riverview (Durango, Colo.)
Biographical note
Alton Curtis Dorsett was born February 19, 1905, in Brownwood, Texas. He was the ninth of 10 children of W. O. and Ellen Dorsett. He grew up in the Brownwood area and attended Howard Payne University in Brownwood and then the University of Texas in Austin. He wanted to be an architect, but he never received his degree. He was active on the University newspaper staff and this probably led him into his career in advertising.
He married Norma Alberta Wall on December 23, 1931 and they had three children, Terry Stuart (8/27/1937), Susan Ellen (10/22/1947), and Carol Ann (2/3/1951).
He worked for the Abilene Reporter News (a Harte-Hanks Newspaper) in Abilene, Texas, and was the Advertising Manager when he left to take over the Durango Herald Democrat as publisher and co-owner on August 1, 1945. In 1948 he and his partner Prexy Anderson sold the paper but he always had printer’s ink in his blood. In 1950, Mr. Hanks of the Harte-Hanks Newspapers contacted Mr. Dorsett and convinced him to temporarily go to Snyder, Texas, during their oil boom and convert the local weekly newspaper into the Snyder Daily News. He also bought the Ignacio Chieftan in his later years and printed it on the old Durango Herald Democrat flatbed press that he had purchased when it was replaced by more modern presses.
After the sale of the Durango Herald Democrat, Dorsett formed La Plata Realty and went into real estate. His first real estate development was Riverview Heights on the mesa on the East side of the Animas River. There was a junkyard at the South end of Riverview, below the mesa and next to the river. He purchased this property and built Island Court Mobile Home Park. He built a bridge to the island in the middle of the river using old narrow gauge flat cars.
His next major project was Town Plaza shopping center. He replaced a box factory of the west side of the railroad tracks with a shopping center anchored by W.T. Grant and Safeway. Kroeger Hardware was a partner and adjacent to the Grant’s store in the shopping center. He also developed Florida River Estates east of town on the road to the Vallecito Reservoir. The lakes in this project, Lake Carol and Lake Susan, were named after two of his children although he never named any part of his projects for himself.
He also had an advisory role in the development of Easter Heights.
Alton Dorsett was instrumental in the development of the Navajo Trail Highway as President of the Chamber of Commerce. All four governors of the four corner states met and had lunch on a card table straddling the four corners monument with each sitting in their own state. He was awarded Realtor of the Year by the La Plata County Board of Realtors and was a long time member and served a term as President of the Durango Rotary Club.
Alton Dorsett died January 19, 1989 in Chandler, Arizona.
Submitted by his son, Terry Dorsett, September 22, 2005
Administrative information
Acquisition of this collection/ provenance: Alton Dorsett donated these materials to the Center of Southwest Studies in August of 1988 (accession number 1988:08003).
About the organization of this collection: The series and boxes are numbered consecutively. Because we do not expect to add to this collection, the boxes are numbered in one single numbering scheme starting with 1.
Processing information: This inventory was drafted by Todd Ellison, revised October 17, 2005. Student archival assistant Gretchen Gray typed up the biographical sketch that Terry Dorsett sent the Center in September, 2005.
Series descriptions
Note:These materials are organized, in general, from highest hierarchical level to lowest, or from most general to most specific. Items within each series and within each box and folder generally are arranged chronologically. See the container list (i.e., the following section of this inventory) for descriptions of each folder's contents.
Sub-record groups of series
Series 1:
Series 2:
Series 3:
Folder 7
Folder 8
Folder 9 30, 1923. 1 pamphlet.
Folder 10
Folder 11
Folder 14 .
Folder 16
Folder 17
Folder 18
Folder 5
Folder 16
Folder 19
Folder 20
Folder 21
Folder 22
Box 3: Teachers'
records,
1877-1941
Folder 1
Folder 5
Folder 6
Folder 7
Folder 8
Folder 9
Folder 10
Folder 11
Folder 12
This collection is located at the Center of Southwest Studies on the campus of Fort Lewis College. Researchers wanting more information about using this material at the Delaney Southwest Research Library at the Center may email the archivist at archives@fortlewis.edu or click here to use our E-mail Reference Request Form (or phone the archivist at 970/247-7126). The Center does not have a budget for outgoing long-distance phone calls to answer reference requests, so please email if you wish to receive a response from the Center. To request reproductions/copies, click here for instructions.
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