OUr History

OriginS

First known as the Crawford Addition, founded by Grand Junction and Colorado pioneer brothers J.A.K. Crawford, Thomas Crawford, and George Crawford. J.A.K. Crawford lived on Lawrence Avenue and, according to the Grand Junction News in the early 1880's, owned and operated a nearby brick factory.

The neighborhood is bounded by the railroad tracks and the Colorado River. It may have extended to 1st Street at one time. The Mobley Addition also became part of the Riverside neighborhood. At one time, Main Street extended from downtown through Riverside and the Main Street Bridge took people from the Riverside neighborhood to the Redlands.

According to oral history interviewee Joseph Egger, who moved to the Grand Valley in 1891, much of what is now Riverside was covered in fruit orchards prior to the neighborhood's establishment. The neighborhood was cut in half by the construction of the Grand Avenue viaduct and aqueduct, which replaced the Main Street Bridge.