Pueblo history

The Colorado State Fair began October 9, 1872.

The Colorado State Fair was incorporated on November 17, 1886.

The fair remained at Mineral Palace Park until 1890 when the board moved the site to 100-acres of land that was located west of Lake Minnequa.

In 1903, the State Fair received its first state appropriation.

Then in 1917 the fair received a State Fair Commission.

One of the most amazing things about the 1921 flood was not the horrendous amount of damage and life loss, but the bravery and kindness of the people caught in this horrible disaster.

In 1950, Toppel and three partners pooled their resources to create the National Grocery Company.

By 1953, the company opened three more stores and two of the partners were bought off for $300,000.

He took a trip to San Juan, Puerto Rico, in late 1954, and rather than getting his mind off of business he soon recognized that the island was untapped territory for supermarkets.

The first unit of what became the Pueblo Supermarkets chain was located in the Puerto Nuevo section of San Juan and opened on April 25, 1955.

In 1957, a third Toppel brother joined the business and a second supermarket was opened.

By 1960, the Pueblo chain grew to six stores and Toppel decided to take the company public at $12.50 per share.

The entry into television came in 1961 with the launching of Venevision.

With Pueblo Supermarkets now well established, Toppel began to accumulate other properties, starting in 1963 when he acquired the largest commercial bakery in the Caribbean, Wholesome Bakeries of Puerto Rico.

In 1965, Toppel attempted to transfer his success in the Caribbean to the mainland, acquiring a 90 percent stake in the pioneering grocery chain H.C. Bohack Co.

In early 1967, he acquired a 50 percent stake in the ten-store Great Eastern Food Markets grocery chain.

The historical society has been in existence since 1975 and is 100% self-funded and operated by volunteers.

In 1978 a group of art students converged on the levee waterway which runs through downtown Pueblo and overnight created an art project that has captured the imagination of Pueblo, the art world and even Guinness Book of World Records.

1983: Pueblo Xtra warehouse stores are introduced.

At the end of 1984, Pueblo consisted of 44 supermarkets located in Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, and Florida, generating more than $475 million in annual revenues.

In 1990, the company won an exclusive franchise to Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands from Blockbuster Entertainment, opening its first video store that year in Carolina, Puerto Rico.

By 1993, Pueblo's major investors were eager to realize a profit and settled on a number of options.

To improve profitability, in 1997 the company launched its own Pueblo brand of products, which would grow to more than 300 items, ranging from canned goods to bread.

Joseph Suina, former Governor of Cohiti Pueblo said in 1998: