Historical air photos of portions of the Grand Valley area for 1937, 1954, 1966, 1976, 1977, 1986, and more recent years can be downloaded at the following link under the section labeled Aerial Imagery & Elevation.
http://emap.mesacounty.us/downloaddata/
This resource is provided by the Mesa County Assessor and it provides information buildings and properties in the county. In some cases, the information includes historical photos and the year of construction for buildings. The link to the website is as follows.
Museums of Western Colorado has collected a wealth of information about the history of the Grand Valley. Located on their website are timelines and information about the histories of Grand Junction, Fruita, and Palisade.
Additional mine information can be found at the following link to the Mesa County Assessor Website.
Below are selected archived reports. A comprehensive listing of the reports can viewed at this link.