Chapter 6: Red Cliff

Description

Red Cliff, Colorado is one of the oldest towns in Eagle County beginning in 1879. The town was the original county seat until 1921, after the fourth and final election deciding to move to Eagle. Red Cliff was bolstered in its early days by a booming mining business, hotels, and travelers through the mountains. Red Cliff's immediate neighbor was the now-abandoned mining town of Gilman, which was shut down by the EPA in the 1980s and declared a Superfund site. The town of Minturn annexed this land and is now Red Cliff's closest neighboring town. This chapter is a relic of the time itself: Red Cliff was given the longest chapter of the entire Red Book and features 'essays' or stories written by citizens at the time. The move of the county seat was still fresh in the 1940's (and is still to this day to some residents). This chapter includes original photographs and stories from the town in a different era.