Volume 5: Telluride/ Ouray/ Ophir
These mountain towns are gems in Southwest Colorado. Telluride and tiny Ophir are in San Miguel County, and Ouray, not far away if unimproved roads aren’t a barrier, is located in Ouray County. Telluride is the most populous (about two thousand residents) and best known of the three, home to a famous ski resort, many well-known music festivals, and exclusive luxury homes. Telluride’s colorful history as a hard-rock mining town where gold, silver, and tellurium were extracted beginning in 1878 changed dramatically in the 1970s when the Telluride Ski Resort opened. Telluride’s elevation is 8,750 feet above sea level, a bit higher than Ouray’s 7,792. (source) Fewer than 1,000 people call Ouray home, but each year many thousands of tourists visit the charming village, nicknamed the “Switzerland of America.” Like most mountain towns in the region, Ouray was founded on mining (gold, in this case), made accessible by the railroad, and popular with visitors. (source) Ophir, Colorado, is the highest in elevation of these three towns at 9,695 feet. Gold was discovered in 1875, and the town was founded in 1881, but the mines decreased until there was only one resident in 1970! Telluride’s popularity in recent has allowed a few hundred residents to call Ophir home. (source)
Pages
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- Elk at Ouray Colo
- View of an elk standing on a hillside above Ouray, Colorado.
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- Elk's Club (Ouray, Colo.)
- Photo of a building man on horseback to the right snow capped peaks in background on the right cliffs in background behind the building the photo appears to be hand painted over a b/w photo
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- Elkhorn Ranch Motel (Ouray, Colo.)
- Elkhorn Ranch Motel, 1/2 mile north of swimming pool, Ouray, Colorado, in the heart of the most beautiful and unspoiled area in America. Here towering mountains, rushing streams and roaring waterfalls combine to earn this region the title "Switzerland of America."
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- Elkhorn Ranch Motel (Ouray, Colo.)
- Photo of motel with cliffs overlooking the motel. Some damage to the left side of post card. Rates for the motel are on the back side.
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- Elks Club, Ouray, Colorado
- A sepia photograph of The Elks Club in Ouray, Colorado. Mountains can be seen in the background.
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- Elks Home, erected in 1904-5 by Ouray Lodge No. 492, B.P.O. Elks
- Elks Home, erected in 1904/05 by the Ouray Lodge No. 492, B. P. O. Elks.
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- Engine from "The Galloping Goose" stands in City Park at Dolores, Colo.
- Galloping Goose underneath trees.
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- Entrance to Box Canyon Park (Ouray, Colo.)
- Photo of river flowing in the foreground a bridge is over the river in the background in the far background are cliffs on the back Aug. 1, 1926 is written
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- Erickson Ranch in Ouray, Colorado
- a postcard of a group of buildings with mountains and trees in the background, with words written across the bottom. The first word is unreadable, but the rest reads, "... Ranch, Ouray Colorado". "These cards are really old!" is written on the back.
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- Evergreen forest exhibit, Mount Sneffels in background (Colo.)
- View of mountain range in the far background; fir trees and yellow flowers in the foreground two birds running among the flowers [writing on back] addressed to Mr. & Mrs. Alfred Peterson Blunelford, Mass. postmarked Denver, Co. Oct. 7 1968 $.05 stamp