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)
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- Idarado Mine on Red Mt. Pass, Million Dollar Highway, Colo.
- Idarado Mine on Red Mt. Pass, Million Dollar Highway, Colorado, a real photo black and white postcard.
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- In memory of Chief Ouray and Chipeta, erected by the State of Colorado 1926
- Photograph of monument to Chief Ouray and Chipeta.
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- Incomparable Fall Color
- Incomparable fall color, about October 1st, on Dallas Divide near Ouray, Colorado.
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- Ingram Basin and Lake (Colo.)
- View of a blue lake in a valley next to road cliffs are on the left side a small structure in the lower right hand corner mountain peaks in the background
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- Inn Der Ground - A Most Unusual Restaurant
- Inn Der Ground. A most unusual restaurant. Carved in the heart of a mountain, this unique restaurant offers a wide and varied selection for your dining pleasure plus a matchless decor. On U.S. 550 North of Ouray, Colorado.
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- Interior Box Canon, Ouray, Col.
- A colored photograph of the interior of Box Canon, in Ouray, Colorado. A bridge with suspension wires can be seen on the left side of the photograph.
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- Interior Box Canyon (Ouray, Colo.)
- View inside canyon walkway with a railing on the left side cables running inside canyon writing on back states "Reached Ouray Sat. May-14-1926 at 2:30 P.M. - Visited Box Canyon Reached Montrose at 5 P.M. Sunday
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- Interior Box Canyon (Ouray, Colo.)
- Visitors on wooden pedestrian walkway in the interior of the Box Canon, Ouray, Colorado. A real photo black and white postcard, produced during the White Border era.
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- Interior [of the] Box Canon (Ouray, Colo.)
- Interior of Box Canon, Ouray, Colorado.
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- Interior of Box Canon (Ouray, Colo.)
- Interior of Box Canon, Ouray, Colorado. Sepia tone photograph.
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- Interior of Box Canon (Ouray, Colo.)
- View inside canyon from the bottom a waterfall flows into canyon a small poll of water is in the foreground.
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- Interior of Box Canon (Ouray, Colo.)
- Photograph showing the Interior of Box Canon from the bridge.