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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- Ouray (Colo.) "Switzerland of America"
- Looking down a rocky slope cover with spruce, the swimming pool and city park lie below. Following the highway, Ouray lies in the middle of a valley surrounded by foothills and mountains. A few traces of snow linger on the tops and shady valleys of the mountains.
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- Ouray (Colo.) (altitude 7709 feet) on the Million Dollar Highway
- Lithographic photo print image of a town in a valley. houses and commercial buildings line the streets. In the distance, the forested mountain slopes are surrounded by cumulus clouds.
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- Ouray (Colo.) (elevation 7,700 feet)
- Elevated vantage point image of Ouray, CO nestled in a valley. The rocky cliffs on the left support pines along a line. The peaks are capped with snow.
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- Ouray (Colo.) (elevation 7,800 feet)
- Ouray can be seen beyond a highway with two cars. Steep cliffs back Ouray to the left with a view of a forested valley edged with rocky cliffs on the right.
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- Ouray (Colo.) (elevation 7,800 feet)
- A view of downtown Ouray down the double lane main street with several cars driving on the street. Two mountain slopes frame a summer sky filled with cumulus clouds above.
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- Ouray (Colo.) and swimming pool
- Taken from the mountain slope above highway 550, Ouray's oval-shaped swimming pool with a bathhouse and other buildings sits in the foreground. Following the valley, is a grassy city park, then Ouray. Beyond Ouray, conifer forests cover the foothills and rocky mountain peaks complete the background.
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- Ouray (Colo.) and the Uncompahgre Range
- Image of two big streets running parallel in middle of a town, lined with buildings and trees. Trees and meadows blanket the foot of the mountain in background.
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- Ouray (Colo.) autumn and winter
- Postcard displays 2 lithograph photo prints of Ouray, CO. Upper image of town in the autumn season; lower image a winter scene.
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- Ouray (Colo.), "Switzerland of America"
- Red Jeep with several people riding in it driving over a dirt road that overlooks a valley.
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- Ouray (Colo.), "Switzerland of America"
- Photographic print of red tour bus driving over the Twin Falls of the Yankee Bay Basin in foreground with mountain peak in background.
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- Ouray (Colo.), "Switzerland of America"
- Two Jeeps an a dirt road several people around the Jeeps on a dirt road next to a steep drop off a man stands in front of one the Jeeps near the drop off. a six cent stamp is on the back of the card