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
-
- Panorama of Ouray, Colo.; Mt. Abram in the distance
- View of Ouray from a nearby mountain slope in summer. The rail yard is visible in the foreground, separated from town by broad leaved trees and a wide street. Pines cover the foothills and are framed by two mountain slopes with Mt. Abram in the distance.
-
- Panorama of Ouray, Colorado
- Distant photo of Main Street in Ouray during late summer; town businesses are visible; town is surrounded by a cliffs.
-
- Panorama of Ouray, Colorado - Mt. Abraham in the distance. Ouray looking S.E.
- Panorama of Ouray, Colorado, with Mt. Abraham in the distance. Ouray looking southeast..
-
- Panorama of Ouray, Colorado - Mt. Abram in the distance
- A view of Ouray from a mountain slope looking southeast into a valley in the summer. Pines cover the top of the foot hills that are framed by mountain slopes with a mountain peak in the distant background.
-
- Panorama of Ouray, Colorado - Mt. Abram in the distance
- Photo print image of Ouray, Colorado. Mountains and forest covered with snow; a rail-yard at bottom right.
-
- Panorama of Ouray, Colorado, elev. 7,700 ft.
- Image of Ouray, CO. The center street lined by commercial and private buildings. The town scene is surrounded by trees along cliff ledges.
-
- Panorama of Red Mountains, Ouray, Colorado
- Snow covered peaks of the Red Mountains fill the horizon.
-
- Panorama of Telluride Colorado, elev. 8745 ft.
- Lithograph photo print image of Telluride, Colorado, at sunset. The city's grid can be seen from this distance. The mountains to the west are heavily shaded; circular, flat mesa is visible on the right behind a pine tree.
-
- Panoramic view of Ouray, Colorado
- Photo print of Ouray, Colorado with hand colored and cut out ornamentation. Image of cliffs and forests surrounding Ouray.
-
- Partial view of Telluride (Colo.)
- Image of Telluride, CO. taken from an elevated vantage point. Six city blocks are shown with a steaming locomotive train, a mountain stream. Farmstead in background at the foot of a steep, forested slope.
-
- Partial view of Telluride (Colo.)
- Hand colored photo of Telluride showing neat city blocks edged in sidewalks with dirt roads forming a regular grid. In the back is a mountain slope thickly covered with a coniferous forest.
-
- Peabody's Fort
- A wooden shack, partially surrounded by two walls of thin pieces of shale stacked in front, stands out against a clear blue sky.