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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- Beaumont Hotel (Ouray, Colo.)
- Photo of Beaumont Hotel; two cars parked in front of and one on the side of building.
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- Beaumont Hotel (Ouray, Colo.)
- Photo of Beaumont Hotel; store fronts on the left side of the building, sheer mountainside cliffs are shown in the background
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- Beaumont Hotel - Ouray, Colo.
- View of the Beaumont Hotel, Ouray, Colorado with five 1920s or 1930s era cars parked in front of the building.
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- Beaumont Hotel - Ouray, Colo.
- View of the front of the Beaumont Hotel with mountains in the background. There is a 6 horse drawn cart with three men riding in it.
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- Beaumont Hotel interior staircase (Ouray, Colo.)
- Photograph of the Interior Staircase of the Beaumont Hotel, Ouray, Colorado.
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- Beaumont Hotel lobby and staircase
- A real photo view of the grand staircase in the lobby of the Beaumont Hotel in Ouray, Colorado.
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- Beaumont Hotel single bedroom
- A real photo view of a single bed by a fireplace in a room at the Beaumont Hotel in Ouray, Colorado.
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- Beaumont Hotel, Ouray, Colo.
- A fish-eye lens view of the Beaumont Hotel on a corner of Main Street in Ouray, Colo., with Smith, Burtles & Cos. Cash Grocery on the left and The J.J. Mayers Mercantile Co. on the right. Printed in Germany. Postmarked in Ouray in June, 1907 to George Moreland in Ouray; no message (was not allowed on the address side of a post card at that time).
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- Big horn sheep and goats grazing in front of train at the station (Ouray, Colo.)
- Big horn sheep and goats grazing in front of train at the Ouray train station, b/w postcard. Postmarked from Ouray on July 8, 1915; mailed to Mrs. T. B. (Kathrine) Martin in Buffalo, N.Y. The picture is somewhat faded with age.
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- Bighorn sheep at the Ouray Train Depot (Ouray, Colo.)
- Bighorn sheep at the Ouray, Colorado railroad depot in winter.
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- Bird's Eye View of Ouray, Colo.
- Very high aerial view of Ouray; two snow covered mountain peaks overlooking the town in a valley [writing on back] addressed to Miss Stella Weber, Jackson, Michigan, postmarked Aug.3 , 1907one cent stamp