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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- Switchbacks Leaving Ouray on the Million Dollar Highway
- Switchbacks on the route south leaving Ouray on the Million Dollar Highway.
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- Switchbacks on Million Dollar Highway leading out of Ouray, Colo.
- Black and white photograph of the switchbacks on the Million Dollar Highway leading out of Ouray, Colorado
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- Switzerland of America from Mt. Monadnock (N.H.)
- Ouray, the Switzerland of America, viewed from Mt. Monadnock.
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- T-Mountain Resort, Lake City, Colo.
- Eight buildings at the foot of a slope covered with scatted pine trees. One of the cabins on the right side is circled.
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- Telluride
- Telluride nestled in Colorado's San Juan Mountains.
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- Telluride (Colo.)
- Color lithographic photo print postcard of downtown Telluride, Colo. Winter scene with vehicles parked on each side of the street; snow covered mountains in background.
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- Telluride (Colo.)
- Telluride is pictured in its mountain valley framed by slopes brightened yellow with fall aspen trees in patches above a line of cliffs. A reservoir and background of mountain peaks lie beyond the town.
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- Telluride (Colo.)
- A view of Telluride, taken from one of the rooftops, features a brick in the center with wooden houses and broad leaved trees lining a hill.
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- Telluride (Colo.)
- The town of Telluride is pictured at the root of a mountain. Its brick and red roofed buildings are set off against the river aspens starting to turn turn yellow along the river and high in the hills. Above the meadow, conifer forests follow a stream up into the mountain and around the red cliffs. Mountains overlook the scene from above.
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- Telluride (Colo.)
- Color lithograph photo print image of an elevated view of Telluride, Colorado. An incorrect overlay of the lithograph plates has caused a blurred image.
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- Telluride (Colo.)
- Main Street, Telluride, Colorado. A picturesque old mining town on Highway 145 in the majestic San Juan Mountains, Telluride is surrounded by rugged mountains - harsh, awesome cliffs faced with rich ore.