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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- Telluride (Colo.)
- Lithograph photo print of Telluride, CO above a stand of spruce trees that overlook the valley. A steep line of cliffs framed by scattered conifer trees, meadows, and a road cutting across the valley.
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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.)
- 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.
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- Telluride (Colo.)
- Aerial view of Telluride, Colorado. Writing on the bottom: "This is where we live" [writing on the back] one cent stamp on the back addressed Mrs. Herman Leribner in New Brunswick, Canada; postmarked Aug. 7, 1908 in Telluride.
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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.)
- 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.)
- Sepia toned photograph of Telluride beyond a frame of pine trees. Trails and roads have been cut into the slope across the valley below the cliffs and dark mountains above.
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- Telluride (Colo.)
- Colored lithographic photo print postcard of downtown Telluride; vehicles parked on both sides of the street; sign on building on the right is "Light and Power," to the left a brick building with sign "Sheridan Hotel": Mountain peaks in background, center.
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- Telluride (Colo.) (altitude 8756 feet) and Smuggler Road
- Aerial photo of Telluride; a road visible on the left side leads up the hill; the landscape is green.
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- Telluride (Colo.) and the Black Bear Mine boarding house
- Photo of four Jeeps in front of a dilapidated two-story cabin. Two people are in the entrance of the cabin that overlooks a valley containing a town.
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- Telluride (Colo.) clouds in the San Miguel Valley
- Writing on the back states, "Clouds in the San Miguel Valley Colorado.-Telluride".