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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- Wilson Peak (near Telluride, Colo.)
- Image of snow capped peak in the background; a barn in the grassy foreground surrounded by a fence with a cow grazing to the right of it
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- Wilson Peak (near Telluride, Colo.)
- Photographic print image of snow covered peak can be seen between the branches of 2 spruce trees in the foreground. Thin clouds hang over the mountain peak.
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- Wilson Peak, Telluride, Colo.
- A broken down wagon with 6 wheels standing askew sits in a pasture. A mountain covered with a conifer forest at lower elevation dominates the sky above.
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- Wilson Peak, Telluride, Colorado
- Snow covers the pasture in the foreground and the mountain peak in the background. In between, clouds hang over the aspen trees covered in golden autumn foliage.
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- Wilson Peaks (Colo.)
- An early summer view of mountain peaks in center of photo covered with patches of snow overlooking a valley covered with pine trees a small lake is at the bottom
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- Windy Point (near Telluride, Colo.)
- Aerial view of valley a stripped tree in the foreground roads leading down the valley on the right side snow on the ground and a snow covered mountains in the background
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- Winter Scene in Red Mountain, Colorado
- Colored photograph print postcard of a winter scene. Poking through the thick layer of snow are pines, electric poles, several mining buildings.
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- Winter Scene on Brown Mt.
- Winter scene on Brown Mt. near Ouray, Colorado. One (1) cent stamp on the back. Clear postmark has Durango, Colorado, Oct. 6, 3-PM, 1947. Short note is addressed to Adle Morgan, 506 No. Oxford Ave. Los Angeles, Calif.
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- Winter in Telluride, Colorado
- Color photograph print of a city scene in winter. Vehicles drive and are parked along each side; snowy mountain peaks loom in the background.
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- Winter in Telluride, Colorado
- Downtown Telluride street covered in snow. Vehicles are parked on both sides of the street. Mountains in the background are covered entirely by snow. A drug store is visible on the left. The photo was taken at dusk.
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- Winter in downtown Telluride
- Black and white winter scene (street covered with snow) of a corner block of buildings in Telluride. Three business signs visible: "TED'S", "B. KATZ CLOTHING & GENTS FURNISHINGS." where a man in a hat peers inside, and "NATIONAL CLUB". The National Club store on the corner has a "Cafe" sign on top of its roof. The plate glass windows of the building reflect the snow piled outside of the sidewalk.
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- Winter scene near........Pass, Colo.
- View of a snow packed road pine trees line both sides of the road a snow covered mountain peak overlooks the road