Volume 1: Early Durango
These postcards depict the early days of Durango, Colorado. According to The City of Durango, the town was created by the Denver and Rio Grande Railroad Company in September 1880 as a location for smelters to work the silver and gold being mined nearby. Durango’s more moderate climate at an elevation of 6,512 feet above sea level, a steady water supply from the Animas River, and the availability of coal made it a good choice. The city was named after Durango, Mexico, supposedly because the territorial governor at the time thought the geography was similar. (source)
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- Junction Creek (Durango, Colo.)
- Distant photo looking down onto a valley with fields and pastures. There is a small house on the right, to the left are hills and snow covered mountains in the background . (Duplicate card moved here from #1/285.)
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- Junction Creek Canon (near Durango, Colo.)
- View of water running through a steep canyon; a group of people is standing next to the water.
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- Junior High School (Durango, Colo.)
- View of the three-story Durango Junior High School building (the caption says "Junior High School" but the school itself says "High School"). Three tall trees are in front of the building. This was followed by a Mission Style junior high school fronting 3rd Avenue that was the largest Public Works Administration project ever built in Durango.
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- Ku Klux Klan Cross Burning (Durango, Colo.)
- Night photograph of Main Street, Durango, Colorado. Burning cross on mountain in background. Note on back of card "Ku Klux Klan burning 20 ft tall cross on Smelter Mt."
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- La Plata County Courthouse (Durango, Colo.)
- Shows the clock tower of the La Plata County Courthouse in Durango, Colorado. in fall or winter. The trees are bare. [Duplicate of postcard #79 in volume 1 of the Nina Webber collection.]
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- La Plata County Courthouse (Durango, Colo.)
- Photo of the La Plata County court house building with its tower and clock. Many trees surround the building [writing on back] addressed to Mr. Gilbert Peterson Jamestown N.Y. postmarked Durango, Colorado. Dec. 8, 1921 one cent stamp.
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- La Plata County Courthouse (Durango, Colo.)
- The old La Plata County Courthouse in Durango, Colorado. Trees around the courthouse are bare. [Duplicate of postcard #84 in volume 1 of the Nina Webber collection.]
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- La Plata County Courthouse (Durango, Colo.)
- Photo of the new and old Durango courthouses. The new courthouse is on the left, the old courthouse is on the right, written on the back is New and old C.H.'s Durango, Colorado.
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- La Plata County Courthouse (Durango, Colo.)
- Photo of the La Plata County courthouse (old) "La Plata" is written on the back. Trees are bare around the courthouse.
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- La Plata Motel, in Durango, Colorado, Heart of the San Juan Basin
- Hand colored, street view of La Plata Motel on U. S. Hwy, 550, Durango Colorado. 22 Extremely Modern Units. Each Interior "Color Co-ordinated" & Furnished With That "Decorator's Touch". Colored Bathroom Fixtures, Matched in Detail. Beautiful & Luxurious. Mrs. E. D. Arndt, Owner
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- La Plata Mountains - in the San Juan Basin, Colorado
- Black and white photograph of the La Plata Mountains iIn the San Juan Basin, Colorado
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- La Plata Mountains near Durango, Colo.
- Animas Valley and La Plata Mountains near Durango, Colorado.