NORTHEAST CENTRAL COUNTIES

While enterprising ranchers opened their properties to guests, people with extra bedrooms spiffed them up to rent for income. This was particularly true of single women. The boldest might even put up a sign proclaiming her home a hotel. In going over a record of forgotten lodgings from more than a century ago, it becomes plain that such practice was often as much the rule as the exception.

Millionaires like Spencer Penrose and F.O. Stanley built fabulous resort hotels—the BROADMOOR and the Stanley—still thriving today. By stark contrast, there was the Timberline Hotel of Holy Cross City and the California Hotel of Independence (both ghost towns today), which operated simultaneously to a clientele in stark contrast to the prosperous resort trade.

ARAPAHOE COUNTY

Arapahoe County calls itself “Colorado’s First County” for gold discovered in 1858—one year before the Pikes Peak gold rush—along the South Platte River in present-day Englewood. Arapahoe originally stretched from present-day Sheridan Boulevard 160 miles east to the Kansas border. Its county seat is Littleton. Today, Arapahoe County is part of the Denver-Aurora Metropolitan Area.

Deer Trail

This town was founded as a Kansas Pacific Railway station in 1870 and soon became a shipping point for grain, livestock and eggs. By the late 1920s, Deer Trail supported two banks, five grocery stores and three hotels. Deer Trail sits quietly on the eastern plains and is the Home of the World’s First Rodeo.

OASIS HOTEL: Built prior to 1911, the Oasis was a two-story, stone corner building.

Denver

(Spans three counties: Arapahoe, Boulder and Denver.) Called the “Mile-High City,” Denver’s elevation is 5,280 feet above sea level. Denver City was founded in 1858 as a mining town during the Pikes Peak gold rush. General William Larimer, a land speculator from Kansas, staked a claim on the bluff overlooking the confluence of the South Platte River and Cherry Creek and named the town for Kansas territorial governor James W. Denver, who never bothered to visit his namesake.

In 1867, Denver City became the Colorado Territorial Capital and shortened its name. In 1876, Colorado was admitted to the Union.

HOTEL ABBOT: Located at Nineteenth and Curtis Streets, the Hotel Abbot was operated by O.E. Taussig in 1904.

ADAMS HOTEL: Located at Eighteenth and Welton Streets from 1902 to 1969, this hotel was designed by Harold W. and Vigio Baerresen (Baerresen Brothers Architectural firm) of Denver. The interior was designed by Gilbert Charles Jaka and featured a copper dome twenty-five feet above the dining/ballroom floor, a push-button elevator and a phone in every room. It was operated by W.F. Sperry in 1904. The hotel closed in 1969 and was razed for a parking lot.

ALAMO HOTEL: Located on Seventeenth Street, the Alamo Hotel was advertised on 1910 postcards as “only three blocks from UNION DEPOT.”

ALBANY HOTEL: Built prior to 1893 at Seventeenth and Stout Streets, the Albany Hotel was remodeled in 1893. It was managed by W. Maher Hotel Co. in 1904 and was demolished in 1977.

HOTEL ALBERT: Built in 1900 at Seventeenth and Welton Streets, the Hotel Albert was operated by F. A. Oppenheim in 1904.

ALDINE HOTEL: Built before 1904 at Seventeenth and Ogden Streets, the Aldine Hotel was operated by Mrs. A.M. Brewster in 1904.

ALVORD HOUSE: Built in the 1870s at Eighteenth and Larimer Streets, the Alvord House was a three-story brick hotel with a flat roof. Its long porch wrapped around the front corner and served as a two-story gallery.

AMERICAN HOUSE: Built before 1904 at Sixteenth and Blake Streets, the American House was operated by C.H. Smith in 1904.

ARLINGTON HOUSE: Built before 1904 at 1520–36 Sixteenth Street, the Arlington House was operated by A.E. Keables in 1904.

DENVER AUDITORIUM HOTEL: This hotel was located at Fourteenth and Stout Streets.

HOTEL AYRES: Listed in the 1916 city directory at 1441 Logan Street, Denver, the former address of the Hotel Ayers is now a parking lot.

THE BATIONE (later called the Granite Hotel): This hotel was built prior to 1900 at 1720 Larimer Street.

THE BELVOIR: Located at 737 East Sixteenth Street, the Belvoir was a family hotel operated by Mrs. C.J. Apple in 1904.

THE BINFORD HOTEL: This hotel was built sometime before 1892.

HOTEL BROADWAY: Built before 1899 at 1539 Broadway, the Hotel Broadway was operated by A.H. Green in 1904.

BROADWELL HOTEL: This hotel was built before June 1860 at the corner of Larimer and Sixteenth Streets.

*THE BROWN PALACE: 321 Seventeenth Street, Denver, CO 80202; 303-297-3111; brownpalace.com.

In 1888, businessman Henry Cordes Brown (no relation to Unsinkable Molly) purchased several acres, including a triangular plot at the corner of Broadway, Tremont and Seventeenth Streets, where he initially grazed his cow. The Windsor Hotel, then one of Denver’s most prestigious hotels, had offended Brown by refusing him entrance because he was wearing cowboy attire. In retaliation, Brown decided to build a hotel that would put the Windsor to shame.

In 1888, he retained architect Frank E. Edbrooke to design a hotel, the likes of which had never been seen—an “unprecedented hotel” in the Richardsonian Romanesque style. Four years and $1.6 million later, the Brown Palace opened. Its exterior was red Colorado granite and Arizona sandstone, with an Italian Renaissance lobby, composed of marble and Mexican onyx, rising to an eight-story atrium leading the eye to a stained-glass ceiling.

More than seven hundred wrought-iron grillwork panels circle the lobby from the second through the seventh floors. Two panels are upside down. It has been theorized that this may be to exemplify the imperfection of man, who must always put a flaw in his handiwork. Or possibly the misplaced panels were slipped in by a disgruntled workman.

The hotel’s triangular shape allows sunlight to illuminate each of its almost three hundred rooms, and Rocky Mountain spring water still flows to every room from its original 720-foot-deep artesian well. Bottled well water is also available to hotel guests. A huge carousel oven, more than sixty years old and one of only three known, still turns out melba toast, macaroons and other baked goods daily.

In 1911, the hotel saw a scandalous murder, which has been recorded in recent years in the book Murder at the Brown Palace. The lurid tale involves an unsympathetic heroine, a four-way romance, an inept gunman and the death of both an innocent bystander and one contender for the dubious female. Apparently, even elegant surroundings cannot stem the tide of unbridled passion.

But history favors the Brown Palace. Beginning in 1905, every president since Theodore Roosevelt has visited the hotel, except the unadventurous Calvin Coolidge. Eisenhower stayed there so frequently that the hotel was often referred to as the western White House.

A postcard of the onyx lobby. Interior of the Brown Palace Hotel, circa 1900.

The Brown Palace is known for its elegant teas, served in the onyx lobby. However, ladies in hats, gloves and finery who come to tea at the end of January are treated to much more than little cakes and dainty sandwiches. Every year since 1945, next to the tea area, the lobby also displays the annual Stock Show championship steer, which enters on a red carpet and drinks from a silver bowl. This gracious fifteen-hundred-to two-thousand-pound guest, resplendent in mascara and a wreath, seems to have no beef about sharing public honors with the less celebrated ladies at their tea. No doubt, Henry Brown and his cow appreciate the spectacle.

So it seems Brown has had the last laugh. While the Windsor went on to inglorious ruin and was razed in the 1950s, the Brown Palace has never once closed its doors since opening well over a century ago. Today, it remains what it was originally meant to be—a magnificent, unprecedented hotel.

CHEESMAN HOTEL: This hotel was built sometime before 1904 at Broadway and Seventeenth Streets.

COLUMBIA HOTEL: Built in 1878 as a retail building at 1330 Seventeenth (at Market) Street, the Columbia was converted into a hotel in 1892 by Frank Goodnow. It was operated by J.B. Laughlin in 1904 and managed by Walter J. Neville in 1909. The hotel was known for its ninety guest rooms with hot running water. It was a convenient stop thanks to its proximity to Union Station. Still operating as a hotel in the 1960s, today the building is used for retail and office space and is known as the Market Center.

HOTEL COSMOPOLITAN: Opened in June 1926 (originally as the Hotel Metropole) at 1760 Broadway, in 1984, the Cosmopolitan was demolished in a controlled explosion.

HOTEL CREST: Opened in July 1910, the Hotel Crest was a “Flatiron” building located at Welton, Broadway and Twentieth Avenues. The hotel’s large electric sign rose from the rooftop, and businesses filled its first floor.

THE DEVONSHIRE: Located at 1425 Logan Street, the Devonshire was a family hotel operated by Mrs. W.R. Jones in 1904.

DODGE HOTEL: Built sometime before 1904 at Broadway near Eighteenth Street, the Dodge Hotel was operated by E.R. Cooper in 1904.

DOVER HOTEL: Built sometime before 1913 at 1744 Glenarm Place, the hotel’s postcard from about 1930 gives its rates as one dollar and up, offers eighty rooms, and lists the owner as Sam Sclavenitis.

DREXEL HOTEL: This hotel was built about 1907 on Seventeenth Street.

ELEVENTH AVENUE HOTEL: Located on Eleventh Avenue, C.W. Adams was the proprietor of this hotel. A 1911 postcard claims, “High class family hotel, modern throughout.”

THE ELMORE: Located at 1320 Stout Street, the Elmore was operated by C.W. Williams in 1904.

THE ERHARD HOTEL: This hotel was built sometime before 1922.

FRONTIER HOTEL: This hotel was located on Fourteenth Street.

GEM HOTEL: Located at 1746 Curtis Street, the Gem Hotel was a three-story building with a stone front and an attached theater.

GRAND CENTRAL HOTEL: Built before 1904 at Seventeenth and Wazee Streets, the Grand Central was operated by H.A. Beard in 1904.

GRANITE HOTEL: Built before 1889 at the Corner of Larimer and Fifteenth Streets, the Granite Hotel was a four-story, gray granite, stained-glass building, the brainchild of W.M. and G.W. Clayton. It was designed by John Roberts as a department store. It housed an upscale retail business operated by M.J. McNamara, but the location turned out to be below expectations. In 1889, McNamara moved his trade to Sixteenth and California Streets. A few years later, his new store became the Denver Dry Goods Company.

The original stone store became known as the Granite Building, and in 1906, it was renamed the Granite Rooms. It passed through several owners, becoming the Granite Hotel somewhere along the way. The development of Denver’s Larimer Square in the 1970s brought an unexpected boom to the Granite; its highly visible, prime location made it a significant fixture in the downtown renewal project.

THE GRAYMONT: Built before 1904 at Eighteenth and California Streets, the Graymont was operated by J.M. Bent in 1904.

HOTEL GREAT NORTHERN: This hotel was located at 1612 Larimer Street.

GUARDS HALL: This hotel was built in 1873 and razed in 1915.

INTER-OCEAN HOTEL: Opened in October 1873 at the corner of Sixteenth and Blake Streets, the Inter-Ocean Hotel was built by Barney L. Ford, a prominent African American businessman and former slave who became a politically influential millionaire.

Ford escaped slavery in South Carolina via the Underground Railroad and went west, where he tried his luck at prospecting and struck it rich. He opened a barbershop in Denver, but the fire of 1863 destroyed much of the town, including his shop. Ford, an innate businessman, took out a $9,000 loan and built the successful People’s Restaurant, still standing at 1514 Blake Street. From the profits of this business, he built and ran the elegant Inter-Ocean Hotel in town. After this success, Ford built a second Inter-Ocean Hotel in Cheyenne, Wyoming, which stressed his finances considerably. In 1882, he built a house in Breckenridge at 111 East Washington Avenue, designed for him, his wife, Julia, and their children by prominent craftsman Elias Nashold. The house still stands, and is known as the Barney Ford House Museum. Ford also opened Ford’s Restaurant and Chop House in Breckenridge.

Until his death in 1902, Ford was active in supporting African American rights, literacy classes and education for freed people of color in Colorado. A stained-glass window in the Colorado Statehouse commemorates Ford, the early civil rights pioneer, who worked tirelessly to elevate Denver’s African American community.

Barney Ford’s Inter-Ocean Hotel, circa 1900.

In 1904, the Inter-Ocean Hotel was managed by G.N. Stein. Unfortunately for history, the building was razed in the early 1970s.

KOPPER’S HOTEL: Located at 1215–19 Twentieth Street, Kopper’s Hotel was operated by Albert Kopper in 1904.

LAFAYETTE HOTEL: Located at 1576 Lincoln Street, the Lafayette Hotel was a family hotel operated by J.B. Penton. The 1904–05 directory lists the Kassler House at Sixteenth and Lincoln. Number 1576 Lincoln Street is listed as the Lafayette Hotel. The hotel is not listed before 1900.

LEADVILLE HOUSE: The hotel was located on Blake Street (see Revere Hotel).

LINDELL HOTEL: Built before 1904 at Eleventh and Larimer Streets, the Lindell Hotel was operated by Erhard Menig in 1904.

MARTINEZ HOTEL: Built before 1904 at 3463 Blake Street, the Martinez Hotel was operated by the Martinez brothers in 1904.

METROPOLITAN HOTEL: Built sometime before 1904 at Nineteenth and Market Streets, the Metropolitan was operated by Hans Bollen in 1904.

HOTEL METROPOLE: Built in 1889 at Eighteenth and Broadway, the Hotel Metropole was operated by Otto Kappler and later became the Cosmopolitan Hotel, from 1926 to 1984 (see Cosmopolitan Hotel).

HOTEL MIDLAND : This hotel was built about 1908 at the corner of Seventeenth and Arapahoe Streets.

NATIONAL HOTEL: This hotel was located at 1713 Larimer Street.

NEW MARKHAM HOTEL: Built before 1904 at Seventeenth and Lawrence Streets, the New Markham Hotel was operated by Hughes & Nolan in 1904.

NEW UNION HOTEL: Built before 1904 at Seventeenth and Blake Streets, the New Union was operated by W. A. Arey in 1904.

OCCIDENTAL HOTEL: Built before 1904 at 1640 Blake Street, the Occidental Hotel was operated by C.C. Johnson in 1904.

*OXFORD HOTEL: 303-628-5400, 800-228-5838; theoxfordhotel.com.

Built in 1891 at Seventeenth and Wazee Sreets, the Oxford Hotel was located across from Union Station. The Oxford is Denver’s oldest existing historic hotel, constructed in 1891. Colorado’s leading architect, Frank E. Edbrooke, designed the five-story brick hotel one year before designing the Brown Palace. Edbrooke’s Oxford met Denver’s need for a “really first-class hotel” near Union Depot. Edbrooke, a Union soldier during the Civil War, was to become recognized as one of Denver’s most significant architects. He designed such local landmarks as the Tabor Block and the Grand Opera House, the State Capitol Building, Loretto Heights Academy, the Masonic Temple, the Chamber of Commerce Building, the Denver Dry Goods Company and the Colorado State Museum.

Edbrooke’s innovative Oxford had its own power plant, steam heat system, electric and gas lighting and separate water closets in its bathrooms. Dining tables held cut glassware, Haviland china and silverware inscribed with “Oxford.” The hotel’s novelty, the “vertical railway,” or elevator, carried guests to the upper stories. The Oxford survived the Silver Panic of 1893, and while banks, railroads and mines collapsed, the Oxford prospered.

The Oxford is home to McCormick’s Fish House, specializing in fresh seafood. It also houses the sophisticated Art Deco Cruise Room, both of which opened the day following the repeal of Prohibition. The first keg of locally brewed Coors beer was served in the Cruise Room lounge.

Among the Oxford’s more recent contributions to Denver’s streetscape is the installation of a replica of its original entrance canopy. Both the handsome welcoming awning, which had been removed in the 1930s, and its detailed, scrolled iron framework were designed and constructed by local artisans.

Since 1991, the hotel has carried on a tradition begun by the Denver Dry Goods Company decades earlier: the annual Holiday Dolls’ Tea Party, in which local girls bring their best doll and their mother. Reporter Frances Melrose, who recalled these teas from her childhood, suggested that the Oxford host the event. While the moms enjoy tea at grown-up tables, children and dolls sip cocoa and cider at child-sized tables with pink tablecloths.

The Oxford offers eighty guest rooms and is also a repository of an extensive collection by western artists such as Frederick Remington, portrait painter Herndon Davis and French master Bougereau. Century-old scenic stained glass may be viewed in McCormick’s Restaurant, and etched Art Deco panels in the Cruise Room add more grace and interest. The Oxford, full of wonderful surprises, is listed on the National Registry of Historic Places.

Now in its 112^th year, the timeless Oxford still welcomes guests, serving Denver’s downtown with the same elegance ascribed to its long-standing history.

PARK HOTEL: Built sometime before 1904 at 1717 Eighteenth Street, the Park Hotel was operated by L.P. Dixon in 1904.

THE PIERCE HOTEL: Built before 1904 at the corner of California and Thirteenth Streets, the Pierce Hotel’s advertising postcard states, “Three minutes from the heart of town.”

HOTEL PLAZA: This hotel was built sometime before 1905 at 330 Fifteenth Street, at the corner of Tremont.

PLYMOUTH PLACE HOTEL (later Cory Hotel): Built in 1898 at 1560–72 Broadway, Plymouth Place was owned by George W. Kassler and operated by Mrs. J.B. Edwards in 1904.

The Oxford Hotel boasts its newly restored canopy. Union Depot is in the background. Photo courtesy of the Oxford Hotel.

The Kassler Block was built as offices and rental rooms by local architects Marean and Norton. Its most remarkable feature was a ballroom for society affairs, fitted with parlors and dressing rooms and decorated in Moorish style with ornamental electric ceiling lights. A gallery with Moorish arches led to the ballroom, trimmed in woodwork of white enamel. It was intended for exclusive use of the Capital Hill 400, and while it did host numerous events, in 1906 “Kassler Hall” was removed from the building, likely due to insufficient bookings. Later, the building again underwent remodeling.

REVERE HOTEL: Built sometime before 1898 at 1421–27 Blake Street, next to the Leadville Hotel, the Revere was operated by J. and W.H. Graves in 1904.

ST. ELMO HOTEL: Built before 1904 at Seventeenth and Blake Streets, the St. Elmo Hotel was operated by F.W. O’Neill in 1904.

ST. FRANCIS HOTEL: This hotel was built sometime before 1904 at Fourteenth and Tremont Streets.

ST. JAMES HOTEL: Built between 1900 and 1920 on Curtis Street, near Sixteenth Street, the St. James Hotel was operated by H.H. Blake in 1904. Signs for the hotel read: “Baths available in basement” and “Furnished rooms for transients.” It was torn down in 1920 for construction of a theater.

The St. James Hotel, circa 1905.

ST. NICHOLAS HOTEL: This hotel was built before 1904 at Stout and Eighteenth Streets.

THE SHIRLEY: Located at Seventeenth and Broadway, the Shirley was built in 1902 by Colonel Dodge and was operated by E.R. Cooper in 1904. The Shirley was very elegant; it had its own farm and dairy for serving fresh products. The hotel was back to back with the Savoy Hotel, both facing Seventeenth Street, with the Shirley at Lincoln and the Savoy at Broadway. The two consolidated in 1921, becoming the Shirley-Savoy Hotel, and operating as one until the early 1960s, when the Shirley building was razed. The Savoy section continued to operate until it was razed in early 1970.

*THE STANDISH HOTEL: Built before 1909 across from the Denver Dry Goods Company at 1530 California Street in Denver, the Standish is still in operation (303-534-3231).

SYLVANIA HOTEL: Built before 1914 at 1331 Court Place, the Sylvania Hotel was operating in 1918.

UNION STOCK YARDS HOTEL: Built before 1904 at the Union Stock Yards, this hotel was operated by M. Owen in 1904.

THE VALLEJO: Located at 1420 Logan Avenue, the Vallejo was a family hotel built before 1904, operated by J.E. Birkenmaier.

HOTEL VICTOR: Built before 1904 at Sixteenth and Larimer Streets, the Victor was operated by C.H. Stubbs in 1904.

THE WADDELL: Built before 1904 at West Thirty-second Avenue and Bert Street, operated by J.N. McDonald in 1904.

WARD’S HOTEL: Built before 1904 at Cline Street and Fisk Avenue, Ward’s Hotel was operated by E.F. Ward in 1904.

WESTERN HOTEL: Built before 1904 at Twelfth and Larimer Streets, the Western was operated by C. Schneider in 1904.

WINDSOR HOTEL: Opened on June 12, 1880, and closed in 1958, the Windsor was razed in 1959. It was located at Eighteenth and Larimer Streets, built by an English firm under the direction of James Duff.

The hotel, designed by W. Boyington of Chicago, was intended to represent the glamour and refinement of England’s Windsor Castle and occupied nine city lots. Its exterior featured sandstone from Fort Collins, gray stone from near Castle Rock, striped awnings above first-floor windows and a large American flag flown from its prominent corner tower. There were separate ladies’ and gentlemen’s entrances, with iron porte-cochères and a marble floored lobby. Fine cuisine was served on Haviland china, and the hotel’s mahogany bar was inlaid with silver dollars.

The hotel is often associated with one of its owners, silver king H.A.W. Tabor, and his mistress, “Baby” Doe, whom he married following his divorce. They maintained the Windsor’s bridal suite, after spending their wedding night there. Its rooms were decorated with gold silk brocade and costly walnut furnishings, to which, with typical extravagance, Tabor added a gold-plated bathtub and doorknobs.

The beautiful (Elizabeth McCourt) Baby Doe Tabor (1854–1935) honored Tabor’s dying wishes after he lost his fortune when silver crashed. She tenaciously held onto his Leadville silver mine, the Matchless, until she was found frozen to death in its cabin. Both are buried in the Tabor plot at Mount Olivet Cemetery in Denver.

Among the roster of the Windsor’s elite guests were literary giants Rudyard Kipling, Mark Twain, Robert Louis Stevenson, Oscar Wilde and George Bernard Shaw, as well as Presidents Cleveland, Grant, the ubiquitous Teddy Roosevelt and the three-hundred-pound Taft, who got stuck in Baby Doe’s bathtub and required bellhops to extricate him. (She had since moved on.)

The Windsor’s front stairs were called the “suicide staircase,” for the many who leapt to their deaths down it, after losing their fortunes in one of the upstairs gambling rooms. A light behind a stair post supposedly cast the shadow of a devil’s head.

A postcard of the Windsor Hotel, Denver, circa 1900.

By 1917, Denver’s lively downtown had moved away from the Windsor, leaving the once grand hotel to slide into gradual ruin. Heroic efforts were made in the 1930s to revive it, and artist Herndon Davis painted murals on its bar with portraits of famous former guests. These murals are now in the collection of the Oxford Hotel. Unfortunately, by the 1950s, the aging hotel had become a notorious landmark on skid row, opening its once refined rooms to transients and alcoholics, taunted as “the flophouse with marble fireplaces.” By 1958, it had closed and auctioned off its elegant furnishings. The Windsor Hotel was torn down one year later.

Littleton (Includes Morrison)

Littleton dates to the 1859 Pikes Peak gold rush, which lured not only miners but also merchants and farmers to the community. Richard Sullivan Little, a New Hampshire engineer, went west to work on irrigation systems, settled in present-day Littleton and brought out his wife in 1862. The Littles and their neighbors built the Rough and Ready Flour Mill in 1867, providing the community with a sound economic base. The town was incorporated in 1890.

*CLIFF HOUSE HOTEL: 121 Stone Street, Morrison, CO 80465; 303-697-9732; cliffhouselodge.net.

This hotel was built in 1874 by George Morrison, founder of the town of Morrison. The prominent stone building was built on a rise and had a clipped, cross-gabled roof. It was also known as Evergreen House and was later called Swiss Cottage.

In 1895, George Morrison’s home became the Cliff House Hotel and still stands as one of the oldest remaining structures in Morrison. It is now a bed-and-breakfast, with eight themed private cottages surrounding the mansion. Part of the main house serves as a lobby, and its great room is the setting for special events. The National Register of Historic Places selected most of the town of Morrison as a historic district, which includes the Cliff House.

Through the years, the Cliff House has gone through several incarnations, from private home to inn and back again. Known today as the Cliff House Lodge, the property has been fully restored and once more resumes its role as gracious host to visiting guests.

COMMERCIAL HOTEL: This hotel was operated by H.G. Smith in 1904.

COTTAGE GROVE HOTEL: This hotel was operated by W.R. Collins in 1904.

LITTLETON HOTEL: This hotel was operated by A.N. Abbott in 1904.

The historic Cliff House Lodge in Morrison. Photo courtesy of the Cliff House Lodge.

A postcard of the veranda at John Brisben Walker’s Mount Morrison Hotel, circa 1912.

MOUNT MORRISON HOTEL AND CASINO: Built in 1874, this hotel was demolished in 1982.

John Brisben Walker, owner of Cosmopolitan magazine, sold his publication to William Randolph Hearst and moved to Colorado. In 1908, Walker purchased property owned by Sacred Heart College that included a large portion of Red Rocks. He reworked the old college building into a Casino Resort for Governor John Evans.

Walker’s son, John B. Walker Jr., ran the Casino and became Morrison’s third mayor in 1909. But misfortune beset Walker Sr.’s empire, and most of his holdings were sold in the 1920s. The hotel became known as Hillcrest Inn in the 1930s. In 1943, it was a retreat for the Poor Sisters of St. Francis and was last known as Pine Haven. After a long period of decline, it was razed in 1982.

Walker is remembered locally for his commitment to preserving the natural beauty and parks of Jefferson County. The view from his hotel was described in Walker’s promotional brochure of 1909 as follows: “The distant mountain top…the first view you get of the Mount Morrison railway (Mount Morrison Incline) as you sit on the broad veranda of the Mount Morrison Hotel and look upon the lavish splashes of color with which nature has painted the scenery of one of the most beautiful realistic art settings in the world.”

BOULDER COUNTY

Boulder is one of seventeen counties created by the Territory of Colorado in 1861. The county was named for Boulder Creek, so called for the abundance of, what else, boulders in the area.

Boulder

Arapahoe Indians traditionally wintered at the base of the foothills in the area until the town of Boulder, once part of Nebraska Territory, was founded in 1859. In 1873, the railroad was extended to Boulder, and three years later, Colorado was granted statehood. In 1875, the first cornerstone was laid for the first building of the state university, and Colorado University officially opened in Boulder on September 5, 1877.

ALBANY HOTEL: By 1916, the Albany Hotel had become the YMCA.

BOULDER HOUSE: This hotel was built before 1875–80 at Eleventh and Pearl Streets.

*HOTEL BOULDERADO: 2115 Thirteenth Street, Boulder, CO 80302; 303-442-4344, 866-539-0036; boulderado.com.

This hotel was designed by William Redding and Son. Boulder depended on tourism but had no first-class hotel. By 1906, a subscription drive had raised enough money to start construction on one, and the Hotel Boulderado opened for business on New Year’s Day 1909. Its name was suggested by William Rathvon, who incorporated the words “Boulder” and “Colorado” so guests would remember where they had stayed. The structure employed sandstone from the former Colorado Red Sandstone Company of Fort Collins. The Boulderado has restored its famous stained-glass canopy ceiling and retained its original cantilevered cherry staircase, extending from the basement up to the fifth floor.

William Beattie was hotel manager until 1917, when he placed the hotel’s operations in the hands of Hugh Mark. Mark and his family lived in the hotel until he passed away in 1937. Mark, a beloved figure in town, had done much to promote the Boulderado, advertising it outside of the state and encouraging people to visit Boulder. The hotel, as practical as it is grand, appeals to both the visitor of average income and the wealthy, and has hosted many University of Colorado guests, among them Robert Frost.

The hotel hosts Q’s Restaurant and the Corner Bar. Q’s specializes in seasonal, local, organic ingredients and offers an outstanding wine list. Q’s is a “green” establishment, practicing responsible recycling and composting, and making use of eco-friendly products.

A postcard of the Hotel Boulderado, circa 1912.

THE BOWEN: This hotel was built sometime before 1904.

THE COLORADO HOTEL: This hotel was built sometime before 1904.

GERMAN HOUSE: This hotel was built sometime before 1904.

LITTLE HOTEL: This hotel was built sometime before 1904.

THE O’CONNOR: Built in 1875 at 1302 Walnut Street, this hotel went by the name The O’Connor until 1917. The building continued to operate as a hotel under various names until 1955.

ST. JULIAN HOTEL: This hotel was built sometime before 1904.

El Dora Lake

El Dora Lake is located in the Roosevelt National Forest. The mining town of Eldora, once expected to rival Cripple Creek, foundered shortly after its 1898 silver boom. Today, it is a quiet community, and the nearest town is Nederland.

PINE LOG INN: Built by 1912, the Pine Log Inn was advertised as a family fishing resort within sixty miles of Denver.

El Dorado Springs

The town was named for the legendary city of gold. By 1910, Eldorado Springs was known for its Big Radium Pool, then reported to be the largest swimming pool in the United States, and was called the Coney Island of the West. The town is located at the mouth of Eldorado Canyon on South Boulder Creek.

A lively carnival atmosphere prevailed at El Dorado; many people came to watch renowned daredevil Ivy Baldwin (forerunner of stunt man types like Evel Knievel) cross the canyon on a tightrope suspended 582 feet off the ground. Others entertained themselves at dancing pavilions or with games on the midway, roller-skating or fishing.

It was still a booming resort until the 1938 flood destroyed the dance hall and all but removed the swimming pool. Flooding is still a concern along the creek, but the historic pool fed from the artesian spring remains open and has been a popular resort since it first opened in 1905.

*EL DORADO SPRINGS: This is now known as Eldorado Springs Pool at 294 Artesian Drive (303-499-9640).

ELDORADO HOTEL: In 1908, the grand Eldorado Hotel opened, with the finest room in the house costing $2.50 per night. The hotel was perched above one of the swimming pools and a dance hall, and offered forty rooms.

Lyons

Located at the confluence of the North and South St. Vrain Creeks, the area was settled by farmers and cattle ranchers in the 1850s and 1860s. Lyons was founded in 1880 by Edward S. Lyon, who began quarrying red sandstone outcroppings in the region. This local sandstone is considered the hardest in the world, having a unique red to salmon color. Lyon was one of the first to establish the quarry trade in town, but others followed. The railroad’s arrival in the 1890s gave the quarries a significant boost, but in 1910–12, the cement industry killed the sandstone industry, and rock production stopped. The only sandstone construction during this time was the new University of Colorado campus.

BILLINGS RANCH: This guest ranch was operated by Mrs. H.C. Billings in 1904.

COPELAND’S RANCH (Allen’s Park): This guest ranch was operated by J.B. Copeland in 1904.

ELKHORN RANCH: This guest ranch hotel was operated by A.C. Fisher in 1904.

LYONS HOUSE: This hotel was operated by Mrs. A. Halliday in 1904.

ST. VRAIN HOTEL: Built before 1872 on the 300 block of Main Street, this hotel burned down in the 1879 fire but was apparently rebuilt. It was operated by W.P. Flanders in 1904.

STEAMBOAT VILLA: This hotel was operated by James Lowe in 1904.

WELCH’S RESORT: This hotel was operated by W.A. Welch in 1904.

Nederland

This town began as a trading post between Utes and Europeans during the 1850s. Its first economic boom came when silver ore was discovered in 1859, followed by the discovery of gold and tungsten. The town has been through three different mining booms and busts for these metals.

Originally called Brownsville after a miner named Brown, Nederland was also called Layton and Middle Boulder before taking its present name in 1873, credited to Dutch mining investors who purchased the Caribou Mill.

Nederland is also the site of an unusual carousel. In 1910, carousel maker Charles Looff of Denmark delivered one of his creations to Saltair Park, outside Salt Lake City, Utah. It survived a fire and a windstorm, which blew the roller coaster onto the carousel, requiring it to be rebuilt with only two rows of animals from its original four. In 1986, when the carousel was sold to a buyer who only wanted its animals, Scott Harrison of Nederland bought the empty frame and brought it to town. Over the next twenty-two years, he and friends restored the frame and carved a menagerie of thirty-eight wooden animals to complete it. The Carousel of Happiness is now a result of new and old creation, the spirit of the century-old carousel waiting for adults to revisit their youth and the young to enjoy a spin. E-mail info@carouselofhappiness.org for more information.

First Antlers Hotel, circa 1890s. The hotel was operated by Charles Huggins in 1904. In 1907, Mrs. Roose opened her new Antlers Hotel in town.

ANTLERS HOTEL: This hotel was built in the 1870s for Abel Goss by Erasmus Parsons. In the 1890s, Mrs. Roose opened it as a small tourist hotel, maintaining it until about 1907, when she built a larger hotel at Nederland. The Hetzer family occupied the place for several years.

BROWN’S MOUNTAIN HOUSE: This hotel was built about the 1860s by Nathan Bolly Brown. Nederland was first called Brownsville and Brown’s Crossing because of this building, thought to be first in the area.

HETZER HOTEL (also known as McKenzie House): Built in 1877, this hotel burned down in 1939. It was owned by J.D. McKenzie at the time. It was a well-known lodging place in the region.

Wall Street: Ghost Town

Established about 1899, Wall Street is now an abandoned mining community, fenced off from the public.

WALL STREET HOTEL: Built before 1904, the Wall Street Hotel was operated by Mrs. D. Blanchard in 1904.

Ward

Ward, located on a mountainside at the top of Left Hand Canyon, thirty-six miles northwest of Denver, is a former mining settlement founded in 1860, following discovery of gold at nearby Gold Hill. It was one of the richest towns in the state during the Colorado Gold Rush and was named for Calvin Ward, who struck it rich on the site known as Miser’s Dream. In 1901, forty-five of Ward’s buildings were destroyed by a fire that started in the Hotel McClancy, though the mines’ wealth led to immediate rebuilding. The town was largely deserted by the 1920s, but construction of the Peak-to-Peak Highway in the 1930s fueled its revival.

Hotel McClancy, 1893.

COLUMBIA HOTEL: Built before 1904, the Columbia was operated by Mrs. M.S. Buck in 1904 and was owned by Albert L. and Emma Hauburg Fairhurst. In 1919, Emma Fairhurst was written up in the Hotel Monthly for the Columbia’s unique fireplace, which she built using ore specimens collected from various mines in Ward. The hotel is now a private residence.

C&N HOTEL: Built before 1904, the C&N was operated by Mrs. M.F. Thompson.

HOTEL MCCLANCY: Built before 1899, the Hotel McClancy burned down in 1901 when its stove caught fire and took most of the town with it. The hotel was rebuilt soon after the fire.

CLEAR CREEK COUNTY

Clear Creek is one of seventeen original counties created in 1861 and one of only two to have its original boundaries. It was named for Clear Creek, which runs from the continental divide through the county.

Empire

This town was founded in 1860 by miners who believed the promise of gold and silver in the area would one day make their town as great as New York, the Empire State.

The Peck House: over a century of welcome and as inviting as ever. Courtesy of the Peck House.

*THE PECK HOUSE: 83 Sunny Avenue, Empire, CO; 303-569-9870.

The Peck House Hotel and Restaurant was built in 1862. From 1858 to 1865, many settlers arrived to stake a claim in Empire, among them James Peck and his three sons, who settled here in 1860 and built a house. In 1862, Mary Grace Parsons Peck brought the family goods by oxcart and joined her family. Due to the area’s increase of newly arriving residents, Mrs. Peck soon found herself a full-time innkeeper.

Notables, including P.T. Barnum, Ulysses S. Grant and General Sherman, have stayed at the Peck House. The Peck family owned the hotel until the death of James Peck’s grandson, Howard, in the 1940s. Present owners Gary and Sally St. Clair first visited the Peck House on their honeymoon, and by March 1981, they had arranged to purchase the hotel.

The Peck House is the oldest continually operating hotel in Colorado. Many of the antiques throughout the hotel came by oxcart with the Peck family in 1862.

Georgetown

Georgetown is 8,530 feet above sea level. Once a rough-and-tumble town founded during the Pikes Peak gold rush of 1859 by two Kentucky prospectors, George and David Griffith, Georgetown (named for the older brother) has acquired grace with age. While the town expanded following the discovery of silver, it was never a true mining town but rather a trade center for surrounding camps.

In 1868, the Georgetown area had a problem. It was rich in minerals, but getting the ore out of the mountains posed a challenge. This was solved in 1877, when Jay Gould brought the Colorado Central Railroad to Georgetown and Silver Plume, and the ores were then easily taken to Denver for smelting.

The arrival of the narrow gauge railway increased the town’s prosperity. A portion of the original route has been restored between Georgetown and Silver Plume and is now a tourist train called the Georgetown Loop.

With its well-preserved, historic Victorian buildings and lively character, Georgetown is today an inviting village, not to be missed.

ELDRIDGE HOTEL: This hotel was built before 1880 on Rose Street.

ELLIOT HOUSE HOTEL: This hotel was built sometime before 1897.

ENNIS HOTEL: This hotel was built sometime before 1897.

GRAND CENTRAL HOTEL: Built sometime between the 1870s and 1890s, the Grand Central is a two-story, four-square frame building.

July 5, 1897, Georgetown. A parade in front of the Elliot House Hotel.

HOTEL DE PARIS: Begun about 1878 at Sixth and Griffith Streets, this hotel was constructed from three separate older buildings by the eccentric Louis Dupuy, owner and proprietor, and was completed in 1890. The building has a stucco finish and is painted with French and American flags.

The mysterious story of Louis Dupuy, of Alencon, France, and his unlikely hotel is fascinating. The hotel-museum documents the lives of Dupuy, his housekeeper, Sophie Galley, and two later proprietors.

Born Adolphe Francois Gerard in 1844, by 1869, he had arrived in Denver under the new name of Louis Dupuy. In 1873, Dupuy was injured in a mine blast while rescuing a co-worker. Injuries ended his brief mining days, and he was required to seek other work. Georgetown citizens, knowing of his heroism, took up a collection to help him purchase a local bakery in 1875. By 1878, he had expanded it into the Hotel de Paris and installed the widowed Sophie Galley as his housekeeper. By 1890, Dupuy had enlarged his hotel to the size it is today.

Dupuy installed electricity, and added the bronze statue of Justice on the roof. Even though rough-hewn miners formed a portion of his clientele, Dupuy did not skimp on the quality of his French cuisine or his rooms.

The dining room floor featured alternating boards of light and dark walnut and maple, supporting a fountain filled with fresh trout. Elegance was Dupuy’s byword, and he furnished his hotel with fine linens, silver, French wine and Haviland china. Running water was installed, with marble sinks.

The Hotel de Paris is now operated as a museum by the National Society of the Colonial Dames of America in the state of Colorado.

Dupuy, consummate chef and businessman, was also thought to be something of a misogynist, often turning away potential female guests when he had vacancies. However, he and the faithful Sophie Galley, an older, illiterate Frenchwoman, were close companions. In 1900, Dupuy died of pneumonia, leaving the hotel to Galley, who only lived a few years after inheriting it. She and Dupuy are buried next to each other in Georgetown’s cemetery.

In a twist of irony, the hotel established by the man who distrusted most women is now owned by an entire organization of them. After changing hands twice, following Galley’s death, the hotel was acquired in 1954 by the National Society of Colonial Dames of America, which now operates it as the Hotel de Paris Museum (303-569-2311).

YATES HOUSE HOTEL: This hotel was built sometime before 1880 on Rose Street.

Graymont

This small settlement was at one time the western end of the line for the Colorado Central Railroad, which ran from Georgetown to Graymont. The line was built by the Georgetown, Breckenridge and Leadville Railroad.

JENNINGS HOTEL: This hotel was built sometime before 1884.

Idaho Springs

Local legend says that the town was named for annual visits to the area’s radium hot springs made by a Native American chief and his tribe, who reportedly came from Idaho to bathe in the healing waters.

Idaho Springs began as a gold rush town in 1859, when George Jackson found gold at the confluence of the Chicago and Clear Creeks. As word of his discovery spread, hopeful fortune-seekers flocked in, establishing a settlement. Further mining development expanded the town, and as Idaho Springs grew, so did the need for housing.

Dumont’s Boarding House, aka German House, was owned by the Dumont family in 1901. “German House” and “Office” were printed on the first-floor windows. The “X” indicates a Dumont child. The man marked by a “D,” in a hat and suspenders in the doorway, is the proprietor.

In 1860, the significance of its hot springs brought about the building of Ocean Bath and Mammoth Bath, which began to draw tourists. Idaho Springs was soon marketed as the “Saratoga of the Rocky Mountains.” Enterprising innkeepers recognized opportunity and built their hostelries, and civilization came to yet another raggedy mining town.

BEEBEE HOUSE HOTEL: 1600 Colorado Blvd., Idaho Springs, CO. Built before 1870, the Beebee House was a one-hundred-room mountain hotel; its dining room was run by Mrs. Beebee. President Grant stayed here in 1873. The hotel was razed in 1907, and Elks Lodge #607 was built on the site.

CLUB HOTEL: Built before 1904, the Club Hotel was operated by E.W. Dillon in 1904.

COLORADO HOTEL: NO information available.

DUMONT’S BOARDING HOUSE/GERMAN HOUSE: This hotel was built sometime before 1901.

*ECHO LAKE LODGE: Built in 1926, Echo Lake Lodge is no longer a hotel. At a 10,600-foot elevation, it is now a tourist gift shop and restaurant. It is located a few miles from Idaho Springs on State Highway 103, at the junction of Mt. Evans Road. The restaurant specializes in home-baked pies (303-567-2138).

HANSON’S LODGE: Built about 1883 at 1601 Colorado Boulevard, Hanson’s is one of the area’s oldest hotels, once known as the Wright Hotel. President Teddy Roosevelt and Doc Holliday stayed here (but not at the same time). The building was logged over in 1922. Hanson’s Lodge currently operates as a hostel with nineteen rentable rooms and is for sale. The rustic hotel is on the State and National Historic Registers.

*HOT SPRINGS HOTEL/RADIUM HOT SPRINGS HOTEL: 302 Soda Creek Road, Idaho Springs, CO 80452; 303-989-6666; indianhotsprings.com.

In 1863, Dr. E.S. Cummings purchased the springs, built a bathhouse and operated a middling business on the property. He sold to Harrison Montague, who improved bathing facilities and built a hotel. Montague sold his profitable business to investors, who constructed a much larger and finer hotel around Montague’s original. The Hot Springs Hotel and its reputed healing waters continued to draw continuous clientele until World War II, when business declined for a time before picking up again.

The springs and their historic lodge are still open, known today as Indian Hot Springs. They offer massage, spa treatments and overnight accommodations.

PORTLAND HOTEL: Built before 1904, the Portland Hotel was operated by George Pierce in 1904.

TROCADERO HOTEL: Built sometime before 1908, the rustic, three-gabled hotel was operating in 1908.

Silver Plume

Silver Plume is a former silver mining camp along Clear Creek whose fortunes rose and fell with the gold rush, the silver boom and the silver panic.

LA VETA: Built before 1904, La Veta was operated by Mrs. E. Rowe in 1904.

NEW WINDSOR HOTEL: Built before 1892, the New Windsor was operated by Mrs. H.F. Lampshire in 1904.

DOUGLAS COUNTY

Douglas is one of the original seventeen counties created in the Colorado Territory in 1861, named in honor of U.S. senator Stephen A. Douglas of Illinois. The county seat became Castle Rock in 1874.

Decker Springs

Decker Springs was a medicinal springs and fishing resort, fifteen miles by stage (costing seventy-five cents each way) from South Platte Station. It was owned by Maurice Weinberger about 1900 and reached via the Colorado and Southern Railway.

DECKER’S: Built before 1904, this hotel was operated by S.D. Decker.

Larkspur

This small community is located eleven miles south of Castle Rock.

CLOVER HILL RANCH: This hotel was operated by Mrs. Dakan in 1904.

NOE HOTEL: This hotel was operated by J.R. Noe in 1904.

NANCHANT INN: This hotel was operated by C.H. Underwood in 1904.

PERRY PARK RANCH: Built about 1880s, this hotel burned down.

In 1870, John D. Perry, president of the Kansas Pacific Railroad, purchased four thousand acres, eventually named Perry Park. In 1888, Perry and his investors attempted to turn the property into a resort. A dam was built on Bear Creek, creating Lake Wauconda, and a large hotel was built south of the lake. But attempts to extend the railroad through Larkspur into the park failed, and the resort did not prosper. The ranch changed hands many times until the mid-1900s. The hotel was eventually destroyed by fire.

GILPIN COUNTY

Gilpin County was formed in 1861. In 1859, John H. Gregory staked the first mining claim in what would soon become known as the “Richest Square Mile on Earth.” The spot, marked by the Gregory Monument, is near the city limits of Central City and Black Hawk. By mid-1859, more than twenty-five thousand people lived in and around Gregory Gulch, in unimaginably squalid conditions.

Black Hawk

Black Hawk was named for a local milling company, which had taken the name of a Native American chief. Founded in 1859 during the Pikes Peak gold rush adjacent to Central City, Black Hawk flourished in the late 1800s due to construction of mills and a rail link to Golden. It declined during the 1900s but has revived considerably following the legalization of casino gambling. In 2010, the Black Hawk city council passed a controversial law banning the riding of bicycles in the town, so peddlers beware.

THE GILPIN HOTEL: 111 Main Street, Black Hawk, CO 80422; 303-582-1133. This hotel was built before 1896. The three-story brick hotel had a porch with a second-floor gallery, and in 1905, a sign over its main door read, “The Gilpin Hotel, J. Klein, Prop.” No longer a hotel, the Gilpin is now a casino.

Central City

With John Gregory’s discovery of the “Gregory Lode” in 1859 near Central City, 8,496 feet above sea level, the gold rush was on. Central City’s population rose to ten thousand, all seeking fortune. Things got testy. In 1861, the town recorded 217 fistfights, 97 gunfights, 11 knife fights and 1 dogfight. Amazingly, no one was killed. A fire in 1874 razed most of the frame-constructed town, which was rebuilt of brick and stone and is mostly still standing.

Interior lobby of the Teller House.

EUREKA HOUSE: This hotel was built before 1897 on Eureka Street.

TELLER HOUSE: 120 Eureka Street, Central City, CO 80422.

Construction on the hotel was begun in 1871. When a local subscription drive to build the hotel fell short, Henry M. Teller, Colorado Central Railroad president, provided most of the funds to complete the project. It was stated that Teller House was the finest hotel west of the Mississippi River, named for its greatest benefactor, who was also one of Colorado’s first senators.

The hotel was furnished in style and offered an excellent billiard room and a bar with murals by English artist Charles Stanley, supposedly painted for his hotel bill. The Teller House acquired its most famous work of art following a 1930s renovation, in which artist Herndon Davis painted a life-size portrait of his wife on the saloon floor, titled The Face on the Barroom Floor after a well-known Victorian poem.

Among the hotel’s famous visitors was President Ulysses Grant, who, prior to arrival, was supposedly asked by the hotel for a plaster mold of his hindquarters so a chamber pot of appropriate dimensions could be installed in his room. It is not known whether Grant complied with the request. Bathrooms had not yet been installed in the Teller.

The Teller House was owned by the Teller family for several generations but survived in the later twentieth century primarily as a tourist attraction. No longer an operating hotel, the Teller House is now a casino.

Rollinsville

This town was named for Joseph Rollins, a surveyor with the railroads, about 1880.

HOTEL ROLLINSVILLE: This hotel was built about 1915–20.

Tolland (Formerly Mammoth)

Tolland, originally called Mammoth, was an early mining town and stage stop on the line across Rollins Pass. In 1904, the Toll family, significant area landholders, changed the town’s name to Tolland—if one has influence, such things are possible. They built the Toll Inn, and Mrs. Toll was postmistress of the town. But following completion of the Moffatt Tunnel, Tolland’s business declined, and the train passed without stopping. Today, Tolland is a quiet community, mostly of summer homes. Many original buildings survive and have been restored.

TOLL INN: Built sometime between 1904 and 1925, the Toll Inn was owned and operated by Mrs. Charles Toll, who built the hotel with twenty-six rooms for railroad passengers. It was a popular stop for one-day excursions from Denver, offering a restaurant, lunch stand, post office, souvenir store and picnic pavilion.

JEFFERSON COUNTY

Located along the Front Range of the Rockies, Jefferson County is part of the Denver metropolitan area. Organized in 1861, Jefferson County was named for Thomas Jefferson.

Buffalo Creek

Buffalo Creek was established about 1877 along the stream of the same name, and Buffalo Creek Post Office opened in 1878. The town has more than once been destroyed by fire.

HOTEL HUDSON: This hotel was built sometime before 1910.

Deansbury/Strontia Springs

Located in Platte Canyon, this town was a medicinal spring.

STRONTIA SPRINGS HOTEL: This hotel was built about 1884 as a summer resort located beside the South Platte River on the Denver, South Park and Pacific line of the Colorado and Southern Railroad. The hotel was a brick structure, with a large native stone fireplace. It was operated by the Strontia Springs Hotel Co. in 1904, and later burned down.

Deansbury Lodge and the two-story Strontia Springs Hotel. Its balcony and gazebo are labeled, “Strontia Medicinal Water.”

Evergreen

In 1859, Thomas Bergen established a ranch and stage stop north of present-day Evergreen. In 1875, homesteader Dwight P. Wilmot was credited for naming the area “Evergreen.” The town’s economy thrived due to the canyon’s thick forest and Denver’s demand for lumber. By the 1880s, Evergreen had six operating sawmills. Road improvements through Bear Creek Canyon in 1911 drew tourists and helped it become a well-known resort destination.

ARTIST’S VIEW: Built before 1904, Artist’s View was operated by J. Murphy in 1904.

BABCOCK INN: Built before 1904, the Babcock Inn was operated by J.D. Babcockin 1904.

*BROOK FOREST INN: 8136 Brook Forest Road, Evergreen, CO 80439; 303-679-1521, 866-679-1521.

From a deserted cabin purchased in 1913, which was renovated and expanded by Edwin Welz of Vienna and his wife, Riggi, of Switzerland, the Brook Forest Inn became one of the area’s most attractive lodges. It opened in 1919. The mountains reminded the Welz family of the Alps. Welz was postmaster in 1921 for Brook Forest, and the inn served as the region’s post office until 1931.

The original cabin, built by a family named Westerfield, is now the lobby and pub. In 1927, the dining room was added to the main building, with two stories above it.

In 1937, a medieval turret of white and rose quartz was completed across the street and is known as the “Bell Tower House.” The Welz family operated the inn until 1946, when it was sold, changing hands several times over the years.

The historic Brook Forest Inn.

The historic Brook Forest Inn has been host to the elite, such as President Theodore Roosevelt, Liberace and the Unsinkable Molly Brown. The inn also hosts fables of secret subversive gatherings decades ago and gold hidden in its walls. Paranormal ghost tales of a stable hand and a chambermaid further color its lore.

Today, the handsome historic inn and restaurant are open and welcoming guests.

EVERGREEN HOTEL: This hotel was built about 1900.

GREYSTONE GUEST RANCH: Built in 1916 in the English Tudor style, this ranch was opened periodically to the public. Notables Cornelia Otis Skinner, Groucho Marx, rocket scientist Werner Von Braun and Mae West stayed on the property. Now a private residence, it sits four and a half miles west of Evergreen Lake at a seventy-five-hundred-foot elevation, with views of Mount Evans.

HINES HOTEL: Built sometime before 1904, the Hines was operated by J.J. Hinesin 1904.

A traveler’s luggage sticker from Troutdale-in-the-Pines.

STRONGHURST INN: This hotel was built sometime before 1915.

TROUTDALE HOTEL/TROUTDALE-IN-THE-PINES: This hotel was built in the 1890s. The resort began as a cluster of cabins and a single-story hotel, operated in 1904 by the Troutdale Hotel Co. In 1920, Harry Sidles, a Nebraska businessman, expanded it into an elegant hotel with a pond, pool and golf course. Until the late 1930s, Troutdale thrived as one of the Rockies’ most popular resorts. But World War II and hard times forced it to close, and despite efforts to resurrect the resort, it was razed in 1994.

*CAMP NEOSHO: Built about the 1890s, Camp Neosho was operated by Wheelock & Mackey in 1904. This twenty-five-room log lodge, listed on the National Register of Historic Places, was owned by only two families before Jefferson County bought the property in 1974.

In the 1890s, Mary Neosho Williams, a Civil War widow, and her daughter, Josepha, were among wealthy Denverites who camped at Evergreen. They acquired a simple log structure and hired Jock Spence, a Scottish carpenter, to convert it into a summer cottage. The property was named Camp Neosho for Mrs. Williams’s middle name. Overnight guests stayed in tents with wood floors, stoves and double canvas walls. It later became the retreat of Dr. Josepha Williams, one of the first female doctors in Colorado. In 1889, she operated a sanitarium in Denver for patients suffering from tubercular and lung diseases. Camp Neosho, operated by the Jefferson County Historical Society, is now the Hiwan Homestead Museum in Evergreen (4208 South Timbervale Drive, Evergreen, CO 80439; 720-497-7650).

Golden

Golden, established during the gold rush of 1859, is a former mining camp first called Golden City for Thomas L. Golden. Situated along Clear Creek, Golden is home to the Colorado School of Mines, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, the National Earthquake Information Center and Coors Brewing Company.

ALVORD HOUSE: This hotel was built before 1873 on Thirteenth Street.

ASTOR HOUSE HOTEL: This hotel was built in 1867 by Seth Lake. It was constructed of local hand-cut stone and operated as a boarding and rooming house until 1971. It replaced an earlier frame hotel that Lake had built, which he called Lake House, and was the town’s first stone building, with walls eighteen inches thick. The hotel changed hands repeatedly and was known chronologically as the Castle Rock House and Boston House, until it was saved from demolition and designated a historic landmark. It became a museum in 1973, operated by the Golden History Museums (303-278-3557, goldenhistorymuseums.org/astorhousemuseum).

Alvord House, Golden.

AVENUE HOTEL: Built before 1873 on Washington Avenue, this hotel was operated by Lake and Wells in 1904.

HOTEL BELLA VISTA (originally the St. Bernard): This hotel was built in 1881 on Ford Street by Nicholls and Canmann, architects. It was a three-story, massive brick edifice with hip roof, a square domed tower, fourteen fireplace chimneys and an iron front façade. It was torn down in 1920.

BURGESS HOUSE HOTEL: This hotel was built before 1866 as the Burgess Block by Thomas W. Burgess, at 1015 Ford Street.

CRAWFORD HOUSE: Built before 1904, the Crawford House was operated by John McEchron in 1904.

GOLDEN HOUSE HOTEL: Built before 1878, the Golden House Hotel was destroyed by fire in 1878.

OVERLAND HOTEL: This hotel was built before 1908 at Twelfth and Washington Avenues.

Pine Grove

Pine Grove, established in 1886, has many historic homes and shops. Located in the foothills southwest of Denver, Pine Grove is a quaint mountain community.

ELK CANYON HOTEL: Built before 1904, the Elk Canyon Hotel was operated by W.E. Burr in 1904.

Wellington Lake

This was a favorite fishing and camping location, approximately ten miles from Bailey, Colorado.

WELLINGTON HOTEL: Built before 1904, the Wellington was operated by J.P.C. Dickinson in 1904.

LARIMER COUNTY

Larimer County sits at the edge of the Eastern Plains, along the border of Wyoming. The county was named for the founder of Denver, William Larimer Jr., who is thought to never have set foot in it. Though it is one of Colorado’s original seventeen counties, mining did not play a large role in area history. The settlement of Larimer County was based almost entirely on agriculture, specifically dry land farming, a technique successfully employed for generations by western Native Americans.

Cache le Poudre River

The river, west of Fort Collins, was reportedly named by early French explorers, who hid their gunpowder beside its banks. This area remains unspoiled, offering opportunity for whitewater kayaking and rafting, with trails for biking and hiking.

CAMPTON’S RESORT: This hotel was built sometime before 1906.

Drake

Drake is a small community in Big Thompson Canyon, with its post office near the Rocky Mountain National Park.

*FORKS HOTEL: 1597 West Highway 34, Drake, CO 80515; 970-669-2380; http://www.riverforksinn.com/index.html.

Built in 1875, the Forks Hotel is now known as the Historic River Forks Inn. A century ago, the hotel was reached via the Loveland to Estes Park Auto Road. It is now accessible by paved Highway 34. The inn, situated on twenty-three acres, has been run by various people over the years, including Enos Mills, “Father of the Rocky Mountain National Park,” who leased the lodge for two years about 1912. The Forks is still in operation as a bed-and-breakfast and is famous for its fly-fishing.

Two Stanley Steamers beside the Forks Hotel, 1909. It was an early stage and mail stop.

Estes Park

This area was named for miner Joel Estes, a Kentuckian who struck it rich in California and discovered the Estes Valley in 1859. A year later, he moved his wife and thirteen children, along with a herd of cattle, to a meadow in the valley, where they lived until 1866.

In 1864, William Byers, owner and editor of the Rocky Mountain News, named the area Estes Park in honor of Estes. But Estes found cattle ranching difficult in the high altitude and short growing season, and he sold his homestead to Griff Evans, who turned it into a dude ranch. One of Evans’s European guests, the Earl of Dunraven, so admired the area that he decided to buy the entire valley for his personal hunting preserve. Fortunately, his intentions were thwarted by area residents and mountain men.

In 1903, F.O. Stanley, co-inventor of the Stanley Steamer automobile with his twin brother, F.E. Stanley, came from Massachusetts seeking a cure for tuberculosis. The climate was so beneficial to his health that he settled in Estes Park and built the Stanley Hotel, which opened in 1909, costing more than half a million dollars.

*BALD PATE INN: 4900 South Highway 7, Estes Park, CO 80517; 970-586-6151.

Built in 1917 by the Mace family, the inn is now a bed-and-breakfast and restaurant. The inn’s sign, a ring of seven keys, hangs on the front entrance. It was named after a popular mystery novel, The Seven Keys to Bald Pate, by Lord Earl Derr Biggers.

In keeping with the novel’s story line, the Mace family gave each visitor to the inn his or her very own key. This tradition continued until World War II, when metal became so expensive that the innkeepers were no longer able to give keys away. Loyal guests were so disappointed that they began their own tradition of bringing a key back to the inn each year. Thus began the world’s largest key collection, which boasts over twenty thousand keys.

In 1986, the Smith family purchased the property. Only the second family to own and operate the inn, for the past twenty-five years they have welcomed guests to experience the enchantment of Bald Pate Inn.

*HOTEL CRAGS: 300 Riverside Drive, Estes Park, CO 80517; 970-586-6066, 800-521-3131 (reservations); cragslodge.com.

This hotel first opened in 1914 and is the third-oldest lodge in Estes Park. The historic Crags Lodge was built by Enoch “Joe” Mills, author, photographer, lecturer, English professor and football coach at the University of Colorado. He was also the brother of Enos Mills, who helped established the Rocky Mountain National Park.

Born in 1880, Joe Mills made his first trip to Estes Park alone, at the age of sixteen. He recorded his first response to the Estes Valley: “Before me loomed the Rockies, strangely unreal in the moonlight and yet very like the mountains of my imagination. I gazed spellbound. My dream was realized.”

Joe and his wife, Ethel, built their dream lodge on the north shoulder of Prospect Mountain, naming it Crags Lodge for the rocks that form the mountainside. Many famous people, including Robert Frost, have found their stay at Crags Lodge inspiring.

Mills originally furnished the hotel with rustic pieces from the Old Hickory Furniture Company. Through the years, much of the original furniture was removed, but present managers have remodeled and decorated the rooms with similar Old Hickory furnishings and period-inspired pieces. Some of Mills’s original tables and chairs, purchased in 1914, can be found in the lodge’s restaurant, the View, which overlooks the town of Estes Park. The restaurant is open for dinner from mid-May to mid-October.

The Crags Lodge is today the main building of the Golden Eagle Resort and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

*ELKHORN LODGE: 600 West Elkhorn Avenue, Estes Park, CO 80517; 970-586-4416; elkhornlodge.org.

The James family’s guest ranch venture began in 1874, when they discovered that taking in lodgers, elk hunting and bringing the meat to Denver were more lucrative careers than cattle ranching. But this popular practice, ongoing from the 1870s until 1900, seriously reduced the elk population. So in 1913, the Elkhorn and other forward-thinking ranches, using forty specially built wagons, began transporting elk back into Estes Park to rebuild the diminishing herds.

Guests would once order fresh trout for meals from nearby Fall River. But as the trout population declined, the Elkhorn began the state’s second fish hatchery in the 1890s. After the State of Colorado moved the hatchery, it became, and is now, the Elkhorn’s private trout pond.

The Elkhorn operated the area’s first icehouse. Blocks of ice from Fall River were cut in winter, transported by horse and wagon and stored in the icehouse for refrigerating foods.

The Elkhorn’s Main Lodge was built in 1871 and has two large fireplaces. The James family purchased Stickley furniture for the lobby, and some of the finest Stickley pieces known still remain at the Elkhorn. Stickley investors are frequently sent to view the Elkhorn’s collection, and the Stickley Museum has offered to purchase some of its furnishings.

As the Elkhorn expanded, it constructed new, and incorporated existing, buildings. Among the buildings upgraded for use is the Coach House, the original stagecoach terminal. In 1877, a four-dollar ticket would purchase a one-way trip from Lyons to Estes Park.

The rustic ranch offers stables and riding trails, camping, swimming, hiking and “no license required” trout fishing, with equipment provided.

The Elkhorn is the oldest guest ranch still operating in the Rockies, two blocks from downtown Estes Park—an authentic piece of Colorado history listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

ESTES PARK HOTEL: Built before 1904, the Estes Park Hotel was operated by C.E. Lester and Co. in 1904.

FALL RIVER LODGE: This hotel was built in 1915 on the south side of Fall River Road by Dan and Minnie March. The handsome Arts and Crafts resort was a compound of a main lodge, fourteen cabins and a corral. But to enforce its policy of keeping the land unspoiled, the National Park Service bought the property in 1959 from J. Russell McKelvey and, sadly, in 1960 removed all evidence of the lodge and its outbuildings, restoring the property to its original state.

By 1904, the former James Ranch in Estes Park had become the Elkhorn Lodge. Photo circa 1900.

The Horseshoe Inn, circa 1910.

HIGHLAND HOTEL: Built before 1904, the Highland was operated by H.W. Ferguson in 1904.

HORSESHOE INN: Built sometime between 1908 and 1931 by Willard Ashton, the Horseshoe Inn was intentionally razed by fire in 1931. The Arts and Crafts–style Horseshoe was the first casualty of the National Park’s policy against building on park property, and many private lodges were removed. Just what standards determined who was forced to remove and who permitted to remain is not entirely clear.

THE LEWISTON: The Lewiston was advertised in the 1920s as Estes Park’s “premier hotel.”

LONG’S PEAK INN: Built in 1902, Long’s Peak Inn was originally owned by Reverend Elkanah Lamb. It was then purchased and run by his cousin, Enos Mills, a naturalist. Operating in 1904, it burned down and was rebuilt in 1906. It burned down again in 1949.

Born in 1870 in Kansas, Enos A. Mills was a sickly child. His parents, hoping his health would improve, sent him at age fourteen to stay in Estes Park. He worked briefly at the Elkhorn Lodge, before arriving at the ranch of his cousins, Reverend and Mrs. Elkanah Lamb. Their son, Carlyle, took Mills on his first climb up Long’s Peak, which inspired him to become a mountain guide. Mills spent time wandering the area, picking a spot across from the Lambs’ ranch to build a cabin, which he finished in two summers. It is today the Enos Mills Cabin Museum.

Mrs. Enos Mills meets with Tennessee naturalist Robert Sparks Walker near her cabin to discuss her late husband’s work, 1950.

Mills met great naturalist John Muir in 1889, on a trip to San Francisco. The two established a friendship. Muir had an enormous impact on Mills, influencing his philosophy and future life.

In 1901, Mills bought the Lamb Ranch. In 1904, he changed its name to Long’s Peak Inn. He took people on nature walks and up Long’s Peak, which he climbed to the summit more than one hundred times. He preferred small groups, especially children who were open to his teachings. Mills sought to draw guests’ attention to the natural world. From the foot of Long’s Peak, he did not want them distracted by city life and did not permit smoking, drinking, card playing or music in the lobby. But he respected any activity in guest rooms as private business. Adventurous guests flocked in, in greater numbers each year.

In the spring of 1906, the inn’s main building burned down. Mills was on a lecture tour but hurried back to begin rebuilding without blueprints or drawings. The main lodge and its cabins were reconstructed from deadfall timber gathered from an old forest fire. The kitchen and dining room were able to serve guests by July that same year.

Mills’s writing and speaking engagements began to take more time, and he also began training more nature guides for his Trail School. He emphasized not only nomenclature but also every aspect of nature and its constant changes, even along familiar paths. Mills’s methods of nature guiding would become the standard for field interpretation in the National Park Service.

But Mills did not disapprove of comforts such as steam heat, electricity, plumbing, feather beds and flannel sheets. Long’s Peak Inn had three telephones. At one time, the famous radio announcer Lowell Thomas declared that the three best restaurants in Colorado were at the Brown Palace, the BROADMOOR Hotel and Long’s Peak Inn.

Long’s Peak Inn, circa 1911–20.

Mills kept journals and began lecturing in 1891, a practice he continued until his death. Guests awaited his evening talks at the inn by campfire or by the lobby fireplace at day’s end. His writing career finally flourished, and he wrote his adventures and observations in a clear, poetic manner that engaged rather than bored readers. National magazines published his articles; he later put them into book form. In 1909, his first major book, Wild Life of the Rockies, brought national attention. His second, The Spell of the Rockies, was his bestseller. In all, Mills wrote over eighteen nonfiction books.

Mills died suddenly at the age of fifty-two in 1922 from an abscessed tooth. His wife, Esther, sold Long’s Peak Inn in 1946. In 1949, the main lodge burned again, and ownership changed hands a number of times over the years.

Mills is considered the “Father of Rocky Mountain National Park,” which was established in 1915.

THE RUSTIC HOTEL: Built before 1904, the Rustic Hotel was operated by the Rustic Hotel Co. in 1904.

STEAD’S HOTEL/SPRAGUE HOTEL: This was a rustic resort built by Abner E. Sprague in Moraine Park about 1900 and operated by Sprague & Stead. Sprague sold it to his nephew, J.D. “Jim” Stead, about 1904.

*THE STANLEY HOTEL: 333 Wonderview Avenue, Estes Park, CO 80517; 970-586-3371, 800-976-1377; www.stanleyhotel.com.

In 1903, F.O. Stanley, inventor of the Stanley Steamer automobile, came to Estes Park for his health. Impressed by the beauty of the valley and grateful for his improvement, he decided to invest his money and future there.

In 1909, he opened the elegant, Georgian-style Stanley Hotel, nestled against the Rockies, seventy-five hundred feet above sea level. The Stanley is reportedly haunted. Its founders, F.O. and Flora Stanley, are said to be some of its ghostly guests. Mr. Stanley plays piano in the music room and also shows up in the billiard room and lobby. A visit to the Stanley inspired author Stephen King to write The Shining.

The elegant Stanley Hotel.

The hotel hosts Steamers Café and Cascades Restaurant, with a wide variety of offerings, including buffalo, trout and lamb. The glamorous hotel is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

TIMBERLINE HOTEL: Built about 1900, the Timberline is a tiny rustic shack. Its postcard claims, “One of many well-known in the park, situated on Long’s Peak Trail, 11,000 feet elevation.”

WIND RIVER LODGE: Built before 1904, the Wind River Lodge was operated by Guy La Coste in 1904.

Fort Collins

In 1849, a party of Cherokee Indians passed through Larimer County en route to California; their path was later identified as the Cherokee Trail. In 1862, discovery of gold in Idaho drew many prospectors away from Colorado, the most direct route to Idaho being the Cherokee Trail, blazed thirteen years earlier.

In the 1860s and ’70s, open-range cattle ranching and an increasing number of small farms dominated Larimer County. The Colorado Central Railroad arrived in the 1870s, and in 1903, the Great Western sugar beet processing plant was built. The climate and plentiful grazing were found to support sheep, and many fruit orchards, particularly cherry, were planted.

In 1862, Camp Collins, named for Colonel William Collins, commander of the Eleventh Ohio Cavalry in Fort Laramie, Wyoming, was established on the Cache La Poudre River, a stopover for those traveling the Overland Trail. In 1869, the settlement was a town, incorporated as Fort Collins. Fort Collins is home of Colorado State University.

AUNTIE STANES MESS HALL AND HOTEL: This hotel was builte about 1870.

BATTERSON HOUSE: Built before 1904, this hotel was operated by William Batterson in 1904.

CHEROKEE PARK HOTEL: Built before 1904, this hotel was operated by William Compton in 1904.

COMMERCIAL HOTEL: Built of brick sometime before 1904 at 172 North College Avenue, the Commercial Hotel was operated by D.N. Harris in 1904. An earlier wooden hotel, the Agricultural Hotel, once occupied this site. After renovations, the Commercial became the Northern Hotel in 1905.

FORKS HOTEL: Built before 1904, the Forks was operated by W.O. Mossman in 1904. It was notable for piles of antlers flanking both sides of the entry.

Auntie Stanes Mess Hall and Hotel, the first dwelling house in Fort Collins.

KEYSTONE HOTEL: Built before 1900 on the Cache la Poudre River, the Keystone was operated by J. Zimmerman in 1904. Its postcards advertised “all the comfort of a home. Music ball and billiard halls. Fine trout fishing, nice drives, boating, shooting, inspiring scenery.”

LARIMER HOUSE: Built before 1904, the Larimer House was operated by F. Gowder in 1904.

LINDEN HOTEL: Built in 1882–83 by Abner Loomis and Charles Andrews at 250 Walnut Street, the Linden was a corner brick building, constructed as the Poudre Valley Bank, which simultaneously also housed other businesses. From 1917 to 1983, the Linden Hotel occupied the building. It was operated by J. A. Davidson in 1904.

LIVERMORE HOUSE: Built before 1904, the Livermore House was operated by C.W. Ramer in 1904.

NORTHERN HOTEL: Located at 172 North College Avenue, in 1905, major renovation completely altered the Commercial Hotel when a stained-glass dome was added in the dining room and the name was changed to the Northern Hotel. A fourth floor was added in 1924 and an Art Deco façade in the 1930s. Most recently, the Northern has reopened as affordable senior housing.

POUDRE VALLEY HOTEL: Built before 1904, this hotel was operated by L.P. Wasson in 1904.

RUSTIC HOUSE: Built before 1904, this hotel was operated by W.J. Steele in 1904.

TEDMON HOUSE: Built before 1904, this hotel was operated by H.M. Sholine in 1904.

Loveland

Loveland was founded in 1877 along the Colorado Central Railroad, near its crossing of Big Thompson Creek. It was named for William S.H. Loveland, president of the railroad (of course!). The town initially depended on agriculture; its primary crops were sugar beets and sour cherries. In 1901, the Great Western Sugar Co. built its Loveland factory, which closed in 1985. During the 1920s, Loveland’s Spring Glade orchard was the largest west of the Mississippi River, but by 1960, a series of droughts, blight and a killer freeze had destroyed the industry.

B STREET HOTEL: This hotel was operated by C. Davis in 1904.

LINCOLN HOTEL: Built before 1905, this hotel was located on the corner of Lincoln and Fourth Streets.

LOVELAND HOUSE: This hotel was operated by O. Riker in 1904.

Quarry workers stand outside the stone Stout Hotel, 1880s.

Stout (Under the Reservoir)

Stout, a former town in southern Colorado, was located in the foothills southwest of Fort Collins. Established in the 1880s as a camp for stone quarry workers, the town was abandoned in 1949 in anticipation of the inundation of the valley by the Horsetooth Reservoir.

STOUT HOTEL: Built sometime in the 1880s, the Stout Hotel was abandoned and razed in 1949.

TELLER COUNTY

A few years after gold was discovered at Cripple Creek, political differences between area miners and mine owners became so fierce that they caused the division of El Paso County. In 1899, Teller County was carved from the western slope of Pikes Peak and named after United States senator Henry Teller. Only five years after its formation, Teller County became the scene of the violent Colorado Labor Wars.

Cripple Creek

This fabled gold-mining town is located a few feet below timberline and surrounded by pasture. In 1890, Robert Miller Womack discovered rich ore in this previously unproductive region, instigating the last great Colorado gold rush. Thousands streamed into the region, and soon W.S. Stratton found the famous Independence Lode, one of the largest gold strikes in history. The district’s gold was the core of an ancient volcano, six square miles in diameter. This geologic good fortune caused Cripple Creek’s population to increase to ten thousand by 1893.

When the underground mines became exhausted, the town teetered on the brink of becoming a ghost town, though it has always had a few hundred faithful residents. With the passing of legalized gambling in 1991, Cripple Creek became a gambling and tourist town. Casinos have claimed many of its historic buildings.

When the mines gave out, many prospectors turned their burros loose. The hardy, four-legged creatures continued to thrive and reproduce in the wild over the years and once traveled the road between Cripple Creek and Victor in small packs. It was possible for motorists to encounter troops of them en route from one grazing area to another; they would pause to pet and feed burros through car windows. Bolder tourists ventured into the burro throng, making conversation and pictures. But a few years back, these burro pilgrimages were deemed unsafe for both burro and motorist, and the town rounded up the errant beasts. They are now kept in corrals until Donkey Derby Days, when the annual burro races are held through the streets of Cripple Creek. Burros have not been interviewed concerning this change in their circumstances.

Small herds of burros once traveled the road between Cripple Creek and Victor, circa 1972.

The Cripple Creek and Victor Narrow Gauge Railroad today operates from Cripple Creek and passes several small ghost towns and mines. Cripple Creek hosts many events throughout the year, including the Cripple Creek Ice Festival, Donkey Derby Days, the Fourth of July Celebration and Gold Camp Christmas.

HOTEL CARR: This hotel was built about 1892 and probably burned down in the 1895 town fire.

COMMERCIAL HOTEL: Built about 1892 on Bennett Avenue, the Commercial Hotel was destroyed in a town fire in 1896.

*HOTEL ST. NICHOLAS: 303 North Third Street, Cripple Creek, CO 80813; 719-689-0856; hotelstnicholas.com.

Built about 1898, this restored mountain inn occupies the elegant building once housing the St. Nicholas Hospital, operated by the Sisters of Mercy. Now listed on the National Historic Register, many of its furnishings and artifacts are original to the hotel and the fabled 1890s gold rush town of Cripple Creek.

IMPERIAL HOTEL: NO information available.

NATIONAL HOTEL: Built in 1896, this hotel was razed in 1918. It was financed by a group of businessmen. It was located on the corner of Fourth and Bennett Avenue and was operated in 1904 by A.E. Willaber.

The hotel was elaborately furnished with mahogany and gilt, catering to mining magnates, railroad hierarchy and the upper crust of Cripple Creek society. Spencer Penrose, of BROADMOOR fame, reportedly rode on horseback into its bar—something he seems to have been particularly fond of doing. But the National’s glory days were short lived, and the hotel began changing hands only a year after opening.

Postcard of the Palace Hotel, circa 1895.

It struggled along for a while, renting rooms and showrooms to traveling salesmen, until its closing in 1918. With operating expenses too high to justify maintenance, the National was torn down that same year.

NEW COLLINS HOTEL: Built before 1904, this hotel was operated by M.E. Shoot

PALACE HOTEL: Built before 1895 on Bennett Avenue, this brick hotel withstood the 1905 fire.

PORTLAND HOTEL: Built sometime in the 1890s at 204 East Warren, in 1896 a grease fire in the kitchen destroyed the hotel and a large portion of the town that had survived a previous fire four days earlier.

Independence: Ghost Town

Established in 1881, Independence is now a ghost town sixteen miles east of Aspen. When the Independence Lode was discovered in 1879, a tent city sprang up, and by 1880, three hundred people lived in the camp. By 1882, the town of Independence had over forty businesses, with three post offices and approximately fifteen hundred residents.

CALIFORNIA HOTEL: Built about 1881, the California Hotel was abandoned in 1899. That year, the worst storm in Colorado’s history cut off supply routes. The miners were running out of food, so they dismantled their homes to make seventy-five pairs of skis and escaped en masse to Aspen, leaving Independence a ghost town. Room and board cost two dollars at the New England House, a boardinghouse on the east end of Main Street and a competitor of the California Hotel. Today, the Aspen Historical Society preserves the town site and conducts tours.

California Hotel, circa 1885–90.

Victor

Located five miles from Cripple Creek, Victor was established in 1893 and was known as the City of Mines for the richest mines in the Cripple Creek District on Battle Mountain, directly above town. Much of the mines’ labor force made Victor home. It was also a rail and shipping center and later a milling center.

In August 1899, a devastating fire razed the town in less than five hours, but most of Victor’s businesses rebuilt in brick in less than six months. The brick version of Victor has survived handsomely and is today a picturesque, historic mountain town.

Victor is the hometown of respected radio journalist and newspaperman Lowell Thomas. He spent his early years working at the Victor Daily Record and at the age of nineteen became its editor. Thomas later spent forty-six years on NBC’s Literary Digest and in 1976 was awarded the Medal of Freedom by President Ford. The Victor Record building, where Thomas began his career, still stands on Fourth Street.

Though quiet today in contrast to its former days, Victor’s rich past has begun to draw interested tourists and history buffs to the authentic atmosphere of this century-old mining town. Victor should not be missed.

HOTEL METROPOLE: Built by 1894, this hotel was destroyed in a 1899 citywide fire.

*VICTOR HOTEL: 321 Victor Avenue, Victor, CO 80860; 716-689-3553, 800-713-4595; victorhotelcolorado.com.

This hotel was built between 1894 and 1899 at Fourth Street and Victor Avenue by the Woods family, the recognized founders of Victor. The original hotel was a two-story wooden frame building, which burned in the 1899 town fire. The hotel soon after moved across the street to the Woods’ brick bank building.

During excavation for the hotel’s foundation, a vein of gold ore was discovered, which led to the Gold Coin Mine. Victor, located almost ten thousand feet above sea level on the side of Battle Mountain, was destined to become a mecca for gold miners.

The Woods’ First National Bank of Victor, the town’s tallest building, was completed on Christmas Eve 1899, following the 1895 fire, which destroyed their bank at this location, as well as the wooden Victor Hotel across the street. In early years, the bank occupied the first floor, renting out upper floors as rooms and offices. Interestingly, while the bank was storing gold coins, miners in the Gold Coin Mine worked beneath it, as the mine’s tunnels ran underneath downtown streets and buildings.

About 1906, the fourth floor was the town hospital, where surgery was performed. In winter, with the ground so frozen that graves could not be dug, its corner rooms were used as a morgue until warmer weather.

The Woods’ bank was forced to close permanently in 1903, when bank examiners declared it insolvent. Several successor banks occupied the property, but all eventually closed, and the building remained vacant for many years. In 1992, the Woods’ four-story brick building was renovated to become the new Victor Hotel, open again for business. The bank vault and original birdcage elevator, still in operation, can be seen from the hotel lobby. The Victor’s “birdcage” is the oldest operating elevator in Colorado but was once the site of a tragedy.

Years back, a miner named Eddy lived in room 301 when the hotel operated as a boardinghouse. One fateful morning, Eddy rose for work, pushed the button for the elevator and, when its iron gates opened, stepped inside—and fell to his death, the victim of the elevator’s malfunction. Since then, there have been scattered reports of visitations by Eddy; room 301 is one of the most requested by ghost hunters.

The Hotel Victor today. Photo courtesy of the Victor Hotel.

Eddy’s room is not the only thing visible from the third floor. The view of Victor’s surrounding mountains is nothing short of spectacular. The landscape is so magnificent that Theodore Roosevelt, upon viewing the Sangre de Cristos and Western Range from Victor’s Seventh Street location, is reported to have stated, “This is a view that bankrupts the English language.”

The brick Hotel Victor stands opposite the site of its frame predecessor in the Victor National Historic District. The hotel is listed on the National Registry of Historic Places.

Woodland Park

Called the the “City Above the Clouds,” Woodland Park is 8,465 feet above sea level. There is easy access to hiking, climbing and fishing in the area, as well as a new museum, the Rocky Mountain Dinosaur Resource Center.

CREST HOTEL: Built before 1904, this hotel was operated by S.A. Brown in 1904.

MIDLAND HOTEL: Built before 1904, this hotel was operated by Mrs. R.B. Hackman in 1904.

WOODLAND HOTEL: This hotel was built before 1904.

WELD COUNTY

The discovery of gold in 1858 along the South Platte River predated the Pikes Peak Gold Rush. Feeling separated from the distant territorial governments of Kansas and Nebraska, mining area residents voted to form the Territory of Jefferson in 1861. Jefferson Territory was never federally approved, but President Buchanan signed into law the Territory of Colorado. In November 1861, the Colorado General Assembly organized seventeen counties, including Weld, named for Lewis Ledyard Weld, lawyer and territorial secretary who died fighting for the Union army during the Civil War.

Greeley

This town began in 1869 as Union Colony, an experimental Utopian community “based on temperance, religion, agriculture, education and family values.” It was founded by Nathan Meeker, an idealistic New York City reporter. He purchased property at the confluence of the Cache la Poudre and South Platte Rivers. Close to five hundred true believers made the journey west to establish the community, whose name was later changed to Greeley, for Horace Greeley, Meeker’s editor at the New York Tribune.

In its early days, Greeley made use of thousands of roaming buffalo, which supported five businesses making buffalo robes. However, the arrival of open-range cattle, coming into town to graze gardens and crops, was less lucrative. So, in 1871, at the suggestion of Horace Greeley, a fifty-mile-long, seven-foot-high fence was constructed around the town. It had two gates that were locked from April through October, requiring people to unlock them in order to leave or access town. The fence created strife between farmers and cattlemen, some complaining that it was built to keep out “undesirables.” Most of the fence was torn down by 1900.

The first sugar beet processing factory was built in 1902, and by the 1920s, Greeley was manufacturing 25 percent of the nation’s sugar. The town’s original colony placed strong emphasis on the arts, music and education, and Greeley is home to the oldest orchestra west of the Mississippi, the Greeley Philharmonic, begun in 1912.

In 1890, the State Normal School of Colorado opened its doors and is now the University of Northern Colorado.

CAMFIELD HOTEL: Formerly the Oasis Hotel, this hotel became the Camfield before 1910 and was owned by Daniel A. Camfield. In 1930, KFKA, Colorado’s first commercial radio station, broadcast from the Camfield. The hotel was razed in the 1960s.

GREELEY HOUSE: This hotel was built before 1910.

OASIS HOTEL: Built before 1882, the Oasis became the Camfield Hotel about 1910.

STERLING HOTEL: This hotel was built before 1910.

HOTEL UNION: This hotel was built before 1904.

Longmont

In 1870, a group of prominent Chicago businessmen decided to start a new town in Colorado. Imagine that! They sold membership in the town, called the “Chicago-Colorado Colony,” and bought sixty thousand acres of land in northern Colorado. By 1871, Longmont was built, named for nearby Long’s Peak. The area’s rich soil promoted agriculture. After the arrival of the Colorado Central Railroad in 1877, the community flourished, and a sugar factory, a cannery and a flour mill were constructed.

The Silver Moon Hotel was built sometime after 1872 at Third Avenue and Kimbark Street. Photo circa 1872.

GERMANIA HOTEL: This hotel was operated by H.L. Hockberger in 1904.

GREAT WESTERN HOTEL: No information available.

IMPERIAL HOTEL: This hotel was operated by C.F. Allen in 1904.

SILVER MOON HOTEL: Built before 1872, this hotel was operated by T.J. Barker in 1904. The rate was one dollar per day. Its sign had a crescent-shaped moon symbol between “Silver” and “Hotel.”