Then and Now Images

Fantastic thread.
It would certainly make a great basis for a holiday,to set off to an area with a couple of dozen old photograph's,and do what sfarson has done.

Steve.

Jav, I did write a book on motorcycling the Rocky Mountains in Colorado, and some of these pics made the cut. Can see the book here at Amazon.

Anyway, appreciate the sentiments everyone, and yes Steve, gather some old pics and enjoy the exploration to see if you can stand and frame what a photographer did a long time ago. It's a way to add a destination to the ride-is-the-destination first and foremost. This is from a ride a few days ago...

The Colorado Midland Railroad had a line running from Colorado Springs up to the high alpine meadows of South Park. A popular stop about 100 years ago was Hartsel, where tourists would disembark for fishing in the South Platte, soaking the bones in the hot springs, and picking wildflowers in massive fields of wildflowers.. The train's wheels would sing on standard gauge track so heavier loads could be hauled. This was also known as the "Stockmen's Railroad", for among the cars in the train were those dedicated to hauling cattle and hay back to Colorado Springs.

Anyway, a large photo for reflection. Before there were nurseries, gathering huge bouquets of wildflowers was quite the pastime, and so was dressing up for the occasion...


Autos came on to the stage of life, roads were placed down, and tracks were pulled up. About 70 years ago...


Guess I could have tilted the cam a bit, and brought the bike and background closer. Dang it can be hard framing/standing where someone did long ago. That faint snowcap peak in the distance to the right is Pikes Peak. Just to the right of the bike is the old train grade. The tracks would have been coming towards us...

For a few more, Tiny Town was built in 1915 by George Turner (A friend of Buffalo Bill) as a miniature town of 1/6 scale buildings for his daughter to play in and around. Well, it soon became one of the top tourist attractions in the state. It also attracted flood waters of nearby Turkey Creek, which would rampage through the structures every 10-20 years. Indeed, when I moved to Colorado in the 80's, Tiny Town was a closed and decaying place, having suffered through one too many floods. In the 90's the place was fixed up, some kind of flood control put in place, and contributors built all kinds of 1/6 scale buildings for the re-opening. Now it is common to see a full parking lot, along with children scampering all over the place during the summertime.

Back in 1925...


Today over 100 1/6 scale buildings, many of local and well-known structures, are there for exploring, along with a miniature train ride and playground equipment. The trees have done well. From this past week, before the opening next month...


Here's the Brook Forest Inn not far from Evergreen, Colorado. Opened in 1919 by a couple from the Alps, it offered the latest in luxury for the times, including running water, electricity, baths, and lodging for up to 130 visitors. About 80 years ago...


If there wasn't an 8ft high fence behind me, could have stepped back a bit for a more better "now"!

Shawnee, Colorado was a place for tourists to stay a spell. The train noted in the preceding post would drop off Denver paying passengers at the Shawnee train stop for some relaxin', hikin', fishin', etc. About 100 years ago, looking east from Shawnee, this was the view. The tracks are unseen here, down and to the left alongside the North Fork of the South Platte River. But the wagon road is visible...


The dirt wagon road is today's paved U.S. 285...


Now, 100 years ago from the same location as above, if one turned 90 degrees to the right in the wintertime, and looked up, here is where some of the visitors would stay...


It is one of the oldest remaining structures in Shawnee today...


From a distance, one can see how Shawnee looked back then. Can see the above Grand View Hotel to the left of the access road. The really big lodge to the right burned down in 1929. Many of the lodges along the train route burned down mysteriously in the 1920's and 1930's as train traffic gave way to auto traffic. Travelers by auto could come and go from Denver without staying the night or weekend. The probable reason for these lodges turned to ashes? Insurance money.


Well, I hiked up a hill through a garden of cow pies as far as I could go, but elevation gain was no more with a serious barbed wire fence hoping I would make its day. Turned around for Shawnee today. BTW, that tree above in the field to the left could be today's well grown one...

Another tale. In the late 1800's the town of Gillett sprung to life a few miles north of the mining communities of Cripple Creek and Victor, Colorado. But rather than minerals, Gillett is mostly famed for moments, an event of August 1895... the only bullfight ever to take place on U.S. soil. The event was highly publicicized. Celebrities from afar traveled for the first-ever event. Bullfighters and bulls were imported for the event from Mexico. A bullfighting ring was constructed. And it ended... with a near riot. Some believe the bulls were tired from the travel. I guess they didn't put up much of fight, and that's what the spectators wanted. Other reports note the spectators were disgusted with the abuse. It wasn't a well reviewed event. The meat was donated locally which appeased some of the locals. Nevertheless, never has there been a bullfight in the U.S. before, and since.

Here's the bullfight ring constructed for the event...


An empty meadow today...


The action in the ring...




Now this actually was quite a sizeable town 120 years ago...


Hardy residents called Gillett at 10,000ft. elevation home. Seemingly every time I pass through on a bike I am chilled. The barbed wire fence here, and behind me prevented a slightly better "now" perspective...


So what has happened to this ghost town? Things were in decay the early 1900's, but the coup de grace came in June 1965 when most of the ghost town structures were swept away after a heavy rain overwhelmed a small earthen dam reservoir that supplied water to the residents long ago. Here's the Catholic Church out in the suburbs of Gillett back in the 1940's...


Following the flood 47 years ago. Didn't want to disregard the "no tresspassing" sign, nor risk sensitive body parts to the barbs!, so from a distance. Some rocks of the church remain...

ace ! im always looking forward to the next instalment

Still following along

Montezuma, Colorado is a semi-ghost town about five miles west of the Keystone ski resort. It sprung to life in the 1860's after silver was discovered in the area of nearby Argentine Pass. By 1890 the population was up to 1,000 coinciding with the Colorado Silver Boom. Well, the population of Montezuma also coincided with the Colorado Silver Bust three years later in 1893, and since then the decline of the population and structure kind has continued. Five fires over the years have not helped with "historic preservation", but nevertheless some old buildings remain and can be viewed on a ride to this high 10,200ft. elev. place.

Here's a look east down Montezuma's main street in the late 1800's...


And today with a population around 40-50. Note the similar snow patterns on the peak 120+ years later!


Ride the horse through town and turn around looking west back then...


And today...


I did come across this 1940's image of one of the old hotels still standing...


But it is no longer is standing today...


Oh, at a pullout on the way to Montezuma. Eh, though not a long ride, not a bad journey to get there...

Fantastic stuff, thanks so much for posting these. What a great way to create a trip, seeking these things out. Fascinating.

great re read

Jockser said:

Still following along

Click to expand...

+1

John and Pat

That's a good one Pat, well done

Hey all, hope you're having a fantastic summer of riding. Here's some more...

A few then/now of Jefferson, a small ranching community in the high meadows of South Park, Colorado. This is from just after the train tracks were pulled up in 1937 and a dirt road placed down. That's the train depot on the left...


And it is still the "historic" train depot on the left, along with a caboose like structure to the right offering summertime fare like BBQ, burgers, etc. The size of the community hasn't changed much over the years, usually hovering around 50...


In the color image above, see the home with the white window trim? Here it is in the late 1800's...


A few decades later, some new surrounding structures, and some new area residents...


And 90 years later, some new aspen. Well not so new, but doing well. Angle of the sun is almost the same...


Looking down this residential street back with the same home on the right...


Maybe I'll return with a chainsaw for a better now perspective ...


Paused at Barker Reservoir above Boulder, Colorado. It was built just over 100 years ago by the city of Boulder as a storage and flood control project.

Looking east as construction continued and water started to fill the meadows... and cattle saw shrinking pasture land...


The dam has been rebuilt since then...


Looking west before there was a Barker Reservoir...


Ehhh, a bit of a change....


OK, the image above shows the historic mining town of Nederland in the distance, with the ski runs of Eldora up higher. Nederland was a consolidating kind of town, providing central services for the productive mines and now ghost towns up higher. Men from the Netherlands named it Nederland for the town was located on a somewhat small, but nevertheless flat piece of land reminding them of their European home. And how about this, a color "then" image from ~60 years ago...


I had lunchtime chow down the street, and after some nice consumption strolled up the hill, turned around, strolled some more, framed things...


Rosita, Colorado was once the Custer County seat, boasting a population of over a thousand in the 1870's, along with hundreds of structures. The discovery of silver nearby brought the people. Soon, larger lodes of silver bearing ores were discovered elsewhere in the vicinity, like in nearby Silver Cliff in the 1880's. Goodbye Rosita as many of the transient residents moved north 7 - 8 miles. I guess back then, commuting that kind of distance was a BIG deal. The county seat was relocated to Silver Cliff and by the 1890's Rosita was in a state of decline...





Ehhh, a bit of a change. This was taken when a fire had claimed some of the structures...




Silver Plume, a flair and fade mining town that was hitched to the fortunes of silver prices, is just off I-70 on the eastern climb to the Eisenhower Tunnel. It's just one exit west of Georgetown.

72 years ago this is how it appeared...


Today, at almost the same time of day and season given the shadows. It has not been prettied up like some other historic towns in Colorado, but I kinda like that it hasn't...


At the very least, if there is hint of weakness or affection for freshly baked bread, then absolutely exit for Silver Plume, ride the dirt 100 yards to and through the setting above, and then stop at the Sopp & Truscott Bakery at the east end. If it isn't open there will be a metal chest at the door with wrapped loaves of soft and freshly baked bread of sundry kinds. The honor system has a small chest inside for your $4 - $5. If you turn around from the images above, here it is...


Georgetown, a community that thrived from the late 1800's silver boom, and continues to fare well today. It is located on I-70 where the eastern climbing grade to Loveland Pass and the Eisenhower Tunnel increases notably. Interesting how starting ten miles east of Georgetown the fever came ores of gold, but not here, nor Silver Plume on the other side of the interstate. Georgetown is also at the northern base of the Guanella Pass Scenic Byway, and the north side was re-engineered and repaved last year.

Here's the Alps like Guanella Pass Road...


The last switchback before the summit is attained...


But anyway, this is a then/now thread, and here is Georgetown over 100 years ago...


I-70 comes up this Creek Creek drained valley and hugs the slopes on the left, though one can hardly tell from this treed image from the same location on the Guanella Pass Road (which was constructed as a wagon road for the silver mines up above)...


Parades were big events back then, communities large and small often had them for Memorial Day, 4th of July, and Labor Day. Three images a photographer captured from the same spot as the parade made a turn...






Today. Thankfully those mountains in the background helped find the location, for the buildings hardly do...


At the rear end of the parade. Dressing up was a common practice for events like a parade, but seemingly it was the thing to do whenever out in public...


Today. More trees and some structural changes...

Really enjoyed this, thanks for posting.

FWIW, Been dinkin around with another approach.

The Fairplay Hotel...


Neighbors gathering around a new vehicle in front of a Jefferson home...


The old wagon road passing through Shawnee is now U.S. 285 passing through Shawnee...


The ghost town of Rosita...


Downtown Central City...

like that

Brillaint,the new approach is doing it for me

Very impressed....thanks for this...

From last week while passing through the town of Walden in northern Colorado. Walden is in the middle of North Park, a large valley, kinda u-shaped, with the Medicine Bow Range on the east, the Park Range on the west, and the Rabbit Ears Range anchoring the south. Walden with a population around 800 is the county seat of Jackson. Ranching is a key commercial activity. North Park is the home of the Arapaho Wildlife Refuge, and Walden declares itself the moose capital of Colorado.

Well anyway, with that as background, little remains of old Walden. Don't know if it was flames, or the trials of time and weather, but here it is early last century...


And here it is early this century...


And trying the selective merge thing...


So, see that building on the left? It is the only comparison structure I could somewhat easily (if not only) find... physically and in old print. The C.E. Mosman General Merchandise Store...


If you ask me, it was a bit more attractive back then. Eh?


Selective merged. Still have a ways to go. The rotation has to line up too!


If ever making the U.S. 40 transit over Berthoud Pass from the south, you will pass through the small town of Empire. Like most communities in this long Clear Creek drainage that nearby I-70 courses through, Empire can trace its roots to ores found under the slopes of nearby hills. More on Empire's history here.

One of the earlier mountain "then" images I've come across. Empire as a mining camp in 1880...


Now, one would think it would be a cinch finding the above location and direction, but daaang, I passed through, turned around, retraced, with old image in hand, several separate times while riding through Empire to no avail. Well, I was making the assumption the above wagon trail through Empire is today's U.S. 40. One day, I looked south down one of the few side streets...


From exploring the historic townsite of Nighthawk on the banks of the Middle Fork of the South Platte...

About a 100 years ago with a lack of productive nearby mining contributing to the lack of a vibrant town...


Today...


Merged...


Despite the Handyman's Special on the left, Nighthawk didn't convince many to settle there 100 years ago...


Would say the place is still kinda "allure challenged" today...


Merged...