Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Yup, yup, yup, and yup. I didn't list all of the ghost towns I've been to--that would take up another page. Places like Sherman, Carson, Quartz, Woodstock, etc., etc. Not to mention places that were just water tanks or sidings on umpteen Colorado railroads--some still in existence, many long-abandoned--Crater, Volcano, Los Pinos, Cresco, Osier, Bondad, Priest Gulch, Brown, Ames, Trout Lake, Sargents, Tank 7, Shirley, Gray's, Mears Jct., Kezar, Corona, Arrow, Gore, Azure, Radium--just to name a few of those.
Idunn! Animas Forks rocks! So does Howardsville right next to it. NNE of Durango-say 25 miles? Know that area well. Summer of '68 worked as a road crew laborer for the Forest Service in Durango. Replaced culverts and cattle guards from Dunton to Rico. Pagosa Junction to Chimney Rock. Ground Hog Reservoir to Dolores. Like a dumbell and moved back to Littleton, bought a condo and worked power plant construction for 27 years. Yampa unit in Craig. The unit in Hayden. Pawnee plant near Fort Morgan. Glenwood canyon and Highline reservoir near Mack for Kiewit in '79. Henderson West tunnel project south of Granby in'73. Fort St. Vrain Plant near Platteville. I haven't been to all the towns Jazzlover has but I've been to half of them. I remember the flood of '65. The fires on Main St. in Durango that took out a whole block in '74. When I first started a four year assignment at the Fort St. Vrain Plant in 1970, I-25 was a two lane highway from I-70 all the way to the state line. Born in Denver, moved to Colorado Springs in '57 (a great place to grow up as a kid). Sorry- a great thread. Will shut my trap now.
Idunn! Animas Forks rocks! So does Howardsville right next to it. NNE of Durango-say 25 miles? Know that area well. Summer of '68 worked as a road crew laborer for the Forest Service in Durango. Replaced culverts and cattle guards from Dunton to Rico. Pagosa Junction to Chimney Rock. Ground Hog Reservoir to Dolores. Like a dumbell and moved back to Littleton, bought a condo and worked power plant construction for 27 years. Yampa unit in Craig. The unit in Hayden. Pawnee plant near Fort Morgan. Glenwood canyon and Highline reservoir near Mack for Kiewit in '79. Henderson West tunnel project south of Granby in'73. Fort St. Vrain Plant near Platteville. I haven't been to all the towns Jazzlover has but I've been to half of them. I remember the flood of '65. The fires on Main St. in Durango that took out a whole block in '74. When I first started a four year assignment at the Fort St. Vrain Plant in 1970, I-25 was a two lane highway from I-70 all the way to the state line. Born in Denver, moved to Colorado Springs in '57 (a great place to grow up as a kid). Sorry- a great thread. Will shut my trap now.
Oh, yes, Dunton. Went there to take a swim in the hot springs in the '70's--the pool was in an old building with most of the roof rotted away. Bunch of hippies who hadn't bathed in a month went in ahead of us. The cloud of dope smoke over the pool was so thick you could barely see. Decided not to swim there that day.
I came real close to taking a job at the mill in Howardsville, right before the silver market crashed. Think about that every time I drive through there. About the same time you were working for the Forest Service in Durango, a friend of mine was working for the BLM out of Lake City. His partner was driving a BLM pickup he was riding in on Cinnamon Pass and rolled it. They both were OK, but definitely got their tail feathers singed by their boss over that one. I remember camping at Animas Forks one August. We decided to sleep under the stars. Woke up the next morning with 3" of snow on the sleeping bag. Only thing in camp not partially frozen was the whiskey.
Pagosa Junction (Gato). The first time I was there, Gomez's General Store was still open--they still had inventory from the 1920's and 1930's in the store. It's been moved up to Pagosa Springs now--was supposed to open as a museum--don't know whether it ever did.
I was in Denver for the '65 flood. I was with my Dad down in the flood zone the next morning. I remember the high water mark 12' up the side of the Gates Rubber factory. The temporary Army pontoon bridge over the South Platte River on Hampden Ave. for almost a year after that.
The '74 fire in Durango. I was there not long after that happened. A college buddy's best high school friend was on the fire department for that one. He said they were afraid of losing a good chunk of the downtown that night.
There was still a pretty "Wild West" feel about Colorado--especially the southern and western parts of the state back in the 50's, 60's, and early 70's. People who showed up after that will never know what they missed. It was one hell of a place then.
Oh, yes, Dunton. Went there to take a swim in the hot springs in the '70's--the pool was in an old building with most of the roof rotted away. Bunch of hippies who hadn't bathed in a month went in ahead of us. The cloud of dope smoke over the pool was so thick you could barely see. Decided not to swim there that day.
I came real close to taking a job at the mill in Howardsville, right before the silver market crashed. Think about that every time I drive through there. About the same time you were working for the Forest Service in Durango, a friend of mine was working for the BLM out of Lake City. His partner was driving a BLM pickup he was riding in on Cinnamon Pass and rolled it. They both were OK, but definitely got their tail feathers singed by their boss over that one. I remember camping at Animas Forks one August. We decided to sleep under the stars. Woke up the next morning with 3" of snow on the sleeping bag. Only thing in camp not partially frozen was the whiskey.
Pagosa Junction (Gato). The first time I was there, Gomez's General Store was still open--they still had inventory from the 1920's and 1930's in the store. It's been moved up to Pagosa Springs now--was supposed to open as a museum--don't know whether it ever did.
I was in Denver for the '65 flood. I was with my Dad down in the flood zone the next morning. I remember the high water mark 12' up the side of the Gates Rubber factory. The temporary Army pontoon bridge over the South Platte River on Hampden Ave. for almost a year after that.
The '74 fire in Durango. I was there not long after that happened. A college buddy's best high school friend was on the fire department for that one. He said they were afraid of losing a good chunk of the downtown that night.
There was still a pretty "Wild West" feel about Colorado--especially the southern and western parts of the state back in the 50's, 60's, and early 70's. People who showed up after that will never know what they missed. It was one hell of a place then.
Thinking about the little things growing up in Colorado as a kid. The old Antlers Hotel in Colorado Springs that sadly got knocked down. Going to Denver Bears baseball games for $1. I remember my Dad telling me, after we sat down on the third base side, that it was gonna be sunny tomorrow. How did he know that, I asked. He pointed out this big white building on the other side of the highway (we called it the Valley highway) that had a 100 foot stack which had, what appeared to be, a crown on top of it. He told me it was the State Farm insurance building; the stack had colors resembling a stoplight. Green meant sunny day tomorrow. Yellow meant cloudy, and Red meant a storm is coming. The football scoreboard was above the east stands. Parking was 25, then 50 cents. When our family traveled from the Springs to Denver it wasn't I-25. Itwas known as 85-87. 85 continued on Santa Fe drive (still does) with over a dozen small mom and pop motels on the west side of the street. 87 continued on through Denverand every 5 miles I would see these signs advertising Eddy Bohn's Pig and Whistle Motel and Restaurant. I also remember this one building off the County Line Road turnoff ( a gravel road at the time), and a sign near the turnoff said The Flame-turn here! A bar lounge miles away from any other building.
When our family traveled from the Springs to Denver it wasn't I-25. Itwas known as 85-87. 85 continued on Santa Fe drive (still does) with over a dozen small mom and pop motels on the west side of the street. 87 continued on through Denverand every 5 miles I would see these signs advertising Eddy Bohn's Pig and Whistle Motel and Restaurant.
Could you do me a favor and go to this thread and contribute to it? I think you could add some good info. I have some neat images of old maps of the route. I'd like info on the route before the I-25 realignment.
Oh yeah, The Flame supper club! Quite a place--clear out in the sticks then. How about Frankie Emmerling's steak house out east off of Chambers (also then out in the sticks). The building was a dump, but the food was great.
How about in around 1960, when they caught a bunch of Denver cops running a burglary ring out of the back of their squad cars? Some family friends were victims of one of the burglaries.
I remember a friend of mine flying from Gunnison to Denver with his pistol strapped on (he didn't want to check it with his baggage, and he didn't want it concealed--after all that was illegal). The stewardess (that's what they were called then) checked the pistol when he boarded to make sure it wasn't loaded, then sent him back to his seat. Not only was smoking allowed on plane, the "stew" would hand out sample packs of cigarettes--usually 5 sticks to a pack. I don't miss that at all.
When the uranium boom was on during the late 1950's and early 1960's, you could buy Geiger counters, dynamite and blasting caps over the counter in just about any hardware store in western Colorado and eastern Utah. "Normal" folks would go out "prospecting" on weekends. Some people I knew (they were considerably older than me) went out prospecting east of Montrose. They wound up blowing a good chunk of cliff off in what is now part of Black Canyon National Park. Oops! One of them went on a few years later to hold a high position in Colorado state government (names withheld).
Or how about a small-town fraternal organization that would run an illegal high-stakes "casino night" once a year as a fund-raiser? They never got busted--probably because the dealers were the DA, the District Judge, the County Sheriff, and various and sundry other elected officials--including several close cronies of the Governor.
Yep, it could be the "Wild West" alright.
Last edited by jazzlover; 02-12-2008 at 10:17 AM..
Do you know if that mill in Howardsville is being activated to run gold again? Have a friend that invested in a company that is supposed to be doing that but can't seem to find out any info regarding the mill. Thanks for any info you may have.
Bob
Quote:
Originally Posted by jazzlover
Oh, yes, Dunton. Went there to take a swim in the hot springs in the '70's--the pool was in an old building with most of the roof rotted away. Bunch of hippies who hadn't bathed in a month went in ahead of us. The cloud of dope smoke over the pool was so thick you could barely see. Decided not to swim there that day.
I came real close to taking a job at the mill in Howardsville, right before the silver market crashed. Think about that every time I drive through there. About the same time you were working for the Forest Service in Durango, a friend of mine was working for the BLM out of Lake City. His partner was driving a BLM pickup he was riding in on Cinnamon Pass and rolled it. They both were OK, but definitely got their tail feathers singed by their boss over that one. I remember camping at Animas Forks one August. We decided to sleep under the stars. Woke up the next morning with 3" of snow on the sleeping bag. Only thing in camp not partially frozen was the whiskey.
Pagosa Junction (Gato). The first time I was there, Gomez's General Store was still open--they still had inventory from the 1920's and 1930's in the store. It's been moved up to Pagosa Springs now--was supposed to open as a museum--don't know whether it ever did.
I was in Denver for the '65 flood. I was with my Dad down in the flood zone the next morning. I remember the high water mark 12' up the side of the Gates Rubber factory. The temporary Army pontoon bridge over the South Platte River on Hampden Ave. for almost a year after that.
The '74 fire in Durango. I was there not long after that happened. A college buddy's best high school friend was on the fire department for that one. He said they were afraid of losing a good chunk of the downtown that night.
There was still a pretty "Wild West" feel about Colorado--especially the southern and western parts of the state back in the 50's, 60's, and early 70's. People who showed up after that will never know what they missed. It was one hell of a place then.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
More random musings . . .
