Panoramic views of early Durango from Smelter Mountain are not rare. However, most don’t have the clarity of this image from 130 years ago. Main, Second and Third avenues are easily identifiable. The Boulevard of Third Avenue does not yet show the elm trees so prominent today. The D&RG Railroad depot and roundhouse are at mid-picture, left. One of the two smelter smokestacks is seen at bottom left. St. Columba Church can be identified just above Second Avenue. Longfellow School is visible at the far right, just below Reservoir Hill. Note how many open lots still existed just over 10 years after Durango’s founding. – Ed Horvat for Animas Museum, edhorvat@animasmuseum.org (Catalog Number: 00.37.16 from the La Plata County Historical Society Photo Collections)
Panoramic views of early Durango from Smelter Mountain are not rare. However, most don’t have the clarity of this image from 130 years ago. Main, Second and Third avenues are easily identifiable. The Boulevard of Third Avenue does not yet show the elm trees so prominent today. The D&RG Railroad depot and roundhouse are at mid-picture, left. One of the two smelter smokestacks is seen at bottom left. St. Columba Church can be identified just above Second Avenue. Longfellow School is visible at the far right, just below Reservoir Hill. Note how many open lots still existed just over 10 years after Durango’s founding. – Ed Horvat for Animas Museum, [email protected] (Catalog Number: 00.37.16 from the La Plata County Historical Society Photo Collections)