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| Glenwood Springs |
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Glenwood Springs in located about 150 miles west of Denver at the confluence of the Colorado and Roaring Fork River. Glenwood Springs is about 50 miles south of Aspen/Snowmass and 90 miles east of Grand Junction.
Glenwood Springs was established in 1882 and incorporated in 1888. Glenwood Springs was originally named Defiance.*
Glenwood Springs is known as the jewel of Garfield County with over a century of experience as a quaint, mountain spa community. “In Glenwood Springs you can feel the history”. Long before the gold rush of 1876 brought the railroad and miners to the area, the Ute Indians had long been using the healing waters of the famous Hot Springs and underground Vapor Caves.
Glenwood Springs has year round festivities to offer the local resident and tourist alike. A brand new community/recreation center featuring an ice rink, swimming, indoor courts for tennis, basketball, etc. and a climbing wall. Music festivals, featuring A Summer of Jazz, starts to come into swing for the spring and summer, as well as Colorado’s oldest festival, Strawberry Days. River rafting, cave exploration, hiking, golfing and biking are also enjoyed during the summer months. Winter activities such as skiing, snowshoeing, and snowmobiling can be enjoyed from either Glenwood Springs or Aspen/Snowmass as Glenwood lies in the middle of both locations.**
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STATISTICS:
Elevation 5,746
Population 7,736 per 2000 US Census Bureau
County Garfield |
| For additional information please visit the Glenwood Springs Chamber of Commerce web site at http://www.glenwoodchamber.com. |
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*2005 - Valley Journal’s Answer Book
*2005 Glenwood Springs Official Visitor Guide |
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| Aspen |
Originally known as "Ute City" was a booming silver mining town with 12,000 people, 6 newspapers, 2 railroads, 4 schools, 3 banks, electric lights, a modern hospital, 2 theaters, and opera house and a very small brothel district. In 1893 the Sherman Silver Act demonetized silver, which marked the decline as a mining town.
In 1880 the town was renamed to Aspen. After the decline of mining in the Town, another "gold mine" was discovered - SNOW! In 1946 the Aspen Skiing Corporation was founded and in 1950 Aspen hosted the FIS World Championships, which confirmed Aspen's status as an international resort.
Aspen is located approximately 200 miles southwest of Denver and 130 miles east of Grand Junction at the southeastern most end of the Roaring Fork Valley. *
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STATISTICS:
Elevation 7,908 ft
Population 5,914 (per 200 US Census Bureau)
County Pitkin |
| For additional information visit the Aspen Chamber of Commerce at http://www.aspenchamber.org |
| *Information provided by The Aspen Chamber of Commerce and The City of Aspen web sites |
| Basalt |
Located at the confluence of the Roaring Fork and Frying Pan Rivers. Basalt is 16 miles north of Aspen and 22 miles southeast of Glenwood Springs on Highway 82.
The town takes its name from the 10,800 ft Basalt Peak located just to the north of town. The name comes from the black igneous rock in the area.
The Colorado Midland Railroad, built to carry coal and silver ore between Leadville and Aspen, established the town of Frying Pan Junction in 1887. Incorporated as Basalt in 1901, the mountain town filled with immigrants from Switzerland and Northern Italy to work for the railroad mines and coal smelters. With the closing of the mines the railroad rolled up its tracks and the few remaining folks began ranching.*
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STATISTICS:
Elevation 6,610 ft.
Population 2,200
County Pitkin and Eagle |
| For additional information visit the Basalt Chamber of Commerce web site at http://www.basaltchamber.com |
| Carbondale |
Nestled at the base of majestic Mount Sopris, in the Crystal River Valley, sits the historic town of Carbondale. The spirit of the Old West still lives in Carbondale...a quaint mountain town that has a beat all of its own. Historic buildings whose walls have seen the legends of the west now house fine restaurants, galleries and specialty shops. Today, Carbondale is a true four season town whose visitors often become locals. Carbondale has it all...great weather, wide open spaces, panoramic views, a community focused on the arts, and a variety of mountain activities at its doorstep. *
Carbondale is located 30 miles from Aspen, 12 miles from Glenwood Springs, 101 miles from Grand Junction and 171 miles from Denver. **
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STATISTICS:
Elevation 6,181 feet
Population 5,565 (2002 - Colorado Department of Local Affairs)
County Garfield, Pitkin, Eagle |
For additional information visit the Carbondale Community Chamber of Commerce website:
www.carbondale.com |
*Information collected from the Carbondale Chamber of Commerce 2005 Brochure
** The Valley Journal's 2005 Answer Book |
| Redstone |
The Colorado Town that time forgot - untouched, unspoiled, and unequalled." Redstone owes its origins to John Cleveland Osgood, an ambitions turn of the century entrepreneur. Initially on a scouting mission of a railroad company, Osgood recognized the potential for developing a mining operation throughout the state. With a handful of investors, he began building his empire. In 1892, he merged with an iron and steel manufacturing company in Pueblo to form the Colorado Fuel and Iron Company.
The high-grade coking coal of the Coal Basin area, 4.5 miles west of Redstone, and the beehive coking ovens in Redstone spurred the construction of the Crystal river railroad, connecting the coal mines up-valley to the main lines in Carbondale. The coke was then transported to the steel mills in Pueblo.
On the West Elk Loop Scenic By-Way, the Valley is home to abundant wildlife, and Redstone is a "National Historic District" in the center of the White River National Forest. For more information, consult their website at www.redstonecolorado.com.* |
| Marble |
For centuries in the beautiful upper Crystal River Valley, the Marble Area was a sacred hunting ground to the Native American Ute Culture. By the 1870's , prospectors looking for gold and silver and begun to settle between Lead King Basin and Beaver Lake. Although the search for silver never amounted to much, the discovery of marble in 1872 did. John Osgood displayed a large block of Yule Creek marble at the 1893 World Colombian Exposition in Chicago, creating a demand for marble for the Capitol Building in Denver and to supply finishing mills in the east from 1894-1896.
By 1905 there were three, more or less active marble quarries operating, and Marble's population had grown to 150. The Colorado Yule Marble Company, organized in 1906, leased the Crystal River Railroad from Carbondale to Placita and built 7 miles of new railroad track into Marble, naming the railroad spur the Crystal River and San Juan Railroad. A huge finishing mill and a 3.5 mile tramway was constructed, boosting Marble's population to 1,500 by 1915.
In it's boom time, Marble bustled with people who filled the churches, school, a motion picture theater, five general stores, two hotels, a drugstore, a dry goods store, two pool halls, a Masonic Hall, two barbershops, six saloons and two newspapers. At the time of the Great War the market for marble collapsed, most of the Italian Stone workers returned to conscription in the Italian army, and Marble's population dropped to 50 people.*
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STATISTICS:
Elevation
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County Gunnison |
| Fot additional information visit the Town of Marble web site at http://www.marblecolorado.net |
| *Information obtained from the 2005 Carbondale Chamber of Commerce Business Directory and the Town of Marble web site |
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