Telluride

Telluride is a San Miguel County town nestled at 8,750 feet above sea level in a dramatic box canyon carved by the San Miguel River within the western San Juan Mountains of southwestern Colorado. It is the county seat and most populous town of San Miguel County in the southwestern portion of the U.S. state of Colorado. Telluride sits in a box canyon, with steep forested mountains and cliffs surrounding it, and Bridal Veil Falls situated at the canyon's head. Once a booming silver and gold mining camp, the town has reinvented itself over nearly 150 years into one of Colorado's most celebrated resort destinations, recognized for its ski terrain, summer festivals, and remarkably preserved Victorian-era architecture. The Telluride Historic District, which includes a significant portion of the town, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is also one of Colorado's National Historic Landmarks. The town population was 2,607 in the 2020 United States census.

Geography and Setting

Telluride is tucked into a box canyon surrounded by 13,000 and 14,000-foot peaks. The town is just eight blocks wide and twelve blocks long. Because of its location on the floor of a box canyon, there is little room for expansion. The streets on the north are limited by canyon walls, and the south side streets are restrained by the San Miguel River. The railroad once ran parallel to the river, and the tracks served as the terminus at the south end of the streets.

Telluride is home to Bridal Veil Falls, which sits at the east end of the box canyon and is Colorado's tallest free-falling waterfall at 365 feet. Sitting on top of the waterfall is the Bridal Veil Hydroelectric Plant, which was built in 1895 and was the second oldest hydroelectric power plant in the world.

At 9,078 feet above sea level, the Telluride Regional Airport is the highest commercial airport in North America. The nearest stoplight is 45 miles away in Ridgway, Colorado. There are no stoplights anywhere in San Miguel County. The town's companion community, Mountain Village, is perched above the valley floor at 9,500 feet, providing access to the Telluride Ski Resort and Uncompahgre National Forest. The Town of Mountain Village was founded in 1987 and includes approximately 2,100 acres of rolling aspen and spruce-covered mountainsides. The two towns of Telluride and Mountain Village are connected by a free, scenic gondola — the only transportation system of its kind in North America. The 13-minute ride is a daily event for residents and visitors alike.

Founding and Mining Era

Used as a summer camp for centuries by Ute Indians and named by Spanish explorers in the 1700s, the San Juan Mountains lured fortune seekers to Colorado with visions of silver and gold. The Ute tribe was the first to inhabit the Telluride valley. They made their summer camps along the San Miguel River and hunted elk, deer, and mountain sheep high in the San Juan Mountains. In winter, they migrated to the lowlands and the nearby red rock canyons of the desert for shelter and dry ground. They named the area "The Valley of Hanging Waterfalls."

The Smuggler gold vein above Telluride, and placer gold in the San Miguel River, were discovered in 1875. John Fallon made the first claim in Marshal Basin above Telluride in 1875, and settlement followed. The town of Columbia was founded in 1878. The Telluride, Colorado, post office opened at Columbia on July 26, 1880, since the United States Post Office Department would not approve the name Columbia. In 1887, the town was renamed in order to distinguish itself from Columbia, California, another booming mining town. The name "Telluride" was chosen as the element tellurium was used as an indicator of gold and silver lodes, though there was little or no tellurium in the Telluride area. A popular folk etymology holds that the name derived from the phrase "To hell you ride," reportedly shouted at those departing for the remote and dangerous camp. Columbia, known as Telluride since 1887, has been the seat of San Miguel County since the county was created on March 2, 1883.

With the coming of the railroad in 1890, the remote boomtown flourished. A melting pot of immigrants seeking their fortunes turned Telluride into a thriving community of 5,000. People from various parts of the world, including Italy, Austria, Ireland, and Finland, flocked to Telluride, adding to its diverse and cosmopolitan character. Telluride's most famous historic mines are the Tomboy, Pandora, Smuggler-Union, Nellie, and Sheridan mines. At the turn of the century, more millionaires per capita lived in Telluride than in New York City. The Tomboy Mine was one of the world's greatest gold producers and contributed to more than $360 million dollars of gold pulled out of the area.

By 1897, San Miguel County was one of Colorado's principal milling centers, with an average annual gold production of $2 million. In 1900, San Miguel County ranked third in Colorado in gold production and fifth in the production of silver.

Butch Cassidy and the Outlaw Legacy

Prospectors flocked to Telluride for its gold deposits, and in 1889, the San Miguel Valley Bank on Colorado Avenue was robbed of approximately $24,000 in mining payroll. Thus began the career of Robert Leroy Parker, alias Butch Cassidy. In the late 1800s, Telluride was considered a wilder frontier town and provided a haven for outlaws and criminals from across the region. It quickly gained notoriety as a town where people could come to break laws without fear of retribution.

Technological Innovation: The Ames Power Plant

Among the most consequential events in Telluride's history was a technological breakthrough that would reshape industrialized civilization. In 1891, Telluride's L. L. Nunn joined forces with George Westinghouse to build the Ames Hydroelectric Generating Plant, an alternating current power station, near Telluride. The plant supplied power to the Gold King Mine 3.5 miles away. This was the first successful demonstration of long-distance transmission of industrial-grade alternating current power and used two 100 hp Westinghouse alternators, one working as a generator producing 3,000 volts, 133 Hertz, single-phase AC, and the other used as an AC motor.

This hydroelectric AC power plant predated the Westinghouse plant at Niagara Falls by four years. Eventually those lines would be brought into town, and Telluride would be the first town in the country to be lit with alternating current. Nunn developed a keen interest in education as part of his electrical power companies, and in conjunction with Cornell University built the Telluride House at Cornell in 1909 to educate promising students in electrical engineering. Nunn founded Deep Springs College in 1917.

Labor Unrest and Decline

Telluride's historical significance is also derived from its role as a major producer of precious metals and the site of labor struggles. Around the turn of the 20th century, there were serious labor disputes in the mines near Telluride. The Colorado National Guard was called out and there were deaths on both sides. Unions were formed as miners joined the Western Federation of Miners in 1896. Work conditions were treacherous, with mines above 12,000 feet, a lack of safety measures, and bitter weather in winter months. Even the boarding houses were precariously placed on the mountainsides. On May 2, 1901, the miners went on strike, and non-union labor was hired to replace strikers. On July 3, violence broke out when about 250 armed strikers surrounded the Smuggler-Union Mine.

When silver prices crashed in 1893, followed by the First World War, the mining boom collapsed. Miners moved on and the town's population gradually dwindled from thousands to hundreds. The final blow came when many of the area's mines shut down in 1953. Families left town in droves, and those who stayed realized Telluride's heyday was a thing of the past. After the 1950s mining bust, Telluride faded into a sleepy ghost town.

Ski Resort Development and Modern Revival

As a ski resort, Telluride is relatively young. Joseph Zoline, a wealthy entrepreneur from Beverly Hills, California, founded Telluride Ski Resort and installed the first chairlift in 1972. Six years later, two Colorado natives, Ron Allred and Jim Wells, purchased the ski area and began to transform Telluride into a world-class resort through mountain upgrades, the development of Mountain Village, and the creation of innovative public transportation systems — the gondola and chondola.

In 1979, Ron Allred and the Benchmark Corporation of Avon, Colorado, purchased controlling interest in the ski area, and the mountain's real growth began: the regional airport was completed in 1985; the Sunshine Express high-speed quad chairlift was constructed for the 1986–87 ski season; a luxurious hotel and spa, The Peaks Resort & Spa, was opened along with the Telluride golf course in the Mountain Village in 1992.

The ski resort receives over 300 inches of snowfall each year with 300 days of sunshine. The resort has 148 trails spanning over 2,000 acres. The highest lift on the resort reaches 12,570 feet.

After the mining industry declined and the skiing industry began to take off, miners were replaced by young people often described as hippies. These newcomers envisioned a new kind of western resort town that would feel less "corporate" and contributed to Telluride's vibrant community. After the ski resort was established in 1972, the area soon grew in artistic and cultural areas as well. Artist communities sprung up surrounding the ski area. Cultural events, such as dance and performing arts, made Telluride a year-round destination.

Historic Preservation and Cultural Legacy

According to the Town of Telluride, the core area of Telluride was designated as a National Historic Landmark District in 1961 due to its "significant role in the history of the American West." This designation represents the highest level of historic recognition granted by the United States Secretary of the Interior, and Telluride is one of only five communities in Colorado to receive this honor.

The street pattern of Telluride has changed little since it was originally platted in 1878. The major streets ran east and west, with side streets extending to the north and south. The main street, Colorado Avenue, was the commercial center and the dividing line between the higher and lower elevations. The higher, sunnier side was where the schools, churches, hospitals, and more expensive homes were located. The lower riverside of Colorado Avenue was where saloons, warehouses, bordellos, gambling halls, foundries, and smaller, less expensive housing for working-class miners and laborers were found.

What was built as a miners' hospital in 1893 has been turned into the Telluride Historical Museum. Exhibits include many powerful old photographs, beer tokens, pool balls, and a barber's chair including hand straps that were used when the barber doubled as a dentist or surgeon. The museum is open year-round.

Today, as one of the premier summer and winter resorts in the country, Telluride has a proud heritage, a diverse population, and exceptional skiing terrain; it has become known as a cultural mecca and the "Festival Capital of Colorado." Telluride is host to some of the biggest festivals in Colorado, most notably its film festivals: the Telluride Film Festival and the MountainFilm Festival. During the 1980s, Telluride developed a reputation as "Colorado's best-kept secret," which paradoxically made it one of the better-known resort communities. Wealthy skiers flocked to the mountain all winter, and sightseers kept hotel rooms full all summer. By the mid-1990s, Telluride had shed both its mining personality and drug image to establish itself as a premier resort town balancing modern culture with fascinating western history.

Newspaper and magazine articles consistently describe Telluride in glowing prose and have created an international awareness of the resort, but despite its recent popularity, Telluride has been able to retain its old-time, small-town feel. Locals feel this is the unique factor which ensures Telluride's future success.