Day 25 of our 30-day Southwest Grand Circle Caravan – Durango & Silverton

This blog actually contains part of day 24, as we did our investigating historic downtown Durango the afternoon of Monday August 8^th. 

The town of Durango is at the intersection of Hwys 550 and 160. The complete downtown area is less than six square miles. Before there was the City of Durango there was Animas City—it was located north of the current city of Durango. Animas City was founded 1876, the same year Colorado became a state.  It was named after the nearby Animas River—El Rio de las Animas Perdidas (River of Lost Souls). The City consisted of farmers, ranchers, miners, and a newspaper.

In 1880 the Denver & Rio Grande Railway built the San Juan Extension into the valley and founded a new town, Durango. The name “Durango” means water town, there was a Durango Mine and also Durango, Mexico and Durango, Spain.  Some people wanted to name it Palmer City after D&RG visionary or Smelter City after the smelter. In 1880 William Bell, a friend of William Palmer, buys 160 acres for $500 and donates land for school, City Hall. City of Durango was well planned and had 200 residents by Christmas of 1880. Durango became commercial center of the Southwest: mining, smelting, logging, banking, agriculture. They also had a mapping process for their streets. On Main Avenue, you could find wholesale business; 2nd Avenue was home to retail business; and 3rd Avenue had homes built on it and it became the residential street.

Taking our own “walking tour” of the downtown area. We saw many historical buildings and enjoyed lunch at a highly rated establishment on TripAdvisor!

The Historic Strater Hotel was the first building we came to, on our tour. The Strater Hotel, exemplifies the period of wealth from the mines, railroad and smelter.  At that time, Durango needed a fancy hotel. The building is an eclectic mix of Italianate, Romanesque, and Renaissance architectural styles. It opened in 1888. Four years later Henry Strater built the Columbian Hotel next door on the former site of the county courthouse.  The two hotels are now one establishment.  There are rumors of tunnels running from the Strater Hotel and 3rd Avenue to the red-light district.

This brick storefront was “modernized” with a veneer of Carrera Glass, a structural glass popular in the slick, streamlined surfaces of the architectural styles of the 1930s and 40s. Carrera Glass in no longer made. Recent replacement of broken tiles on the storefront led to the discovery of a stash of Carrera Glass that a World War II veteran had brought back with him from Europe and had stored in his back yard for almost 50 years. Much of this “cache” has replaced cracked original pieces.

Built in 1889, the Schneider Block housed the Keeley Institute, a reform group devolted to the cure of liquor, opium and tobacco habits. One of four Colorado branches, the Institute operated between 1892 and the turn of the century. By 1900, part of the building had been transformed into a dance hall which stayed in the building until the 1920s. The corner storefront was the Palace Grocery and Meat Market from 1900 to the 1920s, and continued as a grocery until the late 1940s.

Durango’s first survey stake was driven into this corner in 1880. The oldest bank in southwestern Colorado, the First National Bank of Durango moved south from Animas City in 1881 and operated here from 1882 until 1980. The elaborately detailed Queen Anne brickwork building with Romanesque sandstone arched windows was built for $18,219 and replaced an earlier frame building that burned in 1892. The building is now the Wells Group.

The Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory store contain typical architectural elements of a turn of the century storefront.  The large windows provided a display area while allowing maximum light to enter the store. The central recessed entryway protected the doorway. Charlie & Charlie enjoyed watching them make the candied apples!

This building was built in 1892 by Charles Newman. The Romanesque sandstone building originally housed the Smelter National Bank. Newman owned a chain of drugstores in Silverton, Alamosa, Animas City and Chama. It is believed to be the first business in Durango.

The El Rancho Tavern was built in 1892. The four-story French Second Empire Structure characterized by the mansard roof has a varied history as a saloon, post office, bank and hotel.  In 1915 at 10th and Main, Colorado native Jack Dempsey “The Manassa Mauler” knocks down Andy Maller in 10 rounds and won $50. In 1919 Dempsey becomes World Heavy Weight Champion.

On Tuesday August 9^th, we caravanned to downtown Durango in our vehicles and parked in the Parker hotel parking lot. We took the bus up to Silverton, so we could get the information about the town of Silverton from the driver. Plus we would get there half an hour before the earlier train, thus giving us more time to eat, shop and explore!

Before we boarded the bus, we had tome to tour the museum at the train depot. It was an extensive and varied collection. It had a couple of engines, box cars, a massive train display, large assortment of taxidermy, an area dedicated to our military, several antique cars and an awesome movie on the trains history.

Pictures from the bus, were not fantastic, but we did catch a glimpse of the Pinkerton Hot Springs, just north of Durango. You pass the springs heading north on U.S. Highway 550. Do you want to know how the red-tinted rock pile was formed or where the hot water comes from? 

Hot springs are scattered across Colorado, but the Animas Valley’s springs are unique in the way they are formed. There are fractures in the ground where water from snowmelt and rainfall move into the cracks and down toward the Earth’s core. The water travels thousands of feet underground and reaches a point where it can’t travel any further. There, it circulates back to the surface, dissolving rocks and creating a hot spring. The Pinkerton water, which eventually empties into the rock pile past Hermosa on Highway 550, is all natural, but the rock pile was built by the Colorado Department of Transportation about 10 years ago to give it a safer place to discharge. It originally emptied on the west side of the highway and traveled down the ravine by the highway, destroying vegetation and the roadway. The water’s temperature at Pinkerton ranges between 95 and 105 degrees Fahrenheit. The Pinkerton Hot Spring got its name when James Harvey Pinkerton turned the hot springs into a travel destination.

The sights of the mountains were breathtaking! There was a little bit of snow at the peaks was amazing! The driver, Richard, told us that the snow was new. It had not been there yesterday when he made the trip up to Silverton.

We enjoyed lunch at Handlebars Food an Saloon. It was more than just food and booze! It was part restaurant, part museum, part taxidermy exhibits, part souvenir shop and part adult beverage establishment. Our wagonmaster, is just the best! We had several choices for our lunch, chicken pot pie, rueben sandwich, elk & buffalo burger, or soup and salad.




We pre-selected our entrees, he phoned the order in ahead and when we got there ... just a few minutes later, we were served! Amazing! Another reason to travel with Yankee RV Tours, everything is top shelf! The meal was included in our tour package, we even got dessert! 

The town of Silverton, is defiantly a tourist town. There were several unique things about Silverton, the most interesting is there is only one paved street, all the rest are dirt and a little gravel!

Second, not surprisingly, the town of Silverton takes its name from its mining origins in both gold and silver. Mining continued late into the last century but no longer sustains the town in any way. These days, the treasure of Silverton is its recreational and tourist appeal. It’s a National Historic Landmark, part of the San Juan Skyway, the final destination for the popular Durango and Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad.

Most of Silverton’s historical buildings were built in the early 1800s, and over half of them are still in use today, lending this tucked-away destination a feeling of being forgotten by time. Most of these historic buildings house gift shops, restaurants and bars. It’s also the only town left in San Juan County and off-the-beaten-path for the typical Colorado tourist despite being only an hour’s drive from its larger neighbor, Durango.

It also offers the outdoor lovers a chance to snowmobilie, ski, sled, ice skate, ice climb, raft, take an off-road adventure, horseback ride, hunt, fish, hike, bike, raft, and camp. We did not take part in any of these activities in Silverton. However, this craft brewery's building was purple and their fence was made out of skis. The purple building is for all my purple loving friends out there and the ski fence reminded me of Serious Food!

A few of us girls were happily taking in the sights and doing a little shopping, while our husbands checked out a few of the saloons. 

We were going from shop to shop, when we got a frantic call on the radio, that the 3 pm train to Durango had been cancelled. We were trying to make a purchase. We finished that purchase and headed toward the train depot. 

We both thought that the guys were pulling our leg! Until the tail-enders stopped in the shop to get everyone to head toward the train station. They wanted us at the staion, so we could catch the 2 pm train, if there is room. We all gathered, only to learn that there was no room on the 2 pm train ... we would have to take a bus back down. There are pros and cons to that ... the bus is 1 1/2 hours, the train is 3 1/2 hours. We have to wait for the bus to arrive, so we get to shop and look again!

Silverton has the cutest homes around the downtown area.

Even though we did not get to ride it, the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad is a very unique train. Those involved with the train were always aware of the spectacular experience a ride presented, and they promoted scenic rides from the train’s inception.  

The train was officially promoted as a scenic tour beginning in July of 1882.  It was promoted in 1951 as solely a passenger train and not as a freight train. Narrow gauge rails are three feet apart, while standard gauge rails are 56 ½ inches apart. These cars are also less expensive and easier to bring through the rough mountain terrain, so they became popular.  

The rails were also less expensive to install (it’s easier to blast out a narrower track on the side of a mountain) and the cars can make sharper curves around mountains. But rumor has it that, General Palmer implemented narrow gauge and narrow passenger cars because he wanted to prevent men and women from being able to sleep in the same bed on the train (the narrow passenger cars only have room for single sleeper bunks on each side).

Here are some facts about the train:

1. Throughout the course of many years, over three hundred million dollars in precious metals has been carried on the D&SNGRR.

2. The train needs six tons of coal and ten thousand gallons of water for a round-trip.

3. The train travels at an average speed of 18 mph can reach 25 mph and Engine # 42 could reach 35 mph. 4. Engine # 42 was built in 1887 and is on display in the museum.

5. K-36’s weigh one hundred forty-three tons when loaded with coal and water.

6. Concession Car #212 was built in 1879.

7. The locomotives used daily are from 1923 and 1925.

8. At the time the railroad was build the rate of pay was $2.25 per day for laborers.

9. American Heritage Railways of Coral Gables, Florida, purchased the railroad in the summer of 1998 under the leadership of Allen C. and Carol Harper.

10. There have been 17 movies filmed on or using the train including; Around the World in 80 Days, How the West Was Won, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, Support Your Local Gunfighter and The Tracker.

So, as I said ... we did not get to ride the train down, but we did get an extra special stop by our driver. At the top of Molas Pass, elevation 10,910. He parked the bus and let us get out and take pictures. The view was breathtaking!

I am sure I am forgetting something wonderful, funny or enlightening about this leg of our adventure ... please forgive me if I have!

See you on the road to Chama New Mexico!