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    Estes Park
    Estes Park
    Estes Park
    Ebook149 pages21 minutes

    Estes Park

    By Sybil Barnes

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    About this ebook

    Estes Park is a small village nestled in the north central mountains of Colorado. The earliest settlers were homesteaders who arrived to "prove up" in the 1870s and soon discovered that providing lodging and entertainment for outdoor adventurers and tourists looking for a respite from city life could provide a more reliable revenue stream than farming and ranching. By 1905, the town was platted and several hotels provided modern accommodations. When Rocky Mountain National Park was created in 1915, Estes Park became the eastern gateway and continues to be the first stop for approximately 2.5 million visitors annually. From an initial population of less than 200, the town has grown to almost 10,000 year-round residents, many of whom still make their living providing goods and services to visitors from as near as Denver and as far away as Nepal.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherArcadia Publishing
    Release dateSep 18, 2012
    ISBN9781439625088
    Estes Park
    Author

    Sybil Barnes

    Sybil Barnes is a Colorado native whose family discovered Estes Park in 1940. She has been a reader, a collector, a bookstore proprietor, a librarian, and a history consultant. Though she has tried to live elsewhere, the small town charm and mountain grandeur of Estes Park make her happy to claim it as home. The photographs in this book come from various museums and private collectors. Sybil hopes her passion for preserving and presenting the past will encourage others to share their Estes Park memories, whether they are from the last century or last week.

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      Book preview

      Estes Park - Sybil Barnes

      Publishing.

      INTRODUCTION

      The high mountain valley that now contains the village of Estes Park, Colorado, was first seen by a prospector and hunter named Joel Estes who had come to Colorado as a result of the discovery of gold at Pikes Peak in 1859. He thought it was so beautiful that he brought his family to live here for several years. The Estes family moved on in 1866.

      Many others followed including Irish aristocracy, English authors, Scots and Welsh homesteaders, newspaper publishers, nature enthusiasts, movie stars, entrepreneurs, peak baggers, and a wide variety of ordinary and extraordinary people looking for a place to relax and enjoy the outdoors or start a business or raise a family.

      In 1905, a plat was laid out for the downtown, and enterprising realtors began to sell property. Soon after, Enos Mills and members of the Colorado Mountain Club began a campaign to preserve the wilderness west of the village as a national park. Congress signed the enabling act to create Rocky Mountain National Park in 1915.

      The town of Estes Park was incorporated in 1917. The downtown business area included the main intersection of Elkhorn and Moraine Avenues with approximately three blocks of shops and houses and a community gathering area, designated as a park.

      This book contains a selection of photographs that reflect my personal memories of some of my favorite places. As you look at them, notice the natural features that ring our town. These include the massive peaks of the Continental Divide, the distinctive thumb on Prospect Mountain, and the rock formations of Lumpy Ridge, such as the Twin Owls and the Little Mummy. While the buildings changed from 1905 through 1985, these physical features remain the same and keep you oriented to how the town sits on the land.

      History is what happens to us every day. If you have visited or lived in Estes Park, I hope you will find an open door to memories of your own.

      One

      GROWTH OF A TOWN

      An unidentified boy stands near the confluence of the Big Thompson and Fall Rivers looking east. Lumpy Ridge is to the north behind the cliff that overshadows the road visible in the middle left, which led to MacGregor Ranch. The MacGregors homesteaded on Black Canyon Creek in 1873. (Courtesy of Estes Park Museum.)

      This is the view a tourist coming from Loveland would have seen after rounding the final curve of the Big Thompson Road in the early part of the 20th century. Prospect Mountain is to the left, and the bluff visible in the left middle ground will serve as the southern anchor of the Lake Estes Dam. (Courtesy of Estes Park Museum.)

      The other eastern approach to Estes Park was from Lyons. This image from approximately 1916 shows a glimpse of the Front Range to the left and Old Man Mountain in the middle ground on the right. The bridge crosses the Big Thompson River, and the gate to the Stanley Hotel property is visible to the right. (Courtesy of Estes Park Museum.)

      Here is downtown Estes Park in 1903. The identified buildings in this H. C. Rogers photograph are W. T. Parke’s photography studio, under the tree and close to the river for access to water; the post office and general store on the south (left) side of Elkhorn Avenue; the first church and schoolhouse directly across the street; and John Cleave’s home, also

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