Not far from Colorado State Road 129 and Just across the Wyoming border lies the town of Grand Encampment. With a population of just over 400, it is barely a spec on the map and is certainly out of the way. It does have a certain charm however, and definitely some history. At one time several thousand people lived here to service the nearby copper mines. As with so many mines in the west, once they went bust - the owners were indicted for stock fraud - most of the mining towns followed. Encampment and the nearby town of Riverside have persevered, though on a much smaller scale.
I was here to look
at a job site, so I didn't have a chance to visit the museum. Their website
is here
and it actually looks rather interesting.
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Top Left: The E & H Building. A pretty typical small town market in the corner. I couldn't tell you if it's historically significant, but the building looks old. It's a pretty large-period building for a town this size and with the town drying up around 1908, I would say it was no younger than that. Top, Left and Below: The Grand Encampment Opera House, built in 1902. They are currently trying to raise funds to restore the building, though it is still operating as a small meeting venue and the town hall. |
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The Opera House again. |
| Kara's, University of Virginia (UVA) | |
| All
photos on this page are originals by & copyrighted by Daren Willden,
unless otherwise stated. All rights reserved. Permission required to use |
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