 |
 |
DURANGO, CO
LOCATION
Durango is located in La Plata County in the southwest corner of Colorado. Located in the Animas River Valley and surrounded by the San Juan Mountains, Durango is close to the Four Corners area, where Utah, New Mexico, Colorado and Arizona meet. The city of Durango comprises 4.37 square miles, while La Plata County is 1,700 square miles. ELEVATION: 6,512 feet HISTORY The ancestral Puebloan Indians were the first settlers in the Four Corners area. They mysteriously vanished around 1300 A.D. Next were the Navajo and Ute Indians, claiming western Colorado as their home in the 16th century. The Spanish explorers visited the area in 1776, naming the river upon which Durango is located, Rio de las Animas Perdidas, the River of Los Souls, now called the Animas River. Former territorial governor, A.C. Hunt, named the area Durango, after Durango, Mexico, a name meaning ?water town?. Durango was not founded as a result of pioneers looking for gold, but was founded by the Denver and Rio Grande Railroad, which decided to build a depot 1.5 miles south of Animas City. At that time, Animas City was a bustling town of about 300 people. The first stake was driven in 1880. Except for a few small stores, restaurants and saloons, Durango was mainly a box tent town. A narrow gauge steam engine connected the mining town of Silverton with the coal and smelter operations in Durango. The Durango and Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad remains in operation today as a popular tourist attraction. |
||||||||
|
For additional information email:
Ben Stowers Call toll free at: 800.955.0259 Or call locally at: 970.375.7011 My cell phone is: 970.749.3329 |
|||||||||
 |
 |
 |
 |
||||||