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Then and Now Images

Second picture is me.

Anyone else see the resemblence?

Darryl... Get a hat and a dog and I think it would come quite close.
nod.gif


From today's ride. 75 years ago the Denver, South Park and Pacific made its last runs. We're on the north side of Kenosha Pass here, just on the other side of South Park. Photos were taken of the final rides...
websterthen.jpg


Two rails were taken up. Two wheels pay homage. We're on the now Hall Valley/Webster Pass Road...
websterbikenowbw_tm.jpg


websterbikenow_tm.jpg
 
Speaking of a road trips through time (well put btw), from a ride last week...

Shawnee, Colorado was a place for tourists to stay a spell. The train noted in the preceding post would drop off Denver paying passengers at the Shawnee train stop for some relaxin', hikin', fishin', etc. About 100 years ago, looking east from Shawnee, this was the view. The tracks are unseen here, down and to the left alongside the North Fork of the South Platte River. But the wagon road is visible...
shawnee285then.jpg


The dirt wagon road is today's paved U.S. 285...
shawnee285now_tm.jpg


Now, 100 years ago from the same location as above, if one turned 90 degrees to the right in the wintertime, and looked up, here is where some of the visitors would stay...
shawneegrandviewthen.jpg


It is one of the oldest remaining structures in Shawnee today...
shawneegrandviewnow.jpg


From a distance, one can see how Shawnee looked back then. Can see the above Grand View Hotel to the left of the access road. The really big lodge to the right burned down in 1929. Many of the lodges along the train route burned down mysteriously in the 1920's and 1930's as train traffic gave way to auto traffic. Travelers by auto could come and go from Denver without staying the night or weekend. The probable reason for these lodges turned to ashes? Insurance money.
shawneethen.jpg


Well, I hiked up a hill through a garden of cow pies as far as I could go, but elevation gain was no more with a serious barbed wire fence hoping I would make its day. Turned around for Shawnee today...
shawneenow.jpg
 
Been a few months.

Have passed through this canyon (back then a train bed, today a chip seal on the old bed) casually the past year or so trying to spot the location of this 100 year old image. No luck. Until a few days ago. "Poised Rock" is that round rock at the top of the sloping rock face. See that dot of a tree in front of it?
poisedrockthen.jpg


The North Fork of the South Platte, about 30 miles SW of Denver. Some things change, some things do not...
poisedrocknow_tm.jpg


Here's the wagon access road to the canyon 110 years ago...
beaverranchthen.jpg


Today's Foxton Road...
beaverranchnow_tm.jpg


From a recent ride while passing through the town of Walden in northern Colorado. Walden is in the middle of North Park, a large valley, kinda u-shaped, with the Medicine Bow Range on the east, the Park Range on the west, and the Rabbit Ears Range anchoring the south. Walden with a population around 800 is the county seat of Jackson. Ranching is a key commercial activity. North Park is the home of the Arapaho Wildlife Refuge, and Walden declares itself the moose capital of Colorado.

Well anyway, with that as background, little remains of old Walden. Don't know if it was flames, or the trials of time and weather, but here it is early last century...
walden1then.jpg


And here it is early this century...
walden1now.jpg


And trying the selective merge thing...
walden1merge.jpg


So, see that building on the left? It is the only comparison structure I could somewhat easily (if not only) find... physically and in old print. The C.E. Mosman General Merchandise Store...
waldenmosman1then.jpg


If you ask me, it was a bit more attractive back then. Eh?
waldenmosman1now.jpg


Selective merged. Still have a ways to go. The rotation has to line up too!
waldenmosman1merge.jpg


If ever making the U.S. 40 transit over Berthoud Pass from the south, you will pass through the small town of Empire. Like most communities in this long Clear Creek drainage that nearby I-70 courses through, Empire can trace its roots to ores found under the slopes of nearby hills. More on Empire's history here.

One of the earlier mountain "then" images I've come across. Empire as a mining camp in 1880...
empireathen.jpg


Now, one would think it would be a cinch finding the above location and direction, but daaang, I passed through, turned around, retraced, with old image in hand, several separate times while riding through Empire to no avail. Well, I was making the assumption the above wagon trail through Empire is today's U.S. 40. One day, I looked south down one of the few side streets...
empireanow.jpg


From exploring the historic townsite of Nighthawk on the banks of the Middle Fork of the South Platte...

About a 100 years ago with a lack of productive nearby mining contributing to the lack of a vibrant town...
nighthawk2then.jpg


Today...
nighthawk2now.jpg


Merged...
nighthawk2merge.jpg


Despite the Handyman's Special on the left, Nighthawk didn't convince many to settle there 100 years ago...
nighthawk1then.jpg


Would say the place is still kinda "allure challenged" today...
nighthawk1now.jpg


Merged...
nighthawk1merge.jpg
 
As always one of my favorite posts. If you happen to be watching the Olympic's these last couple weeks GM (or Chevy) is running a commercial where someones hand is holding a vintage dated photo of a Chevy vehicle in a particular setting. Mostly 1920's & '30's. Then the hand pulls away the photo to reveal a new Chevy in the same spot. Stole you idea. But a good one.

mike wex
'96 r1100rt
 
This is my first time having a look at this thread. I must say the photography, especially matching up then and now, is spectacular. Awesome work, and many thanks for doing it!
 
My favorite thread too!

Have you ever considered doing this in june when it's not so hot though? :)

Ken
 
Very impressive!!

I think it would be cool to take those before and after pics and hit some of the spots where old buildings used to stand, and take a metal detector and see what you could find. :thumb
 
As always one of my favorite posts. If you happen to be watching the Olympic's these last couple weeks GM (or Chevy) is running a commercial where someones hand is holding a vintage dated photo of a Chevy vehicle in a particular setting. Mostly 1920's & '30's. Then the hand pulls away the photo to reveal a new Chevy in the same spot. Stole you idea. But a good one.

mike wex
'96 r1100rt

Mike... I have seen that TV ad. Very well done.

Thanks all, and Hex... have a friend with a metal detector, and he scores with all kinds of old coins and historic "stuff" while exploring old mills, cabins, etc. And he also scores walking under ski chair lifts every spring as well as where skiers and boarders land when going off jumps. Guess a lot metal things come out of the pockets!
 
If up for more...

Como is a small historic community located at 9,800ft. elevation in the high meadows of South Park, Colorado. While golden ores were the draw at most area mining camps, it was black coal leading to the establishment of Como in 1871. Italian coal miners named the camp after Lake Como, in Italy. In 1879 the Denver, South Park & Pacific railroad build a depot here, along with narrow gauge tracks over nearby Boreas Pass. Well, for a few decades thousands lived here. Today, perhaps around 100 is the pop. Most of the structures are old. The place looks authentic. Here's a then/now tour.

Well, first, a few "now" structures, but no "then", just to give a feel for the place...
como1.jpg


como2.jpg


como3.jpg


como4.jpg


Here's the Catholic church in the late 1800's...
comocatholicthen.jpg


I found the above image after taking a pic of the Catholic church today...
comocatholicnow.jpg


Here are some of the miners gathering for a group photo...
comominersthen.jpg


Same backdrop but I'm much further away and using a serious zoom. Several fenced properties between me and where the miners stood...
comominersnow.jpg


Here's Como about 80 years ago...
comowestthen.jpg


Alas, a rancher's fence and gate that I'm leaning against behind me threatened serious prosecution if I snuck across for a better now perspective...
comowestnow.jpg


At about the same time, 80 years ago...
comonorthwestthen.jpg


Today...
comonorthwestnow.jpg


Merged...
comonorthwestmerge.jpg


Here's the Como school around 100 years ago...
comoschoolthen2.jpg


Now it is the Como Civic Center...
comoschoolnow2.jpg


comoschoolmerge2.jpg


Something about seeing youth long ago. Guess overall were the apparel of choice for boys back then...
comoschoolthen1.jpg


And where they stood...
comoschoolnow1.jpg


comoschoolmerge1.jpg
 
The Como General Store long ago...
comostorethen.jpg


Until a few years ago it remained open. Maybe someday someone will give it a go again...
comostorenow.jpg


comostoremerge.jpg


Last, In the 1930's the train gave way to autos. The tracks were pulled up and operations shut down. Here's the train roundhouse in the 1950's...
comoroundhousethen2.jpg


And here's the train roundhouse in 2012. It is on the National Register of Historic Places...
comoroundhousenow1.jpg
 
Steve, I haven't even finished reading your book I bought yet. You keep distracting me!
(in a good way.)
 
Marty... Thanks and enjoy. And pardon the distractions!

The Beaver Ranch is one of the historic homesteads of Conifer, CO. In the early 1900's...
beaverbarnthen.jpg


If it weren't for the barn would be difficult to locate. Four laned U.S. 285 and earth movers have altered the surroundings...
beaverbarnnow.jpg
 
Been a few months.

West of Colorado Springs, in the shadows of Pikes Peak, was (and is) the resort town of Manitou Springs. In the 1890's a special place to spend the night was the Baker House Hotel...
manitouthen.jpg


And today it remains a special place...
manitounow.jpg


manitoumerge.jpg


Further up the canyon towards Woodland Park was (and is) the resort community of Green Mountain Falls. Back in the 1890's the motorized means to get here was the Colorado Midland Railroad. Can see the train peeking out from the other side of the depot, along with in a way, a contrast with its own past... horses and a wagon to the right...
greenmtnfallsthen2.jpg


Autos now deliver residents and visitors with fishing poles to the same small lake...
greenmtnfallsnow2.jpg


greenmtnfallsmerge2.jpg


Looking the other direction, note that spectacular Green Mountain Falls Hotel in the distance. Alas, it met the same fiery fate as many other notable wood structures did back then. FWIW, this is an excellent 1890's image...
greenmtnfallsthen3.jpg


greenmtnfallsnow3.jpg


greenmtnfallsmerge3.jpg
 
West of Denver, straddling a busy Interstate 70 is the old mining community of Dumont. Many fly past Dumont every day unaware of its past. Not much remains to tell some of the tales, but the backdrop of hills and mountains do remain as silent witnesses.

From 110 years ago. The old main street...
dumont1then.jpg


is today's frontage road alongside Interstate 70 (behind me)...
dumont1now.jpg


Turning the other direction, towards the south, the Dumont General Store, with the train depot in the background...
dumont2then.jpg


Today, a relocated Clear Creek alongside a sunken interstate, along with more forested fur on hilly slopes... yeah, a bit of a change...
dumont2now.jpg
 
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