24 Hours in Silverton
My husband and I recently celebrated our 30th wedding anniversary, and in honor of this momentous occasion, my hubby planned a fabulous vacation for us in Colorado. Knowing my love for all things historical, he planned a trip to Durango and Silverton for us. Since we just finished our stay in Silverton, I thought I would share some highlights with you.
Silverton is a historic mining town that was founded in 1874. It really boomed, however, when the Denver & Rio Grande Railway came to town in 1882. This railway is still run today with steam engines on the preserved Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railway. Wes and I were supposed to ride the train up to Silverton, but due to hazardous fire conditions, our train was cancelled. We’re hoping to get a shorter ride in later this week if the weather cooperates, but in the meantime, we made the drive up to Silverton so we could still enjoy the town.
We got to stay in the Grand Imperial Hotel, a fabulous historic hotel built in 1883 filled with antiques. I loved it! The Grand Hotel was the crown jewel of Silverton in its boomtown years, playing host to well known historical figures such as Wyatt Earp, Bat Masterson, and Lillian Russell.
One fun note about the piano in the lobby: John Wannamaker, founder of the Wannamaker Department Store in Philadelphia, traveled to Silverton in the late 1800’s. He ordered this piano from his own store, shipped it to San Francisco, met the ship in California, then traveled with the piano the rest of the way to Silverton to deliver it to the Grand Imperial Hotel around the turn of the century. And it’s still there!
Walking down Green Street (the main street) is like walking back in time. (If you can ignore all the cars and people in modern clothing.) So well preserved. And so many fun restaurants. We sampled several. The first night, we ate at the Handlebar Saloon. I had Colorado rainbow trout and my hubby had the local specialty elk burger.
We enjoyed breakfast at the Lone Spur Cafe. Wes ate the wagon wheel pancake, aptly named since it’s nearly the size of a wagon wheel. Huge! The place was filled with wonderful western décor. Loved it!
We finished our visit with lunch at Natalia’s 1912 Restaurant. Really good food for a reasonable price, but my favorite thing about it was the scandal of knowing I was eating a meal in a place of ill-repute. Like many of the buildings on the notorious Blair Street, Natalia’s was once a bordello.
One of the highlights of the trip was visiting the old jail and mining museum. This place was huge and filled with so many wonderful historical artifacts. My writer’s heart thrilled at the displays and my writer’s brain worked hard to absorb as much as I could. I took scores of photographs. I will only post my three favorite here for you to enjoy.
And I couldn’t wrap up this post without the very cool stage coach we ran across in town.
All in all, we’re having a wonderful time!
You’ll have to forgive me if I don’t respond to your comments in a timely fashion. I promise to read them, but since we won’t be home until Saturday, my computer access is limited.
Have you ever visited Silverton or any other historically preserved site?
