Welcome to Telluride, Colorado Postcard

"Welcome to Telluride, Colorado" by Catherine Sherman. Picturesque Colorado Avenue in Telluride, Colorado, is lined with parked cars -- mostly SUVs and trucks -- and historic buildings under a clear blue sky, with the San Juan Mountains range of the Rocky Mountain looming in the backdrop. Greeting visitors and residents is a large planter full of colorful flowers sits prominently in the foreground, emblazoned with the town's name "Telluride." This area is part of the Telluride Historic District. Telluride is the county seat of San Miguel County in the southwestern Colorado. The town is a former silver mining camp on the San Miguel River in the western San Juan Mountains. The first gold mining claim was made in the mountains above Telluride in 1875, and early settlement of what is now Telluride followed. The town was founded in 1878 as "Columbia", but due to confusion with a California town of the same name, was renamed Telluride in 1887 for the gold telluride minerals found in other parts of Colorado. These telluride minerals were never found near Telluride, but the area's mines for some years provided zinc, lead, copper, silver, and other gold ores. Telluride, set in a box canyon amid forested peaks, sits at the base of a popular ski-and-golf resort. The town’s historic district houses landmarks like the Sheridan Opera House, a performing-arts venue originally built in 1913, and the Telluride Historical Museum, which showcases local history in a converted hospital built in 1896. The New Sheridan Hotel is visible on the left side of the street. Built in 1895, restored one hundred years later, and remodeled in 2008, the New Sheridan Hotel features 26 rooms and suites. The Telluride Historic District, which includes a significant portion of the town, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is also one of Colorado's 20 National Historic Landmarks.