Berthoud Pass Continental Divide Sign Archive
This section of the archives contains historical images of the Continental Divide signs on Berthoud Pass. Signs have been added and maintained here for more than a century by the Colorado State Highway Department, the US Forest Service, and other agencies. The purpose of this page is to establish a timeline of these signs and their changes over time.
The Coloradotopia Archives. The archives contain hundreds of photographs, slides, motion films, other media, and small items focusing on Colorado’s automotive history in the mountains. See more here.
1917
This image is held by the Denver Public Library, and it shows the Rhoads family on top of Berthoud Pass, alongside their vehicle in 1917.
- Photographer: Harry Mellon Rhoads
- Archive ID: RH-511
c. Early 1920s
This sign was located on the opposite side of the road from where all of the subsequent signs were located. The improved highway over the pass was completed in 1923 and the Berthoud Pass Inn was built in 1925. This image was likely captured sometime during that window, although it was found being used in a Municipal Facts (Denver) publication in 1929.
- Archive ID: CB-MF30
c. Mid-1920s
This image comes from a Sanborn postcard that was created sometime around 1925 or shortly afterwards.
- Photographer: Harold Sanborn
- Archive ID: CB-B15
c. Mid-1930s
This image comes from an original photograph in the archives. It shows a woman posing next to the signs on top of the pass, while the edge of the Berthoud Pass Inn can be seen in the background.
- Archive ID: CB-10296
c. Early 1940s
This Continental Divide sign was located on the small Berthoud Pass Inn that was built in 1938 after the first inn was taken down.
- Archive ID: CB-V4
c. Early 1940s
This black & white sign was added here by the Colorado State Highway Department around 1940.
- Archive ID: CB-11E4
c. Early to Mid-1940s
This photo gives another look at a Continental Divide sign in the early 1940s here.
- Archive ID: CB-MP24
c. Early to Mid-1940s
The historical marker and signs are seen again in this postcard by Harold Sanborn and the Sanborn Souvenir Co.
- Photographer: Harold Sanborn
- Archive ID: CB-B-952
c. Mid-1940s
A slightly tweaked design for the Continental Divide sign can be seen here, and the signposts have been changed as well.
- Archive ID: CB-B-1101
c. Mid-1940s
A sailor and woman pose next to the Continental Divide sign in this photograph from the mid-1940s.
- Archive ID: CB-430
Postmarked 1948
This image has been scanned from an unbranded postcard in the Coloradotopia archives. It shows the signs, ski slope, and lodge at the top of Berthoud Pass sometime between 1946 and 1948. A Packard Clipper can also be identified in the background.
- Archive ID: CB-A1848
1949
This image comes from an original photograph in the archives. A Continental Divide sign from 1949 is pictured here. A new set of towers for the rope tow can be seen ascending the ski slope behind the sign now.
- Archive ID: CB-660
c. 1949
The sign shown here was either recently repainted or replaced in this photo. This sign can be differentiated by the thinner arrows at the bottom, and the new historical marker panel that has been added perpendicular to the main sign. This photograph has “Approximately 1949” written on the back.
- Archive ID: CB-49S
c. 1950-'51
The lack of Graffiti allows this photograph to be dated to the early 1950s. The vandals would soon have their way here, and the sign would be replaced again in 1954.
- Archive ID: CB-465
1951
This photograph was taken moments apart from CB-94H, which comes next on the list. Both photographs are dated to March 1951.
- Archive ID: CB-94V
1951
Along with the previous photograph, this image from Berthoud Pass shows a family standing next to the Continental Divide sign just after a March snowstorm in 1951.
- Archive ID: CB-94H
1951
This image comes from a Kodachrome slide that was developed in March of 1951.
- Archive ID: CB-PAT11
c. Early 1950s
This photo can be dated to the early 1950s just based on the graffiti. This sign would be replaced in 1954.
- Archive ID: CB-172
1952
This original photograph from 1952 shows a man next to the sign, and it presents a good look at the entrance to the small lodge that was located behind these signs. Behind that lodge, the roof of the larger Berthoud Pass Lodge can be seen rising above it.
- Archive ID: CB-6552
1952
This Kodachrome slide shows the sign on Berthoud Pass in 1952, along with a trio of structures that includes the new Berthoud Pass Lodge.
- Archive ID: CB-252A
1954
This image, scanned from a Kodachrome slide, shows this sign shortly before it was replaced. It is covered with graffiti and a crack can be seen in the side panel.
- Archive ID: CB-339
c. 1954
A new sign with fresh paint was added here in 1954. The small temporary ski lodge was removed in 1954, and only the newer, larger Berthoud Pass Lodge remained at the time this image was captured.
- Archive ID: CB-JX8
1954
The large open parking lot with lots of space stands in stark contrast to scenes like this from the 1940s.
- Archive ID: CB-5410
1955
This photograph shows the same woman that is shown on Loveland Pass in CL-V25.
- Archive ID: CB-V25B
1957
The US Forest Service added this sign on Berthoud Pass in 1956 or 1957, the same time that similar signs were added on Loveland Pass, Monarch Pass, and on other passes around Colorado.
- Archive ID: CB-57V-233
1963
A 1955 Buick Roadmaster Riviera from California is pictured in front of the Berthoud Pass Continental Divide sign here.
- Archive ID: CB-63H
1963
This image comes from a Kodachrome slide that was purchased alongside the previous slide (CB-63H). It shows the Continental Divide sign along with a light dusting of snow on the ski slope behind it.
- Archive ID: CB-6322
1964
This slide has the handwritten label “Big Circle Tour” on it. The tour bus can be seen in the immediate background.
- Archive ID: CB-64W9
c. 1960s
This undated image has been scanned from a Kodachrome slide, and it shows the Berthoud Pass summit after a heavy snowfall.
- Archive ID: CB-5S19
