Boreas Pass Continental Divide Sign 1997 Slide #CBOR-325
Brief Description
This image is scanned from a Waxman Chrome color slide that has been dated to 1997. The image shows the top of Boreas Pass, along with some of the former railroad structures in the background, and an information sign marking the area.
Info
- Date: Oct. 9, 1997
- Photographer: Unknown
- Medium: Waxman Chrome Slide
- Size: 35mm
- ID: CBOR-325
- Acquisition Date: March 2024
- Repository: Coloradotopia Archives
Scanned with basic cropping, auto white balance.
Image use restricted.
Image Dating Comments
This slide has been ink-stamped with the date Oct. 9, 1997.
Comments & Discussion
This is probably one of the last slide images ever produced of this sign. When this image was captured, the digital photography revolution was beginning to take hold and slides were becoming a thing of the past.
The sign reads as follows: “Originally known as Breckenridge Pass. This road to the summit of Boreas Pass ‘God of the North Wind’ follows closely the bed of the old Denver South Park & Pacific RR, the narrow guage connecting Denver-Como-Breckenridge in 1882 and Leadville in 1884. The mining camps (Mayo, Argentine, Farnham and Dyersville) on the pass were serviced by the trains. In 1889 it became the Colorado and Southern which ran until 1937. In 1938 the rails were torn up for scrap metal and in 1952 Summit County rebuilt the road for auto travel.”
The old railroad structures in the back had mostly been rebuilt by the time this image was captured in 1997. Two of them had been completely rebuilt, and the logs to rebuild the third were sitting by at-the-ready.
Condition, Aging & Authenticity: The slide mount’s surface is in relatively great condition upon arrival into the archive. The only sign of aging visible to the naked eye is a bit of fading on the black “WAXMAN” text. This appears to be thinly applied in this instance, as well as on other slides in the collection that this came with.
About the Coloradotopia Archives. The Coloradotopia archives hold a large collection of historical images that document Colorado’s auto history in the mountains. You can read more about the Coloradotopia archive project here.
