Brief Description
A car is pictured here in front of the Wolf Creek Pass Continental Divide sign and historical marker in the 1950s.
Info
- Date: Circa 1952-'54
- Photographer: Unknown
- Medium: Photo Negative
- Size: 4 1/2" x 2 3/4"
- ID: CWO-AS57
- Acquisition Date: February 2024
- Repository: Coloradotopia Archives
This digital image was provided by the dealer who sold the photo negative to the archives. Development and digitization details are unknown.
Image use restricted.
Image Dating Comments
This archive has a postcard image showing a set of Continental Divide signs on the opposite side of the road in 1952. This image was likely captured after that image.
The text on the bottom of the Continental Divide sign shown here reads “Colo. State Highway Dept.” That department’s name was changed in 1953, so it can be established that these signs were added before 1953.
It is most likely that the signs were added in the fall of 1952. This photo was either taken in the winter of 1952-’53 or the next winter.
These signs were repainted or replaced by 1954.
Photo Negative
Comments & Discussion
The stone marker and its plaque were already in place here before the signs were added on this side of Highway 160. This was likely the first Continental Divide sign to be added on this side of the road. Previous signs were located on the northern side of the highway.
The photo negative arrived at the archives (via a high-volume dealer) in a storage envelope labeled “All Saints Day 1957”. That holiday would have been on November 1st. The snowpack in this photo does not look like a Nov. 1st snowpack at all, and the other evidence is sufficient to determine that this was just a recycled envelope, and the date label is not accurate here. The negative remains in that envelope as it rests in the archives, and maybe someday that info will become more meaningful.
Condition, Aging & Authenticity: Negative is on Kodak Safety Film. It has a concave shape and a pair of dark spots along the upper edge.
About the Coloradotopia Archives. The Coloradotopia archives hold a large collection of historical images and items that document Colorado’s automobile history in the mountains. You can read more about the Coloradotopia archive project here.
