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Buckhorn Exchange

Located at 1000 Osage Street, just south of Lincoln Park, the Buckhorn Exchange is Denver’s oldest operating restaurant. Established by Henry H. Zietz in 1893, the restaurant has occupied the same building for more than 120 years and is known for its…

Francisco Plaza

The Fort Garland merchant John M. Francisco and his trading partner, Henry Daigre, built Francisco Plaza near the Cucharas River, at the site of present-day La Veta, in 1862. The first dwelling in the Cucharas Valley, the plaza served as a defensive fort…

Grand Junction Depot

The Grand Junction Depot is a two-story Italian Renaissance railroad station built in 1906 to accommodate the city’s growing rail traffic. A downtown landmark, the building serves as a reminder of the important role that railroads—especially the Denver …

Rio Grande Hotel

The Rio Grande Hotel was built in the spring of 1892, when Creede faced a severe housing shortage as thousands of prospectors arrived into town on the recently completed railroad. The hotel withstood the town’s major 1892 fire and is a rare example of an…

Salida

Salida is a city of about 6,000 in the Upper Arkansas River valley, surrounded by Colorado’s central Rocky Mountains. It is the county seat of Chaffee County. Salida is named for the Spanish word for “exit,” as it is located near the mouth of a canyon of…

William Jackson Palmer

William Jackson Palmer (1836–1909) was a military general, railroad tycoon, and founder of Colorado Springs. Though a Quaker from Delaware, Palmer fought for the Union Army during the Civil War. After the war, he moved west and became a civil engineer…