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70-642: Estes Park ( / ˈ ɛ s t ɪ s / ) is a statutory town in Larimer County, Colorado , United States. The town population was 5,904 at the 2020 United States Census . Estes Park is a part of the Fort Collins, CO Metropolitan Statistical Area and the Front Range Urban Corridor . A popular summer resort and the location of the headquarters for Rocky Mountain National Park , Estes Park lies along

140-705: A wagon train heading west to Great Salt Lake as a bullwhacker , on the Oregon Trail . In 1867 along with his brother Edward Jackson he settled down in Omaha and entered the photography business. On ventures that often lasted for several days, Jackson acted as a " missionary to the Indians" around the Omaha region, and it was there that Jackson made his now famous photographs of the American Indians : Osages , Otoes , Pawnees , Winnebagoes and Omahas . In 1869 Jackson won

210-656: A 19-year-old private in Company K of the 12th Vermont Infantry of the Union Army. Jackson spent much of his free time sketching drawings of his friends and various scenes of Army camp life that he sent home to his family as his way of letting them know he was safe. He served in the American Civil War for nine months including one major battle, the Battle of Gettysburg . Jackson spent most of his tour on garrison duty and helped guard

280-672: A business known as the Big Owl Tea Place. She proved up on her homestead claim in 1915, and left a memoir of her years there. In 1916 the Estes Valley Library was founded by the Estes Park Women's Club. It originally formed part of the old schoolhouse and contained only 262 printed works. Estes Park was also the site of the organization of the Credit Union National Association , an important milestone in

350-568: A city council with two members elected from each ward and one member elected at large. The mayor may be the city council member elected at large or the city council may appoint a mayor. Colorado has 157 statutory towns that operate under Title 31, Article 1, Section 203 and Article 4, Part 3 of the Colorado Revised Statutes. The statutory town of Creede uses the official title "City of Creede". Garden City , Lake City , Orchard City , and Sugar City are statutory towns but use city at

420-467: A city or a town), statutory city , statutory town , and territorial charter municipality . State law makes relatively few distinctions between a city and a town. The charter of a home rule municipality may designate either a city or town municipal title. In general, cities are more populous than towns, although long-term population changes may skew this considerably, as illustrated by the City of Black Hawk and

490-545: A commission from the Union Pacific to document the scenery along the various railroad routes for promotional purposes. When his work was discovered by Ferdinand Hayden , who was organizing a geologic survey to explore the Yellowstone River region, he was asked to join the expedition. The following year, he got a last-minute invitation to join the 1870 U.S. government survey (predecessor of U.S. Geological Survey ) of

560-613: A hotel called The Crags on the north side of Prospect Mountain , overlooking the village. They ran that business in the summer while he continued his coaching career in winters at University of Colorado in Boulder. Many early visitors came to Estes Park in search of better health. The Rocky Mountain West especially attracted those with pulmonary diseases, and in Estes Park some resorts catered to them, providing staff physicians for their care. In 1903,

630-456: A household in the town was $ 43,262, and the median income for a family was $ 55,667. Males had a median income of $ 31,573 versus $ 20,767 for females. The per capita income for the town was $ 30,499. About 3.2% of families and 4.5% of the population were below the poverty line , including 4.6% of those under age 18 and 0.8% of those age 65 or over. Estes Park's outskirts include The Stanley Hotel , built in 1909. An example of Edwardian opulence,

700-503: A new road was opened from Loveland through the Big Thompson River canyon to Estes Park, increasing access to the valley. In 1907, three Loveland men established the first auto stage line from Loveland to Estes Park with three five-passenger touring Stanley Steamers . The following year, Mr. Stanley built nine-passenger steam busses and opened a bus line between Lyons and Estes Park. By 1912, Estes Park had its own seasonal newspaper,

770-442: A pristine wilderness. Griff Evans and his family came to Estes Park in 1867 to act as caretakers for the former Estes ranch. Recognizing the potential for tourism, he began building cabins to accommodate travelers. It became a dude ranch in Estes Park, with guides for hunting, fishing, and mountaineering; when Isabella Bird arrived in 1873, Evans already had nine men and women as guests. The 4th Earl of Dunraven and Mount-Earl ,

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840-538: A supply train during the engagement. His regiment mustered out on July 14, 1863. Jackson then returned to Rutland, where he worked as an artistic painter in post-Civil War American society. Having broken his engagement to Miss Carolina Eastman, he left Vermont for the American West. In 1866 Jackson boarded a Union Pacific Railroad train and traveled until it reached the end of the line at that time, about one hundred miles west of Omaha, Nebraska , where he then joined

910-639: A talented water-colorist, was a graduate of the Troy Female Seminary, later the Emma Willard School . Painting was William's passion from a young age. By age 19, he had become a skillful, talented artist of American pre-Civil War visual arts. Orson Squire Fowler wrote that Jackson was "excellent as a painter". After his childhood in Troy, New York , and Rutland, Vermont , Jackson enlisted in October 1862 as

980-410: A thousand square miles of Colorado as Rocky Mountain National Park . He succeeded and the park was dedicated in 1915. Enos Mills' younger brother Joe Mills (1880–1935) came to Estes Park in 1889. He wrote a series of articles about his youthful experiences for Boys Life which were later published as a book. After some years as a college athletics coach, he and his wife returned to Estes Park and built

1050-475: A young Anglo-Irish peer , arrived in late December 1872 under the guidance of Texas Jack Omohundro , subsequently made numerous visits, and decided to take over the valley for his own private hunting preserve. Lord Dunraven's ' land grab ' didn't work, but he controlled 6,000 acres before he changed tactics and opened the area's first resort, the Estes Park Hotel, which was destroyed by fire in 1911. Bird,

1120-458: The 1890 Census due to its severe winter weather and difficult access. The City of Black Hawk with a 2020 population of 127 is the least populous Colorado city, while the Town of Castle Rock with a 2020 population of 73,158 is the most populous Colorado town. At the 2020 United States Census , 4,299,942 of the 5,773,714 Colorado residents (74.47%) lived in one of the 271 municipalities active at

1190-537: The Big Thompson River . Landmarks include The Stanley Hotel and The Baldpate Inn . The town overlooks Lake Estes and Olympus Dam . Before Europeans came to the Estes Park valley, the Arapaho Native Americans lived there in the summertime and called the valley "the Circle." When three elderly Arapahoes visited Estes Park in 1914, they pointed out sites they remembered from their younger days. A photograph at

1260-662: The Detroit Publishing Company (formerly called the Detroit Photographic Company, owned by William A. Livingstone), after the company had acquired the exclusive ownership and rights to the photochrom process in America. Jackson joined the company in 1898 as president – just when the Spanish–American War gained the nation's fervent interest – bringing with him an estimated 10,000 negatives which provided

1330-463: The Estes Park Trail , which provided advertising for the local hotels and other businesses. It was a year-round weekly by 1921. In 1949, Olympus Dam was finished, creating Lake Estes , giving the town its main source of drinking water. Land was still being homesteaded in the area in 1914, when Katherine Garetson (1877–1963) filed on land near the base of Longs Peak. She built a cabin and started

1400-467: The OpenStreetMap link at the right to view the location of these 273 municipalities. Twenty-one active municipalities currently extend into more than one county . 38°59′50″N 105°32′52″W  /  38.9972°N 105.5478°W  / 38.9972; -105.5478  ( State of Colorado ) William Henry Jackson William Henry Jackson (April 4, 1843 – June 30, 1942)

1470-565: The Town of Castle Rock . Neither village nor civil township is a type of civil division in the State of Colorado. The cities of Cherry Hills Village and Greenwood Village and the towns of Log Lane Village , Mountain Village , and Snowmass Village have the word "village" at the end of their names. Nineteen Colorado municipalities extend into two counties, while two cities – Aurora and Littleton – extend into three counties. In

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1540-588: The Yellowstone River and Rocky Mountains led by Ferdinand Hayden. He also was a member of the Hayden Geological Survey of 1871 which led to the creation of Yellowstone National Park . Painter Thomas Moran was also part of the expedition, and the two artists worked closely together to document the Yellowstone region. Hayden's surveys (usually accompanied by a small detachment of the U.S. Cavalry ) were annual multidisciplinary expeditions meant to chart

1610-478: The "road" was only a trail fit for pack horses. The improved road brought more visitors into Estes Park; some of them became full-time residents and built new hotels to accommodate the growing number of travelers. In 1884, Enos Mills (1870–1922) left Kansas and came to Estes Park, where his relative Elkanah Lamb lived. That move proved significant for Estes Park because Mills became a naturalist and conservationist who devoted his life after 1909 to preserving nearly

1680-629: The 75th anniversary commemoration and the 1938 Gettysburg reunion , in July 1938. In 1942, Jackson died at the age of 99 in New York City. He was honored by the Explorer's Club for his 80,000 photographs of the American West. He was also memorialized by the Adventurers' Club of New York , of which he was an active member. The SS William H Jackson steamship was in active service in 1945. Recognized as one of

1750-565: The American west. Jackson's mother was also an accomplished painter of water colors, and he credited her for her encouragement with his success as a painter. His first job as an artist was in 1858. He was hired as a retoucher for a photography studio in Troy, New York, where he worked for two years. Scotts Bluff National Monument in Nebraska, houses the largest collection of William Henry Jackson paintings in

1820-724: The Colorado Historical Society (views west of the Mississippi), and the Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division (all other views). Jackson moved to Washington, D.C. , in 1924, and produced murals of the Old West for the new U.S. Department of the Interior building. He also acted as a technical advisor for the filming of Gone with the Wind . William Henry Jackson also attended

1890-412: The Colorado Revised Statutes. A statutory city must have a population of at least 2,000 at the time of incorporation or reorganization, although three have lost population since. Statutory cities have an elected mayor and a city council composed of the mayor and two members elected from each ward. A statutory city may petition to reorganize as a Section 200 statutory city with an appointed city manager and

1960-483: The Colorado Revised Statutes; and the home rule charter of each municipality. The state-authorized home rule charter determines the form of government. Home rule gives local municipalities the power to make legislation relevant to their areas, exercising control over issues of local concern while minimizing state intervention in municipal affairs. Colorado has 11 statutory cities that operate under Title 31, Article 1, Section 203 and Article 4, Section 100 or Section 200 of

2030-484: The Constitution of the State of Colorado. Broomfield has an appointed city and county manager , an elected mayor, and a city council of 11 members composed of the mayor and two members elected from each of five wards. As of 2024, Colorado has 102 cities and towns that are home rule municipalities, which are self-governing under Article 20 of the Constitution of the State of Colorado; Title 31, Article 1, Section 202 of

2100-523: The Detroit Publishing Company drew upon 40,000 negatives for its publishing effort, and had sales of seven million prints annually. Traveling salesmen, mail order catalogues, and a few retail stores aggressively sold the company's products. The company maintained outlets in Detroit, New York, Los Angeles, London, and Zurich, and also sold their images at popular tourist spots and through the mail. At

2170-614: The Estes Park Museum identified the touring party as Shep Husted, guide; Gun Griswold, a 73-year-old judge; Sherman Sage, a 63-year-old chief of police; Tom Crispin, 38-year-old reservation resident and interpreter; Oliver W. Toll, recorder; and David Robert Hawkins, a Princeton student. In the 1850s, the Arapaho had spent summers camped around Mary's Lake, where their rock fireplaces, tipi sites, and dance rings were still visible. They also recalled building eagle traps atop Longs Peak to get

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2240-621: The Hayden Surveys until the last one in 1878. He later established a studio in Denver, Colorado , and produced a huge inventory of national and international views. He incorporated himself as W.H. Jackson Photograph and Publishing Company in 1883. Commissioned to photograph for western state exhibitions at the World's Columbian Exposition of 1893 in Chicago, he eventually produced a final portfolio of views of

2310-479: The Netherlands, Scotland, and Ireland. Eighty had been born in midwestern states, and thirty from states in the northeast. As of the census of 2010, 5,858 people, 2,796 households, and 1,565 families resided in the town of Estes Park. The population density was 929.5 inhabitants per square mile (358.9/km). There were 4,107 housing units at an average density of 570.6 per square mile (220.3/km). The racial makeup of

2380-633: The State of Colorado, only Denver and Broomfield have consolidated city and county governments. The City and County of Denver operates under Article XX, Section 4 of the Constitution of the State of Colorado ; and Title 30, Article 11, Section 101 of the Colorado Revised Statutes . Denver has an elected mayor and a city council of 13 members with 11 members elected from council districts and two members elected at large. The City and County of Broomfield operates under Article XX, Sections 10–13 of

2450-587: The State of New York . The Town of Georgetown is the only municipality that still operates under a charter granted by the Territory of Colorado . The town operates under Article 14, Section 13 of the Charter & Constitution of the Colorado Territory enacted on January 28, 1868. The town mayor is called the police judge and the town council is called the board of selectmen . Download coordinates as: Select

2520-575: The United States and Mexico in the 1880s and 1890s. The collection also includes views of California, Wyoming and the Canadian Rocky Mountains. In 1936 Edsel Ford , backed by his father Henry Ford , bought Jackson's 40,000 negatives from Livingstone's estate for "The Edison Institute", known today as The Henry Ford in Dearborn, Michigan . Eventually, Jackson's negatives were divided between

2590-558: The World's Columbian Exposition. From 1894 to 1896 Jackson was a member and photographer for the World's Transportation Commission, organized by Joseph Gladding Pangborn, a publisher for the Railroad. The purpose of the trip was to document traditional and novel forms of transportation internationally, though many photographs did incorporate the local environment and people. Commission members left New York on September 25, 1894, and traveled across

2660-571: The airport and Estes Park is provided by local carriers. The town of Estes Park operates Estes Transit, a free shuttle during the summer months. Estes Park's official sister city is Monteverde , Costa Rica . List of municipalities in Colorado#Statutory town Colorado municipalities range in population from the City and County of Denver with a 2020 population of 715,522, to the Town of Carbonate , which has had no year-round population since

2730-410: The case. William Henry Jackson photographed Estes Park in 1873. Alex and Clara (Heeney) MacGregor arrived soon after and homesteaded at the foot of Lumpy Ridge . The MacGregor Ranch has been preserved as a historic site. In 1874, MacGregor incorporated a company to build a new toll road from Lyons, Colorado , to Estes Park. The road became what is today U.S. Highway 36 . Before that time, however,

2800-458: The company's assets were liquidated. Today, Jackson's Detroit photographs are housed at the U.S. Library of Congress . This collection of photographs includes more than 25,000 glass negatives and transparencies along with some 300 color photolithograph prints, mostly of the eastern United States. The Jackson/Detroit collection also includes a small group that includes some 900 Mammoth Plate photographs that were taken along several railroad lines in

2870-684: The core of the company's photographic archives, from which they produced pictures ranging from postcards to mammoth-plate panoramas. In 1903, Jackson became the plant manager, thus leaving him with less time to travel and take photographs. In 1905 or 1906, the company changed its name from the Detroit Photographic Co. to the Detroit Publishing Co. In the 1910s, the publishing firm expanded its inventory to include photographic copies of works of art, which were popular educational tools as well as inexpensive home decor. During its height,

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2940-752: The creek and into the Big Thompson River. Estes Park sits at an elevation of 7,522 feet (2,293 m) on the front range of the Rocky Mountains at the eastern entrance of the Rocky Mountain National Park . Its north, south and east extremities border the Roosevelt National Forest . Lumpy Ridge lies immediately north of Estes Park. At the 2020 United States Census , the town had a total area of 4,414 acres (17.862 km) including 48 acres (0.194 km) of water. Estes Park

3010-803: The daughter of an Anglican minister, came overland to Colorado, where she borrowed a horse and set out to explore the Rocky Mountains with a guide, the notorious James Nugent , aka 'Rocky Mountain Jim'. She wrote A Lady's Life in the Rocky Mountains , a memoir of their travels, including the breathtaking ascent of Longs Peak, where she was literally hauled up the steep pitches "like a bale of goods." On June 19, 1874, Rocky Mountain Jim and neighbor Griff Evans (see above) had an argument. Having had bitter history with each other, Nugent and Evans hated each other and were deep personal rivals when it came to tour guiding tourists. The argument escalated until Evans blasted Jim in

3080-401: The end of their names. Statutory towns have an elected mayor and a board of trustees composed of the mayor and four or six additional members elected at large. Colorado statutory cities and towns are limited to exercising powers that are granted by the state and are subject to provisions and limitations imposed by the state and are similar to villages in other states such as the villages of

3150-521: The first national park of the U.S. His involvement with Hayden's survey established his reputation as one of the most accomplished explorers of the American continent. Among Hayden's party were Jackson, Moran, geologist George Allen, mineralogist Albert Peale, topographical artist Henry Elliot, botanists, and other scientists who collected numerous wildlife specimens and other natural data. Jackson worked in multiple camera and plate sizes, under conditions that were often incredibly difficult. His photography

3220-459: The head with his rifle shotgun. Evans then traveled to Fort Collins to file an assault charge against Nugent, but he was arrested and tried for first degree murder when Jim Nugent died on September 9, 1874, of the bullet wound. Evans was put on trial, but the case was soon dismissed due to the lack of witnesses to the shooting. On August 9, 1875, the Loveland court-house acquitted Evans of any charges in

3290-415: The height of its success, the company employed some forty artisans and a dozen or more traveling salesmen. In a typical year they would publish an estimated seven million prints. With the declining sale of photographs and postcards during World War I , and the introduction of new and cheaper printing methods used by competing firms, the Detroit Publishing Company went into receivership in 1924, and in 1932

3360-526: The history of American credit unions . In 1992, members of the modern American militia movement attended the three-day Rocky Mountain Rendezvous in Estes Park, which focused on "guns, resisting the federal government, and white supremacy". The town suffered severe damage in July 1982 from flooding caused by the failure of Lawn Lake Dam , "after years of disrepair and neglect." The flood's alluvial fan can still be seen on Fall River Road . The downtown area

3430-670: The hotel continues to provide overnight accommodation to guests to this day, offering a broad range of activities and events including daily history and ghost tours of the hotel & the Cascades Restaurant and Whiskey Bar. On May 21, 2021 the Mustang Mountain Coaster opened in Estes Park on the Sombrero Ranch. Built and operated by the Walker family the coaster demonstrates a diversification of outdoor adventures provided by

3500-614: The just-shuttered "White City" for Director of Works and architect Daniel Burnham . The Denver Public Library has about 3,000 of Jackson's photographs in its collection, which include many photographs of picturesque Colorado landscapes and railroad scenes. From 1890 to 1892 Jackson produced photographs for several railroad lines (including the Baltimore and Ohio (B&O) and the New York Central ) using 18 x 22-inch glass plate negatives. The B&O used his photographs in their exhibit at

3570-408: The largely unexplored west, observe flora (plants) , fauna (animals) , and geological conditions ( geology ), and identify likely navigational routes, so as official photographer for the survey, Jackson was in a position to capture the first photographs of legendary landmarks of the West. These photographs played an important role in convincing Congress in 1872 to establish Yellowstone National Park,

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3640-560: The mule lost its footing, Jackson lost a month's work, having to return to untracked Rocky Mountain landscapes to remake the pictures, one of which was his celebrated view of the Mount of the Holy Cross . Despite the delays and setbacks Jackson returned with conclusive photographic evidence of the various western landmarks that had previously seemed only a fantastic myth: the Tetons , Old Faithful and

3710-489: The processing substantially. His photographic division of 5 to 7 men carried photographic equipment on the backs of mules and rifles on their shoulders. Jackson's life experience (for example his military service, and his peaceful dealings with Indians) was welcomed. The weight of the glass plates and the portable darkroom limited the number of possible exposures on any one trip, and these images were taken in primitive, roadless, and physically challenging conditions. Once when

3780-519: The ranch whilst ensuring the protection of the natural landscape and is touted as the only mountain coaster located in relatively close proximity to the Denver, Boulder and Fort Collins area. Opening to the public in July, 1955 the Estes Park Aerial Tramway carries passengers from the outskirts of Estes Park to the summit of Prospect Mountain , boasting a ridership of over 3 million. The Tramway

3850-642: The rest of the Yellowstone region, Colorado's Rockies and the Mount of the Holy Cross, and the uncooperative Ute Indians. Jackson's photographs of Yellowstone helped convince the U.S. Congress to make it the first national park in March 1872. Jackson exhibited photographs and clay models of Ancestral Puebloan dwellings at Mesa Verde in Colorado in the 1876 Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia . He continued traveling on

3920-417: The spring and fall, wapiti travel through the town on their migrations to and from the national park. Trail Ridge Road , the highest continuous highway in the United States, runs from Estes Park westward through Rocky Mountain National Park, reaching Grand Lake over the continental divide . The main airport serving Estes Park is Denver International Airport , located 75 miles southeast. Service between

3990-466: The time. Another 714,417 residents (12.37%) lived in one of the 210 census-designated places , while the remaining 759,355 residents (13.15%) lived in the many rural and mountainous areas of the state. In 2020, only 1,968 square miles (5,097 km ) of Colorado's 103,642 square miles (268,431 km ) of land area (1.90%) were incorporated in the 271 active municipalities. The City of Colorado Springs with 195 square miles (506 km ) of land area

4060-554: The town was 91.0% White , 0.3% African American , 0.5% Native American , 1.2% Asian , 2% Pacific Islander , 5.5% from other races , and 1.4% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 14% of the population. There were 2,541 households, out of which 20.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 52.3% were married couples living together, 6.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 38.4% were non-families. 31.0% of all households were made up of individuals, and 9.7% had someone living alone who

4130-403: The valley's resources. Whites probably came into the Estes Park valley before the 1850s as trappers, but did not stay long. The town is named after Missouri native Joel Estes , who founded the community in 1859. Estes moved his family there in 1863. One of Estes' early visitors was William Byers , a newspaper editor who wrote of his attempted ascent of Longs Peak in 1864, publicizing the area as

4200-410: The war feathers coveted by all tribes. They remembered their routes to and from the valley in detail, naming trails and landmarks. They pointed out the site of their buffalo trap, and described the use of dogs to pack meat out of the valley. Their recollections included a battle with Apaches in the 1850s, and fights with Utes who came to the area to hunt bighorn sheep, so all three of those tribes used

4270-486: The wet-collodion emulsion dried. Without light metering equipment or sure emulsion speeds, exposure times required inspired guesswork, between five seconds and twenty minutes depending on light conditions. Preparing, exposing, developing, fixing, washing then drying a single image could take the better part of an hour. Washing the plates in 160 °F hot spring water cut the drying time by more than half, while using water from snow melted and warmed in his hands slowed down

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4340-475: The world. During the last decade of his life Jackson returned to illustrating. Thrust into financial exigencies by the Panic of 1893 , Jackson accepted a commission by Marshall Field to travel the world photographing and gathering specimens for a vast new museum in Chicago; his pictures and reports were published by Harper's Weekly magazine. He returned to Denver and shifted into publishing; in 1897 he sold his entire stock of negatives and his own services to

4410-468: The world. They visited North Africa , the Middle East , India and Australia , then moved on to East Asia , Russia , Europe , East Africa , then finally South and Central America before returning home to the US. Jackson produced more than 900 photographs for the commission, which are now part of a collection on display at the Library of Congress. Jackson was a prodigy as a painter in his youth, and during his lifetime produced many paintings of

4480-449: Was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.11 and the average family size was 2.61. In the town, the population was spread out, with 17.6% under the age of 18, 5.8% from 18 to 24, 26.6% from 25 to 44, 29.4% from 45 to 64, and 20.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 45 years. For every 100 females, there were 92.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 90.7 males. The median income for

4550-488: Was an American photographer, Civil War veteran, painter, and an explorer famous for his images of the American West . He was a great-great nephew of Samuel Wilson , the progenitor of America's national symbol Uncle Sam . He was the great-grandfather of cartoonist Bill Griffith , creator of Zippy the Pinhead comics. Jackson was born in Keeseville, New York , on April 4, 1843, the first of seven children born to George Hallock Jackson and Harriet Maria Allen. Harriet,

4620-433: Was based on the collodion process invented in 1848 and published in 1851 by Frederick Scott Archer . Jackson traveled with as many as three camera-types—a stereographic camera (for stereoscope cards), a "whole-plate" or 8x10" plate-size camera , and one even larger, as large as 18x22". These cameras required fragile, heavy glass plates ( photographic plates ), which had to be coated, exposed, and developed onsite, before

4690-558: Was built and operated by the Heron family until March 21st, 2024. Controlling interest in the Tramway was sold to Gondola Ventures who reopened and have been operating the Tramway since May 25, 2024. Olympus Dam , on the outskirts of the town, is the dam that creates Lake Estes , a lake which is the site for boating and swimming in Estes Park. There are some hotels on the shore. Roughly three to four million tourists visit Rocky Mountain National Park each year, with 2021 seeing 4.4 million tourist visits; most use Estes Park as their base. In

4760-424: Was extensively renovated after the flood, and a river walk was added between the main street, Elkhorn Avenue, and the Big Thompson River. Both U.S. Highway 36 and U.S. Highway 34 , the major routes into town, were severely damaged. Hundreds of Estes Park residents were also isolated by the destruction of sections of Fish Creek Road and all nine crossings across Fish Creek. Damaged sewer lines dumped raw sewage down

4830-548: Was home to a number of now defunct ski areas: Estes Park vicinity was also the home of other resorts and tourist attractions. Estes Park has a humid continental climate ( Koppen : Dfb ). Summers are typically warm, sometimes hot, while winters are usually cold, with lows dropping into the teens and sometimes the single digits. In August 1900, Estes Park had a population of 218 in 63 households. Many (73) were born in Colorado. Eighteen were born in other countries: Canada (4), England (4), Germany (4), Finland (3), and one each from

4900-618: Was the most extensive municipality, while the Town of Sawpit with 19 acres (0.078 km ) of land area was the least extensive. The City of Glendale with a 2020 population density of 8,117 residents per square mile (3,134/km ) was the most densely populated municipality, while the Town of Bonanza with a 2020 population density of 38 residents per square mile (15/km ) was the least densely populated municipality after Carbonate. Colorado municipalities operate under one of five types of municipal governing authority — consolidated city and county , home rule municipality (which may be either

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