Glenwood Springs Timeline
1990-1999

1860, July 23
Capt. Richard Sopris was the first white man to discover the Yampah Hot Springs. (E-88)

1879 James Landis was the first person to settle in Glenwood Springs and first owner of the hot springs property. (D-59)

1880 Carbonate, on the Flat Tops, was settled by miners looking for silver.

1880 Defiance camp was set up at Grand Springs, now Glenwood Springs. (D-23)

1881, Sept. 4 Ute Indians were moved to reservation lands in Utah. Western Colorado was opened to entry and settlement by the white man.

1882 Isaac Cooper came to the area by way of Aspen. Cooper dreamed of a resort for the hot springs. (A-115)

1883, Feb. 10 Garfield County was established and Carbonate was named county seat.

1883, Nov. 6 Voters approved changing the Garfield County seat from Carbonate to Glenwood Springs when it became apparent that winters were too harsh in Carbonate.

1884 Hotel Glenwood opens to guests. (D-61)

1885, Aug. 25 Glenwood Springs was platted and incorporated. Isaac Cooper or his wife Sarah renamed Defiance "Glenwood Springs" for their hometown of Glenwood, Iowa.

1885 First Presbyterian Church was established. The church building was constructed on Cooper Avenue and is still in use today. (JJ-24)

1885 Ute Chief and Glenwood Echo newspapers were established.

1886 Glenwood Light & Water Company was organized by Walter B. Devereux with British investors and a hydro-electric plant was built near where the bathhouse for the Hot Springs Pool currently sits. (I-2)

1887 First National Bank was established. (D-168)

1887, Oct. 5 Denver and Rio Grande Railroad came to Glenwood Springs on a narrow-gauge bed through Glenwood Canyon.

1887, Nov. 8 John Henry "Doc" Holliday died of tuberculosis in the Hotel Glenwood. He was buried in Linwood Cemetery but the exact location of his gravesite is unknown. (CC-90)

1887, Dec. 12 Colorado Midland Railroad came to Glenwood Springs via the Roaring Fork and Frying Pan River valleys.

1887 Cardiff townsite was established south of Glenwood Springs. (U-16)

1887 Weekend "Laundry Trains" came from Leadville and Aspen bringing miners down to bathe and do laundry in the hot springs and enjoy Glenwood's bawdy pleasures. (A-63)

1888 The Natatorium and Pool, fed by the Yampah Hot Springs, were completed. (A-30)

1888 The new Glenwood Light and Water Company hydro-electric plant was built and still stands today, currently housing the Glenwood Springs Center for the Arts. (I-5)

1890 F.H.A. Lyle and the Devereux brothers brought the sport of polo to Glenwood Springs. (R-3)

1890 Stone bathhouse at the Hot Springs Pool was completed and Vapor Cave #3 on the north side of the river was added to make a complete health spa complex. (A-223)

1891, April Theodore Von Rosenberg's bridge across the Grand River (now Colorado River) at Glenwood Springs was dedicated. (F-33)

1891, May 10 President Benjamin Harrison arrived by train to spend the day in Glenwood Springs. He attended services at the Presbyterian Church, bathed in the Hot Springs Pool, attended a luncheon at the Hotel Glenwood and spoke briefly to residents before departing that evening.

1893 Glenwood Racing and Polo Club was started by Walter B. Devereux.

1893, June 10 Grand opening of the Hotel Colorado is celebrated. (A-4)

1894, June 15 Observation pavillion completed atop Lookout Mountain.

1895, September 16 The Fairy Cave Company was formed and tours were led up Iron Mountain behind the Hotel Colorado to the caves above. (B-188)

1896 Glenwood Health Spa developed west of Glenwood Springs utilizing natural hot springs waters.

1897 Daredevil E.A. Nellis rides a bicycle the length of the wooden water flume in Glenwood Canyon from No Name to Glenwood Springs.

1898, June 18 First Strawberry Day celebration organized to promote the sale of local produce. (Y-4)

1898 St. Joseph’s Sanitarium and Hotel was opened by the Sisters of Charity in the old Yampah Hotel. (D-9)

1899 A passenger train was hit by an avalanche in Glenwood Canyon. (J-60)


1900-1909

1910-1919

1920-1929

1930-1939

1940-1949

1950-1959

1960-1969

1970-1979

1980-1989

1990-1999


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