Towns, Cities and Churches

The county was established in 1874 when it was formed from a portion of Summit County.  It was named for the Grand River, a name the Colorado River held in this area until the government standardization came into effect, where rivers would have only one name from beginning to end. I am sure this is not a complete list and would appreciate any input on places that I have left out or information that needs inputting or correcting.  So enjoy yourself and please browse around.

Photos of Grand County Colorado

Tabart Inn - Tabernash CO

Arrow It was incorporated on 3 January 1900.  It was an important lumber town and had a post office between 1905 to 1915.  It was also a rail stop on the Denver & Salt Lake Railroad.  This town was sometimes known as Arrowhead and was located a few miles east of Fraser.

Auburn See Gaskill.  Briefly held name.

Azure This was a railroad siding on the Denver & Salt Lake Railroad between Kremmling and Radium by Gore Canyon.  It could be found on 1913 and 1923 maps at an elevation of 7120 feet (2170 meters).

Byers Canyon This canyon between Hot Sulphur Springs and Parshall was named for William Newton Byers, founder of the Rocky Mountain News.  He owned most of Hot Sulphur Springs and the land in the vicinity which he was financially developing.

Camp Ouray This place was found on a 1924 map.

Clarkson This place had a post office from 1892 to 1898.

Colorow This place had a post office from 1882 to 1903.  It was named after a Ute chief which means "least attractive Ute" and located 6 miles south east of Kremmling.  This same Indian also was reported to have set fire to a large stand of forest here about 1869.  It was once the Pharo Ranch.

Corona This town was at an elevation of 11690 feet (3563 meters) and was a railroad station on the Denver & Salt Lake Railroad.  It disappeared after the building of the Moffat Tunnel.  It was located at Rollins Pass.

Coulter This place had a post office from 1884 to 1904.  It was a stage station and later the point on the highway between Fraser and Hot Sulphur Springs that branched off to Granby and Grand Lake.  It was also a stop on the Denver & Salt Lake railroad.

Crescent This place had a post office from 1889 to 1894 and located in the northern part of the county.

Cummings This place was a mining camp in the Lulu City area.

Dexter This place had a post office from 1896 to 1911.  It was founded on Green McQuery's ranch and located on the highway between Hot Sulphur Springs and Walden about 15 miles north west of Granby.

Dutchtown This place came about because of a drunken brawl in Lulu City.  Two German miners came into town drunk one night and started shooting up the place.  Needless to say the citizens took exception to this and kicked them out of town.  They were prospecting further up Red Mountain when they struck ore and a tiny town sprang up and named in their honor.  This town lasted only a couple of years and was gone before Lulu City.

Eastom See Fraser.

Elkdale This town is at an elevation of 8156 feet (2486 meters).  It had a post office from 1920 to 1925 and was mainly a railway siding.

Fairfax About 6 miles north east of Grand Lake on a 1922 map.

Flat No information at this time.

Fraser This town is at an elevation of 8574 feet (2613 meters) and was established in 1871.  It was laid out along the Fraser River by George Eastom and named for him.  Rueben Frazier, an early settler in the area, was well known by most of the locals and it wasn't long before people started calling the town Frazier.  When the US Postal Authority granted a post office they wanted an easier spelling so took the name of the nearby Fraser River.  It was the center of the timber industry until the Forest Service headquarters was moved to Hot Sulphur Springs in 1915, and the Ranger Station to Idlewild.  The town was incorporated in 1953 and has an estimated population of 580.  It is often called the coldest town in the nation.

Frazier See Fraser.

Gaskill This place, established in 1880, was about eight miles northwest of Grand Lake.  There were many silver mines in the area and the town was named for a mine manager, Capt. L. D. C. Gaskill.  It was settled along the north fork of the Colorado River and like all mining towns of this era, great plans were made.  But by 1885 the town was already dying.  It had a post office from 1880 to 1886.

Gore City This town was platted but never recognized and was part of Kremmling, although it was found on a 1923 map.  It was also a stop on the Denver & Salt Lake railroad.  It got its name from Sir George Gore an early British sportsman.

Granby This town is at an elevation of 7939 feet (2420 meters) and was established in 1904.  It was on land sold to road builder David Moffat, who had the town site platted to serve the Denver, Northwestern Pacific and the Moffat Road which terminated there.  There is some question over the name but it is believed to be named for the US District Attorney for Colorado Granby Hillyer.  It was incorporated 11 December 1905 and has an estimated population of 960.

Grand Lake This town is at an elevation of 8437 feet (2572 meters) and was established in 1879.  It derives its name from the near by lake, the largest natural body of water in the state.  On 12 July 1882 the newspaper " The Prospector" was founded in this town and was to become a very influential paper of its time.  The town was originally an outfitting and supply point for the mining settlements of Lulu City, Teller City and Gaskill, but today is more of a tourist town.  It was incorporated 23 June 1944 and briefly held the county seat from 1882 to 1888.  It has an estimated population of 260.

Hermitage This place had a post office from 1878 to 1884.  It was the Hermitage Ranch owned by T. W. Preston and located near Muddy Creek and Mt. Whitely.

Hideaway Park This town is at an elevation of 8785 feet (2678 meters).  It was founded in April of 1932 when Linus Oliver Graves bought 10 acres of land and started building a town.  There were several cabins which could be rented and had their own electricity produced by a water wheel on the Vasquez Creek.  Many people attributed the name to Max Kortz, who owned a saloon there, but he didn't arrive until 1935 or 1936 when prohibition was repealed.  A post office operated from 1949 to 1980.  It has been absorbed by Winter Park.

Hitchen's Camp Small mining camp at the base of Red Mountain in Hitchen's Gulch.  Named for "Old Man" Hitchen who worked the area longer than anyone else.

Hot Sulphur Springs This town is at an elevation of 7680 feet (2341 meters) and is the county seat.  It was originally a summer campground for Indians who came for the hot springs.  When Grand County was formed it was the first county seat 1874 to 1882, after which it moved to Grand Lake.  The county seat returned in 1888 and has been here ever since.  This town was established in 1860 making it the oldest town in the county and originally named Saratoga West and sometimes called Warm Springs.  In 1863 the name was changed to reflect the hot springs in the area that were used for medicinal purposes.  The town site was bought by William Newton Byers, founder of the Rocky Mountain News, in 1864.  He wished to make it a spa and resort so surveyed, platted and named the streets to the city.  It was incorporated April 1, 1903.

Idlewild It was a stagecoach station on the old Berthoud Pass wagon road.  It briefly held the ranger station for Grand County when it was moved from Fraser in 1915.  Winter Park sprang up on this spot.

Kinsey City See Kremmling.

Kremmling This town is at an elevation of 7362 feet (2244 meters) and was established in 1881.  It is located at the confluence of Muddy Creek, Blue River and the Colorado River.  The area started as a general store run by a man the name of Rudolph "Kare" Kremmling.  He had his store on the north side of the Muddy Creek.  In 1881 two brothers, Aaron and John Kinsey, made part of their ranch into a town and called it Kinsey City.  Kare moved his store across the river to the new site and soon people were calling this place Kremmling.  The original post office was called Kinsey City and ran from 1881 to 1885 with Kare Kremmling the first Post Master.  The name Kremmling was not officially recognized until 1895.  Cattle raising was initially the principal industry of the town.  After the Moffat railroad, Northwestern & Pacific arrived in 1906, Kremmling became the county's central shipping point.  It was incorporated May 14, 1904 and has an estimated population of 1170.  Mail was sometimes known to be addressed to "118 Miles West of Denver", and the mail would arrive there.

Leal This town is at an elevation of 8875 feet (2705 meters) and Spanish for "loyal".  This place had a post office from 1904 to 1930.  It was located 17 miles south west of Winter Park.

Lehman This place had a post office from 1903 to 1911.

Lulu City This town is at an elevation of 9360 feet (2853 meters) and was established in 1879.  Two miners William Baker and Benjamin Franklin Burnett platted the town and named after the daughter of Burnett.  City was added to the name to give it an air of importance.  Although the post office officially sanctioned it from 1880 to November 1883 it unofficially kept running after the population was long gone and finally closed its doors in January 1886.  It was located a few miles north of Gaskill in the upper Kawuneeche Valley along at the headwaters of the Colorado River.  A few foundations remain and can be reached by the Colorado River Trail in Rocky Mountain National Park.

Martin This place had a post office from 1898 to 1934.  It started out as the Martin Ranch and located just south of Muddy Pass.

Maryvale This town is at an elevation of 8700 feet (2652 meters).

Mason This place was a mining camp in the Lulu City area.

Monarch This place had a post office from 1907 to 1922 and located on the shores of Monarch Lake.

Naomi Was found on a 1922 map near Clear Creek county line.

Old Park No information at this time.

Park City This was a mining camp in the Lulu City area.

Park View Located at the base of Parkview Mountain by Jackson County line.  Found on a 1923 map.

Parshall This town is at an elevation of 7550 feet (2301 meters).  The town was named for Ralph Parshall, a civil engineer who invented the "Parshall Flume" a water measuring device used by irrigators.  It was established in 1907 by Alonzo F. Polhamus when he bought the land from Parshall's son and dedicated the town to Parshall his good friend.  It was originally a supply center for the local ranchers and then a cattle shipping center when the railroad came through.  It has never been incorporated and lies between Kremmling and Hot Sulphur Springs

Pearmont This place had a post office from 1907 to 1918.  It was located along Troublesome Creek.

Phantom Valley Ranch Established in the early 1920's.  It was a stopping place for people to eat owned by a character named "Squeaky Bob".

Radium This town was at an elevation of 6929 feet (2112 meters) and established in 1906 when a post office was opened here.  It got its name from a prospector, Harry S. Porter for the high content of radium in the near by mines.  The post office stopped operation in 1963.

Ruby This was a mining camp named for the nearby Ruby Mine.  It was located in a gulch that ran from Gaskill.

Scholl This place had a post office from 1901 to 1930 and just south of Williams Fork Reservoir.

Selak This place had a post office from 1883 to 1893 and was located in the north east of Granby.  It had a reputation for being a wild place with lots of killings, bootleggers and Indians.

Shadow Mountain Newer town on Shadow Mountain Lake found on a 1980 map.

Silver Creek This is a ski resort area that was built on the outskirts of the Town of Granby. Today is incorporated into the Town of Granby.

Stillwater This place had a post office from 1911 to 1930.  It was located on the north side of Lake Granby.

Tabernash This town is at an elevation of 8326 feet (2538 meters) and was established in 1905.  It is located on the old Junction Ranch owned by Edward J. Vulgamott.  In 1878 a band of Ute Indians, dismayed with so many white settlers, got a little drunk and set up a camp on the Junction Ranch.  They tore down fences using the posts for firewood, turned their horses loose in the hay fields and proceeded to set up a race track.  A posse soon arrived to move the Indians and in the ensuing scuffle an Indian named Tabernash was killed.  When a town was set up by E. A. Meredith, chief engineer for the Denver & Salt Lake Railroad, it was given the name of this Ute Indian.  It was decided that this location would be better for the installation of a sub-division point and locomotive terminal than in Fraser where the terminal was previously located.  A roundhouse was built that was square and equipped it with all the components necessary to keep the engines maintained and working year round.  This was primary a railroad town whose purpose was to maintain the railroad and give a means for freight trains to cross over the Continental Divide by way of Rollins Pass.  The Tabart Inn was located near the roundhouse and owned by a Mr. Barthlow and his wife Anna.  They boarded the workers from the roundhouse and railroad.  When Mr. Barthlow died Anna married an inspector for the railroad by the name of Louis Henry "Chap" LaChapelle.  He owned a filling station on Highway 40, which cut through the middle of Tabernash.  Chap and Anna had the Tabart Inn moved next to the station and renamed it ChapAnn Lodge.  The hotel was finally closed in 1954 and burned to the ground in 1963.  At one time it was known as Ute Junction because it was at the junction of the Rollins Pass and Berthoud Pass roads.

Troublesome This town is at an elevation of 7357 feet (2242 meters).  Named for the nearby creek and located where it was easiest to ford it.  The name of the river was given by soldiers on their way from Denver to Meeker to fight Indians.  When the water is high it is treacherous and the soldiers would have to detour eight miles up stream at these times.  The post office was operated from 1878 to 1935.

Twelveville This place was found on a 1880 map.

Vasquez Fork This town was mentioned in the 1880 census and in a travel log written about the same time.  No further information can be found about it yet although it was most likely a mining camp.

Vasquez It was near Hideaway Park and was a stop on the railroad.

West Portal See Winter Park.

Winter Park This town is at an elevation of 9040 feet (2755 meters) and was established in 1923 when construction began on the Moffat Tunnel and located on the spot which once was Idlewild.  It was originally named West Portal, but with lobbying from the local residents, the US Postal Authority allowed the name to be changed to Winter Park in 1939.  The residents wanted this to publicize the establishment of a winter recreational area.  Before that the post office went by West Portal.  The town was incorporated September 1, 1979 with an estimated population of 660 in 1994.

Wolverine This was a mining camp named for the nearby Wolverine Mine.  It was located in a gulch that ran from Gaskill.

Ranches bought for Granby Reservoir (Lake Granby). Grand Lake Area Historical Society map. Names you know maybe listed. e.g., Sam S. Sigman-Sigman Meat Company. Eslick & Thompson. Eslick & Thompson property now Cutthroat Bay, SW1/4 Section 26 Township 3N R76 W 160 acres. The Harvey ranch was also one hence Harvey Island in Lake Granby.

Picture of the Harvey Ranch before the reservoir was built