Estes Park is a small village nestled in the north central mountains of Colorado. The earliest settlers were homesteaders who arrived to "prove up" in the 1870s and soon discovered that providing lodging and entertainment for outdoor adventurers and tourists looking for a respite from city life could provide a more reliable revenue stream than farming and ranching. By 1905, the town was platted and several hotels provided modern accommodations. When Rocky Mountain National Park was created in 1915, Estes Park became the eastern gateway and continues to be the first stop for approximately 2.5 million visitors annually. From an initial population of less than 200, the town has grown to almost 10,000 year-round residents, many of whom still make their living providing goods and services to visitors from as near as Denver and as far away as Nepal.
Sybil Barnes is a Colorado native whose family discovered Estes Park in 1940. She has been a reader, a collector, a bookstore proprietor, a librarian, and a history consultant. Though she has tried to live elsewhere, the small town charm and mountain grandeur of Estes Park make her happy to claim it as home. The photographs in this book come from various museums and private collectors. Sybil hopes her passion for preserving and presenting the past will encourage others to share their Estes Park memories, whether they are from the last century or last week.