Transportation: Overview
Transportation was critical to settlement and development of Lake City and the mining districts in northern Hinsdale County. From 1874 through 1889, freight and passenger service consisted solely of animal-powered vehicles. In 1889, the Denver & Rio Grande railroad built a branch south to Lake City from Sapinero on the Gunnison River, which boosted the mining industry and created a small development boom within the town.
A stage coach in the San Juan Mountains in the late 1800s would have looked similar to this. Detail of a stereoview titled The Daily Trip Between Ouray and Red Mountain, Colorado. Photo by R.Y. Young, 1901. Robert N. Dennis Collection of Stereoscopic Views, New York Public Library. Click on image for larger pop-up version.