Colorado question for old timers...
Older than me (and I'm 58!)
But there are a few folks here that it seems are even older than me. So I'm asking those of you who have been here longer and/or are older about a couple of places that have always kind of tickled my curiosity:
My family moved to CO in 1972 when I was 10 years old. So I've been around the Denver area long enough to have seen a lot of changes in CO.
I've always been fascinated by history (my undergrad major) and I've often remarked about how when it comes to "history", we often ignore the RECENT past in favor of the DISTANT past. It's as if the "recent past" is too close in time for us to really care about. So we'll oooh and ahhh over, say, a Pony Express station from 1860 but completely ignore that abandoned Art Deco style gas station from 1940 or the old Stuckeys from 1970.
So here's my question about a couple of places I've often wondered about:
First off: Antero Junction, which sits at the intersection of US 285 and US 24 about 15 miles Northeast of Buena Vista and maybe 20 miles South of Fairplay (at the foot of Trout Creek Pass.) On older maps, this shows up as an actual town. I've been driving past this area since at least 1980 but I don't ever recall seeing any kind of business there that was open. I seem to recall there was an old, abandoned gas station there some years ago but now even that's gone and I don't see any sign of it on Google Maps (Google is a great tool but their maps only go back to ~ 2004 or so and their street view only goes back to about 2007.)
My question is, can anyone clearly recall when the last time there was an actual functioning town or business there? I'm thinking maybe mid 60's or even early 70's?
Second: Virginia Dale. Anybody who has driven to or from Laramie has probably been through here. It's about 28 miles NW of Fort Collins and maybe 30 miles SE of Laramie, just South of the CO state line. It still has a post office but there is also an old cafe there. I'm trying to remember but I swear I cannot recall that cafe ever being open and I know for certain I would have passed through that area in the mid 1980's. Does anyone recall the last time it was open?
I don't know why things like this fascinate me, but they do. Whenever my wife and I go on long drives (which is often, since we camp all Summer long) we talk about the small towns and businesses along the way that are slowly disappearing into the dust. In many ways, they are modern "ghost towns" but unlike the old mining towns of Las Animas or St. Elmo, these "modern ghost towns" are pretty much forgotten.
