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West from Westminster Hill, Then and Now

By chaoticutopia on October 9, 2006.

In the early 1900s, Louis Charles McClure, who studied under the famous pioneer photographer, William Henry Jackson, followed the construction of the Denver Interurban Railroad. In or about 1908, he took a number of landscape photographs highlighting the railroad's journey between Denver and Boulder. I've been following the same tracks, trying to see the landscape through McClure's lens, and comparing the changes over the last 100 years. (My quest was, in part, inspired by John Fielder's work, which is well known for matching Jackson's photography. While Jackson and Fielder were mostly drawn to the mountains of Colorado, McClure and I were mostly drawn to the subtler beauty of the plains.)

You can see some of the McClure images I've worked with in the past, here and here. The following is one of the best views in the area, looking west from Westminster Hill. In McClure's photo, the Denver Interurban Railroad curves through the middle left of the photograph, while the Boulder Flatirons loom in the distance. In the foreground, a few farmhouses are scattered between apple orchards:

i-e6e0e99b75e54ccae9225113bc426915-view1908.jpg

Today, the same view reveals the same Flatirons, as well as Mt. Evans in the distance, which may have been obscured by clouds the day McClure snapped his picture. There are as many trees in 2006 as there were in 1908, but today they are scattered randomly in suburban backyards. While small ranch homes still grace the hillside, so do condominiums and office buildings. The railroad still runs in the same spot, but is dwarfed by US Interstate 36, known to locals as the Denver-Boulder Turnpike:

i-d582ea49b344bb32907225d7ddc76700-view2006.jpg

1908 photo by Louis McClure via the Western History Photos collection at the Denver Public Library. 2006 photo by the author.

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This series is wonderful. I drive through the area you are discussing frequently and look for the places you describe. I'd often wondered about the Mandalay area on Old Wadsworth.

Thanks for the work doing the research.

Thanks for the comment Steve. I actually wrote in a comment here a few weeks ago asking what was happening with this blog after the announcement that O'Reilly was dropping the Digital Media division. It's really refreshing to get an honest comment on what's happening. I really hope the blog picks up again.

Thanks for the comment Steve. I actually wrote in a comment here a few weeks ago asking what was happening with this blog after the announcement that O'Reilly was dropping the Digital Media division. It's really refreshing to get an honest comment on what's happening. I really hope the blog picks up again.