Main Avenue Historic District (Durango, Colorado)

Updated on Jan 30, 2024

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Architect Multiple Area 14 ha		NRHP Reference # 80000907 Added to NRHP 7 August 1980

Location Main Ave., Durango, Colorado Architectural style Late 19th And 20th Century Revivals, Late Victorian

Main Avenue Historic District in Durango, Colorado is a 34-acre (14 ha) historic district that was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980.

According to its 1980 NRHP nomination, it was deemed significant "because it represents the essence and core of both the evolution and development of business and commerce in the most important town in southwestern Colorado."

In 1980 it included 104 buildings: 86 buildings deemed to contribute to the historic character of the area, 12 non-contributing but compatible modern buildings, and 6 negative intrusions. It was felt that "together these buildings still maintain the feelings, associations, and ambiance of a turn-of-the-century commercial district."

The nine buildings then deemed most important are: (on the odd side)

Gold Slipper (1900), 645 Main, originally built as an Adolph Coors bottling plant

Strater Hotel (1887), 699 Main, an architecturally eclectic Victorian four-story building

Main Mall, 835 Main, a modern building designed compatibly which holds about 35 businesses, which replaced several buildings destroyed in a 1975 fire.

Newman Block (1897), at 801-813 Main Ave., which was separately listed on the NRHP in 1979.

Gardenswartz Building (1901), 871 Main

Central Hotel (1899), 975 Main

Main Street Furnishings (1889), 1015 Main

and on the even side

Burns Bank (1892), 900 Main

Old Post Office Building (1928), 1090-8 Main

Others include:

Palmer House hotel

First National Bank (1892), 901 Main Ave.

Woolworths (1859)

References

Main Avenue Historic District (Durango, Colorado) Wikipedia

(Text) CC BY-SA