Telluride, CO

Telluride is the county seat and most populous town of San Miguel County in the southwestern portion of the U.S. state of Colorado. The town is a former silver mining camp on the San Miguel River in the western San Juan Mountains. The first gold mining claim was made in the mountains above Telluride in 1875, and early settlement of what is now Telluride followed. The through line in Telluride is the way its history and present-day settings remain visible on the same map. Telluride makes the most sense through those concrete details, with its history still visible in the settings people use today. The town was founded in 1878. Telluride sits in a box canyon. The Smuggler gold vein above Telluride, and placer gold in the San Miguel River, were discovered in 1875.