Mt. Morrison Incline Railway Spikes, 1909

Item — Box: 1

Staff Only

Mt. Morrison Incline Railroad Spikes

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Scope and Contents

Three metal railroad spikes from the Mt. Morrison Incline Railway.

Dates

Creation: 1909

Conditions Governing Access

Archives collection material is non-circulating, requires staff retrieval and is available for use by appointment in the reading room.

Biographical / Historical

Beginning in 1909, an "incline railway," or funicular, carried tourists to the top of Mt. Morrison near Red Rocks park to enjoy the spectacular views of the Front Range. An idea conceived by John Brisben Walker, the Mt. Morrison incline was the first such attraction in the Denver metropolitan area. Soon, two more funiculars were built nearby: one to the top of Castle Rock in Golden, and one to the top of Lookout Mountain.

Walker's was the first and, according to him, the best. Unfortunately for Walker, the new popularity of the automobile gave people the freedom to travel where they wished and enjoy the views they encountered. Visitors to Red Rocks park today can still see the scar on Mt. Morrison left by the tracks of the incline railway. The tracks were hauled away as scrap metal in the late 1920s.

Borrowed from "Red Rocks History" at: https://redrockshistory.org/history/1906-1927/ride-top-mt-morrison/