Main Avenue Historic District (Durango, Colorado)

Main Avenue Historic District
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
U.S. Historic district
Location	Main Ave., Durango, Colorado
Coordinates	37°16′23″N 107°52′48″W / 37.27306°N 107.88000°WCoordinates: 37°16′23″N 107°52′48″W / 37.27306°N 107.88000°W
Area	34 acres (14 ha)
Architect	Multiple
Architectural style	Late 19th And 20th Century Revivals, Late Victorian
NRHP Reference #	80000907[1]
Added to NRHP	August 7, 1980

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.

Strater Hotel, in 2010

2014

Newman Block

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."^[2]

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."^[2]

The nine buildings then deemed most important are:^[2] (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.^[1]
• 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)^[2]

References

1. National Park Service (2009-03-13). "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service.
2. Marjorie J. Wells (February 28, 1980). "National Register of Historic Places Inventory/Nomination: Main Avenue Historic District" (PDF). National Park Service. Retrieved July 2016. Check date values in: |access-date= (help) with 31 photos, most from 1980