| Date |
Year |
Event |
 |
| February 21 |
1836 |
Robert Bowne Minturn born in New York |
 |
| |
1849 |
Ute and Arapahoe conflict on Battle Mountain |
 |
| |
1879 |
Town of Clinton, now called Gilman, forms |
 |
| |
1881 |
Talamage family builds first house in Minturn |
 |
| |
1882 |
George G. Booco builds cabin near the depot |
 |
| |
1885 |
Road from Leadville, Red Cliff and Gilman reaches Minturn |
 |
| |
1886 |
Town of Clinton renamed Gilman, after Henry Gilman,
superintendent of Iron Mask Mine |
 |
| |
1886 |
Six-stall roundhouse built
First Depot constructed |
 |
| April 3 |
1887 |
Kingston Townsite appears on the railroad map |
 |
| May 1 |
1887 |
Booco's Station replaces Kingston Townsite on railroad
maps |
 |
| June 1 |
1887 |
Denver & Rio Grande Western Railroad arrives in
Minturn, renamed for Robert B. Minturn, a shipping millionaire
responsible for raising the money to bring the rails west |
 |
| December 15 |
1889 |
Robert Bowne Minturn dies |
 |
| |
1890 |
Minturn population is approximately 191 |
 |
| |
1891 |
First store opened in Minturn by Pierce and Richmond
called the Minturn Mercantile Second depot constructed |
 |
| |
1891-92 |
Minturn Messenger newspaper published by F.H. Davis
and T.D. Peirce |
 |
| |
1892 |
First school is built at 225 Pine Street
Miss Phifield is teacher for all grades |
 |
| Winter |
1892 |
Great fire destroys several downtown buildings |
 |
| |
1892-93 |
Eagle Eye newspaper published by George and David Fownes |
 |
| January - May |
1899 |
Record snows block trains from running; coldest recorded
winter in town history |
 |
| |
1900 |
Minturn population rises to 428 residents |
 |
| |
1901 |
W.H. Luby opens The Saloon |
 |
| September |
1904 |
George G. Booco donates large parcel of land to the
town |
 |
| September 5 |
1904 |
Updated school opens 243 Boulder Street, at the current
location of old town hall; fifty students attend classes
with Miss Secil Taylor and Miss Annabelle Herron |
 |
| October 29 |
1904 |
Frank Steacy elected mayor; six trustees elected in
first town election |
 |
| November 15 |
1904 |
First town council meets; Minturn incorporated; Salaries
set for marshall at $30 per month, clerk for $10 per month,
treasurer for $5 per month, town attorney for $40 per
month |
 |
| |
1905 |
Holy Cross National Forest established with headquarters
in Red Cliff |
 |
| March 16 |
1908 |
Shopmen for the D&RG Railroad strike |
 |
| |
1908 |
Ford introduces the Model T |
 |
| |
1909 |
Squires Hotel built |
 |
| |
1912 |
Empire Zinc Company consolidates private mining claims
to form the Eagle Mine at Gilman
100-foot Turntable installed in railyard to turn larger
engines |
 |
| |
1913 |
Water lines laid from Cross Creek into town St. Patrick's Parish is built
Rio Grande Engine crashes through Roundhouse |
 |
| |
1914 |
World War I begins |
 |
| December 6 |
1915 |
Y.M.C.A., now known as the International Trade Center,
dedicated
Empire Zinc Division of the New Jersey Zinc Co. buys Eagle
Mine at Gilman |
 |
| May |
1917 |
Minturn United Presbyterian Church opens at Toledo
and Main Streets with 21 members |
 |
| |
1917 |
Sidewalks laid along Main Street |
 |
| |
1919 |
Treaty of Versailles ends World War I |
 |
| |
1920s |
Isabell and Nelson homesteads make Minturn the lettuce
capital of the United States |
 |
| |
1922 |
Pipefitters and mechanics strike against the D&RG
Railroad until October 1924 |
 |
| August 7 |
1924 |
Minturn wired with electricity, courtesy of Public
Service of Colorado |
 |
| August 22 |
1924 |
State's experimental farm grand opening |
 |
| April 6 |
1926 |
State proposes Hwy. 24 through Minturn; town trustees
oppose proposed path
Cemetary bridge replaced
Sunday amusements (such as movies and dancing) prohibited
by Ordinance |
 |
| July |
1927 |
First organizaed pilgrammage to Mt. of the Holy Cross |
 |
| June |
1928 |
New 120-foot Turntable built to accommodate 3600-series
engines |
 |
| |
1929 |
New York Stock Market crashes |
 |
| |
1930s |
Self-contained refrigerated rail cars eliminate need
for ice house in Minturn |
 |
| |
1933 |
Rod and Gun Club leases what is now known as Bolt's
Lake for public fishing, swimming, tennis and golf
Prohibition ends in the United States |
 |
| April |
1936 |
Katherine Mack elected first female mayor of Minturn;
Nellie Young elected as first female council member |
 |
| |
1936 |
U.S. Highway 24 completed over Battle Mountain |
 |
| |
1936 |
Cosma Serna moves Rock Creek settlers to Taylor Street
in Minturn |
 |
| |
1938-42 |
Minturn Booster newspaper published every Friday by
Roy Simpson |
 |
| |
1939 |
World War II begins |
 |
| |
1940 |
Gondolas packed with ore run loose along the tracks, all the way to Edwards. Red Cliff Bridge built over Belden Canyon. Highway 24 completed through Minturn (connecting the town to the east over Tennesee Pass.)
Red Cliff Bridge built over Belden Canyon
Highway 24 completed through Minturn, connecting the town
to the east over Vail Pass |
 |
| |
1940s |
Many young mineworkers are protected from the draft
by providing contract metals for the efforts in World
War II |
 |
| |
1941 |
Cinder block school at 302 Pine Street built.
Water tank on Nelson Avenue hillside built.
Holy Cross National Forest headquarters moved to Minturn |
 |
| December 5 |
1941 |
Japanese attack Pearl Harbor |
 |
| |
1942 |
Camp Hale constructed as a temporary training camp
for 10th Mountain Division |
 |
| |
1943 |
Bill Burnett drafted into World War II |
 |
| November 11 |
1944 |
D-Day |
 |
| June |
1946 |
Bill Burnett returns from an overseas assignment in
the Phillipines |
 |
| |
1950 |
Gilman mine employs more than 450 |
 |
| |
1951 |
Color TV introduced in America |
 |
| August 1 |
1951 |
U.S. Postal Service issues a stamp (designed by Minturn Postmaster) with a picture of
the Mt. of the Holy Cross; large parade and ceremonies
brought 2,000 visitors, including the Postmaster General
Pearson and former Governor John C. Vivian |
 |
| August |
1954 |
Unionized mineworkers strike in Gilman for 52 days |
 |
| |
1956 |
Steam locomotives replaced with diesel; Roundhouse
torn down in railyard |
 |
| |
1959 |
Minturn votes to join county school district RE-50J
United Steelworks of America strike at Gilman for 6 months |
 |
| |
1960s |
Railroad strike |
 |
| December |
1962 |
Vail Ski Area opens |
 |
| |
1963 |
JFK assassinated |
 |
| December |
1964 |
Battle Mountain High School completed at Maloit Park
on land leased from the school district |
 |
| |
1965 |
U.S. troops sends troops to Vietnam |
 |
| |
1966 |
New Jersey Zinc Company sells to Gulf and Western Industries |
 |
| |
1967 |
Construction of Interstate 70 begins |
 |
| |
1968 |
Walter Madrid first Mexican-American elected to Minturn
Town Board |
 |
| |
1969 |
Neil Armstrong becomes first man to land on the moon |
 |
| |
1970 |
Vail Associates buys Meadow Mountain and Grouse Creek
from Jack Oleson for $3 million and closes the small ski
area there |
 |
| |
1971 |
Vail Associates proposes expanding ski area for 1976
Olympics
United States Forest Services purchases Meadow Mountain
from Vail Associates |
 |
| |
1973 |
U.S. pulls troops out of Vietnam |
 |
| |
1974 |
Richard Nixon resigns as President |
 |
| January 18 |
1974 |
Beverly and Robert Storm open the Whistle Stop Inn,
Motel & Restaurant |
 |
| |
1975 |
Battle Mountain High School closes at Maloit Park;
new Battle Mountain High School completed at Eagle-Vail |
 |
| June 30 |
1975 |
Taylor Addition annexed to Minturn |
 |
| |
1976 |
Town of Minturn offices open in old school building at 302 Pine St. |
 |
| December 16 |
1977 |
Gilman mine shuts down, laying off 154 miners leaving 7 to work on clean up |
 |
| |
1978 |
Minturn Middle School built at Maloit Park
Construction begins on the Beaver Creek ski area
Manpower Training and Developing Program implemented to
train workers for new jobs |
 |
| Summer |
1978 |
Colorado Mountain College leases and remodels old high
school at Maloit Park
Little Oklahoma (South Minturn) annexed to Minturn |
 |
| |
1981 |
Personal computers introduced by IBM |
 |
| |
1985 |
EPA lists Eagle Mine on National Priortiy list, declared
Superfund Site |
 |
| |
1986 |
Colorado Mountain College ends lease with school district
RE-50J for Maloit Park |
 |
| April 6 |
1982 |
Minturn adopts home rule governernment, first town manager
hired |
 |
| September 12 |
1990 |
MM IV level earthquake felt in Minturn; four more earthquakes
hit Colorado that week |
 |
| May |
1991 |
Old Minturn Movie Theater at 201 Main Street demolished |
 |
| |
1992 |
Cold War ends |
 |
| |
1993 |
Movie shot in Belden Canyon (Tall Tales - Disney) |
 |
| |
1996 |
Several rental houses demolished to build The Enclave |
 |
| |
1997 |
Railroad Tennesee Pass line shutdown through Minturn |
 |
| |
1998 |
Water lawsuit settled with Vail Associates |
 |
| Summer |
1998 |
Minturn Market opens on Saturdays |
 |
| |
2000 |
New town center and post office completed at 302 Pine
Street |
 |
| February 2 |
2002 |
Winter Olympic torch goes through Minturn
Minturn joins the Eagle River Fire Protection District |
 |
| |
2003 |
New fire station is completed
New public works building completed near Cemetary
Riverview Cemetary is expanded and improved |
 |