To the Ute Indians, this valley was known as "The Valley of Hanging Waterfalls."  They valued the place as sacred because of its natural beauty.  But in the 1870's a different value was placed on the land, as miners arrived in search of gold and silver.  The town they established was originally named "Columbia," but because of confusion with another "Columbia" mining town in California, the post office forced the town to change its name.   The name "Telluride" is said to have originated with the term "tellurium" with refers to the area's mixed silver and gold ore.

With the mining boom, the town began to take on quite a character of its own, giving rise to a hotel and opera house, as well as brothels, saloons, gambling halls and the like.  It was indeed a frontier mining town with all the trappings.  And with all the gold and silver, the local bank made a tempting target, and was purportedly the site of Butch Cassidy's first heist, netting him a take of $24,580.  

At the pinnacle of the gold rush, Telluride was home to nearly 5,000 people.  The mining business was apparently good, because at the end of the 19th century, more millionaires per capita lived in Telluride than in New York City.  By then, more than $360 million of gold had been extracted from mines around Telluride. Telluride also became famous in some other ways. In 1891, George Westinghouse, L.L. Nunn, and Nikola Tesla built the world’s first alternating current (AC) power plant  at Telluride, resulting in Telluride being the first place in the world to have electric street lamps.

The boom days were not to last forever, with the mines eventually shutting down in the 1950s.  People left the town in droves, and for most of the next 20 years, Telluride was practically a ghost town. 

In 1972 the Telluride ski area was created by California entrepreneur Joe Zoline.  He could see the potential that the area had because of the "white gold" (snow) on the mountains.  Over the next few years, tourism revitalized the town, and Telluride became a popular winter and summer destination that attracts visitors throughout the year.  

Although a century has passed since its mining heyday,  Telluride still basks in its colorful history. The town has managed to hold onto its Old West character as evidenced in the many historic buildings lining its streets.