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 In 1888 this was the location for the Midland Railroad Station (now a retail building at the Airport Business
Center), and the lower terminus for ore trams which served Aspen Mountain mines. In 1986, this busy square became home to the Silver Queen Gondola Building, 10th Mountain Memorial, tile compass which shows true north, and the Little Nell Hotel and its shops.
< Gondola Square, 2000. © Ann Hodges photo
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^ The Midland RR station was located just east of the "recreational" district on Durant Street in 1889. The station building was moved to the Rio Grand rail yard in the 60s and to the Airport Business Center in the 70s, where you can still see it today.
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 < By 1954 the railroad right-of-way had long been abandoned and there was not yet a Gondola Square. The only way up Little Nell, at the time, was by a T-bar lift. (Miggs Durrance Photo)
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 < The first Little Nell was a cafeteria, bar and warming house for skiers. During the 1970s a rock-n-roll joint, called The Gallery, occupied the lower floor. Large crowds gathered on the deck in the sunshine (left) to celebrate after a day's skiing, just as they do today at the Ajax Tavern (below) in Gondola Square. In the 1990s, the Aspen Skiing Company demolished the original Little Nell building and constructed The Little Nell Hotel in its place. © Ann Hodges photo, 2000 |
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Downtown e-tour
