Historic Greene Street 1912

Silverton Magazine - Silverton, Colorado
Downtown Silverton	Burke's Custom Tours for Photographers & Artists	Silverton Magazine Home Page

Greene Street 1912 - and today: The Teller Block

Story by Samantha Tisdel Wright
All content © San Juan Publishing Group, Inc, All rights reserved.

HISTORIC SILVERTON—it’s the heart of San Juan County and the still-beating heart of the rugged San Juan Mountains. Two centuries ago the scenic valley that is home to Silverton today was a summer hunting ground of the Ute Indians. Few white men had ever visited here. Those who did were mostly trappers and an occasional priest who passed this way as early as the 1700s.

© San Juan County Historical Society

WHILE ONE BLOCK TO THE EAST, Blair Street was doing her best to milk the money out of unsuspecting miners, the Teller Block was a paradigm of respectability in Silverton's early business community, much as it still is today. Anchoring the north end of the block is a double-front brick structure, the Teller Building, which now houses the Ellis Tanner Gallery and the Green Table restaurant downstairs, and the charming, historic Teller House Hotel upstairs. If you had strolled into this 1896-era building at the turn of the last century, you could have chosen from twin saloons in which to quench your thirst-The Frog for the French and The Tyrol for northern Italians-while upstairs a lodging facility operated under the same name as today, in honor of pro-mining Senator Henry Teller.

In 1916, The Frog and The Tyrol moved out to make way for the French Bakery, a purveyor of groceries and baked goods until the 1970s, and more recently a favorite breakfast spot.

If you didn't like the looks of the fellas at The Tyrol and The Frog, you could have headed down the block to the picturesque Chicago Saloon (now home to the Indian Trading Post), a cheerful respite for Italian immigrant miners.

After wetting your whistle at your saloon of choice and getting a good night's sleep at the Teller House, you might have stopped by the stone and brick structure next door (which now houses the Great Divide Co.), and for $2, rented a horse from the Exchange Livery to ride up to your mining claim. Turned loose, the animal would find its way back to town on its own and walk up the ramp to its stall in the livery. The downstairs sheltered buggies and wagons. The Doud brothers constructed the livery in 1906, and the top story eventually caved in from snow load.

Although it dates back only to 1972, making it one of the newest buildings on Greene Street, Outdoor World looks right at home among its historic neighbors. The building has always housed Wiley Carmack's outdoor clothing and equipment business.

The Silverton Magazine. Copyright 2000-2010
Published by San Juan Publishing Group, Inc., Colorado
No part of this publication may be reproduced in any means whatsoever without written authorization from SJPG.
(plagerizers will be hung from the yardarm and fed to the mountain sharks!)
Queries for re-print rights, email [email protected]