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CHRONOLOGY |
| DATE | EVENT | |
| 1803 | ---- | Louisiana Territory, land west of the Mississippi purchased from the French. |
| 1859 | ---- | Colorado Gold Rush. |
| 1861-65 | ---- | Civil War. |
| 1872 | ---- | Denver, South Park and Pacific Railway Company formed. |
| 1873 | ---- | Renamed Denver, South Park and Pacific (D,SP,&P) Railroad. |
| 1876 | ---- | Colorado becomes the 38th state. |
| 1879 | ---- | (Nov) Six month contract awarded to the M. Cummins & Company to construct Alpine Tunnel. |
| 1880 | ---- | (Jan) Tunnel construction begins (Jul) New Tunnel contract given to Fitzgerald, Cushing & Osborn. |
| 1881 | ---- | (Jan) D,SP&P comes under control of the Union Pacific Railroad. |
| 1881 | ---- | (Jul) Tunnel headings breached. |
| 1881 | ---- | (Aug) Denver & Rio Grande Railroad reaches Gunnison. |
| 1881 | ---- | (Nov) Tunnel finished. |
| 1881 | ---- | (Dec) First train passes through tunnel. |
| 1882 | ---- | (Jun) Rails reach Woodstock. |
| 1882 | ---- | (Sep) First D,SP&P train reaches Gunnison. |
| 1884 | ---- | (Mar) Avalanche destroys town of Woodstock. |
| 1887– 89 | ---- | Tunnel closed during winters. |
| 1889 | ---- | (Aug) D,SP&P goes into receivership and the Denver, Leadville and Gunnison(DL&G) Railroad is formed under control of the Union Pacific Railroad. |
| 1890 – 94 | ---- | Tunnel closed during winters. |
| 1894 | ---- | DL&G goes into receivership. |
| 1895 | ---- | Tunnel disaster – Four crew members suffocate during tunnel reopening. |
| 1899 | ---- | Colorado and Southern (C&S) Railway Company is formed with the merger of the DL&G, Union Pacific, and Denver & Gulf railroads. |
| 1904 | ---- | Train wreck west of tunnel. |
| 1905 | ---- | U.S. Forest Service created within the Department of Agriculture, Gunnison National Forest evolved from the Gunnison Forest Reserve. |
| 1906 | ---- | Engine house fire. Train collision in tunnel. |
| 1910 | ---- | (Nov) Last train through Alpine Tunnel. The tunnel tank moved to Boreas Pass. |
| 1923 | ---- | Rails moved from Hancock to Quartz. |
| 1959 | ---- | (Jun) Rail bed converted to road. Telegraph Office restored by Francis Trudgeon and Mile-Hi Jeep Club. |
| 1967 | ---- | Mac Poor Memorial Marker placed near west portal. |
| 1969 | ---- | Tunnel Gulch Water Tank restored by Mile-Hi Jeep Club. |
| 1993 | ---- | Original rail bed between Quartz and Hancock designated by the Forest Service as the Alpine Tunnel Historic District. Forest Service begins Restoration Projects. |
| 1995 | ---- | (Sep) Alpine Tunnel Historic District official placed on the Colorado Register Of Historical Properties. |
| 1996 | ---- | (April) Alpine Tunnel Historic District officially placed on the National Register of Historic Places. |
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Ray Rossman - U.S. Forest Service
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