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"Fairplay - Judicial seat of Park County, on the London branch of the Union Pacific railway, 112 miles from Denver.. Population 500. It is situated on the Middle Fork of the South Platte river. The Bergh and Fairplay are the principal hotels. The Fairplay Flume, a live newspaper, dishes up all of the news weekly. County buildings, stores of all kinds, with churches and good schools, are some of the improvements that the citizens point to with pride,. Placer mining was once the sole occupation of the settlers, some work of the kind is still done, but now stock-raising and quartz mining overshadow all kinds of business. Many of the abandoned placer mines are being worked over by Chinese. The Mosquito, Horseshoe and several otehr mining districts lie on the eastern slope of the mountains, the base of which is five miles to teh westward. These districts are said to contain some of thebest miness in teh state. At Fairplay there is one smelting furnace, another about two and a half miles west, on Sacramento gulch, and the Holland smelter, at the mouth of Pennsylvania gulch, three and a half miles west. Distance from Fairplay to Leadville, via Mosquito Pass wagon road, west, 19 miles. Fare from Denver, $9.10. "Crofutt's Grip Sack Guide of Colorado - 1885" |
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Today Fairplay is the home of South Park City, a reproduction of what a small Colorado town might have looked like in the late 19th century. All of the structures are actual historical buildings which have been relocated to the site. Virtually all of them feature complete interiors furnished and stocked as if they were in use. |
| There are a few railroad cars on the property, including a rarely seen stock car. Do not be misled by inaccurate lettering on a few of them. They are all Denver & Rio Grande rolling stock. |
| A trip through the South Park would not be complete without a stop at South Park City for a few hours to get a real sense of what small town Colorado life was like during the late 1800's. |
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Drug store and bank buildings
in South Park City (70k) |
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South Park City
Sentinel Building (63k) |
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South Park City
Candy Counter (75k) |
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South Park City
Drug Counter (79k) |
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South Park City
Interior of Drug Store (74k) |
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South Park City
Interior of Newspaper Office (66k) |
