And the West is History: Graden and Strater businesses – ca. 1892

Two well-known business names from Durango’s early history shared most of the West 700 block of Main Avenue in the early 1890s. Thomas Graden’s mercantile business and Stage Express Line operated from the storefronts on the left in this image. Henry Strater, builder of his namesake hotel located a block south, operated businesses on the right. His wholesale and retail store selling paints, oils and supplies and his pharmacy storefronts are pictured. Strater also built a second hotel called the Columbian but lost it during the economic collapse of the Silver Panic. He eventually left Durango for Cleveland. Graden, on the other hand, weathered the economic collapse and continued to operate many businesses in the county into the 1920s. He died in California in 1924. – Ed Horvat for Animas Museum, edhorvat@animasmuseum.org (Catalog Number: 91.34.2.8 from the La Plata County Historical Society Photo Collections)