This early view of Animas City looking south toward Durango can be dated to between 1898 and 1904. The fairgrounds with its distinctive oval racetrack and the wooden grandstand, built around 1898, can be seen in mid-picture. The (fourth) Animas School, now the Animas Museum, is not present. It was built in 1904. In a picture taken today, the long ridge on the right would show the large water tank at its southern tip, overlooking Miller Middle School. The smelter and coke ovens in the far distance appear to be in full operation judging by the smoke they are producing. Just south of the fairgrounds, the line of trees running horizontally across the photo outline the path of Junction Creek as it winds toward and into the Animas River. – Ed Horvat for Animas Museum, edhorvat@animasmuseum.org (Catalog Number: 22.28.2 from the La Plata County Historical Society Photo Collections)