Other Industries

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Como general store and post office in 1941

As the railroad’s heart in Park County, Como was a thriving hub during the height of its railroad years. The town expanded with the railroad and more people moved into the area because of it. With more people came and increase housing, stores, liveries, confectioneries, Chinese laundries, boardinghouses, and saloons.

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Como 1885 building

 

Other industries that began to prosper in Park County during this time included cattle ranching, hay, and ice production. The ice industry in particular was necessary for refrigerating rail cars for the transport of perishable goods. Before refrigerated train cars, settlers relied on salt or smoking techniques to preserve their food supplies, but the these novel rail cars kept contents cold in any weather and ensured safe and quick shipment of fresh food throughout Colorado.[1]

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Loading ice into train cars, Lake George, c. 1910

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Allen's Corner Saloon now Como General Store

 

Como prospered as the main locale for the DSP&P, and in the early 1900s its population peaked at nearly 500 people. However, as the mining industry declined and the railroad revenues dwindled, workers moved away and the population dissipated in Como to the point where there were only thirty-nine in the 1950s.[2]

[1] Speas, Sam, and Coel, Margaret. Goin’ Railroading: A Century on the Colorado High Iron. Boulder, Colorado: Pruett Publishing Company, 1985. 
[2] Speas, Sam, and Coel, Margaret. Goin’ Railroading.