Hooper (1891, 7,553 feet) was named for Major Shadrach K. Hooper, D&RG general passenger and ticket agent. Major Hooper launched the first massive national promotion of Colorado tourism. He hired Colorado writers such as William E. Pabor, Patience Stapleton, and Stanley Wood for the Rio Grande's “Literary Department” and photographers William Henry Jackson and George L. Beam to produce images for thousands of brochures, postcards, calendars, panoramic views, guides for health seekers, and collections of poetry such as Rhymes of the Rockies. His town—a dusty shadow of its former self—could use Major Hooper's hoopla today. Main Street's deserted buildings include the two-story, false-fronted Reddin's Grocery (1911), once the hub of this tiny town, a frame building with metal siding stamped in a brick pattern. The one-story, false-fronted Town Hall (c. 1910) has a corrugated metal roof and pressed metal sides stamped to look like stone.
Writing Credits
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