Castle Rock was one of Golden’s earliest tourist attractions. In 1906, the owner of the Avenue Hotel set up a refreshment stand on Castle Rock. He found it to be a hard place to run to business–subject to both high winds and vandalism. He applied for a license to serve liquor on Castle Rock, and was refused, so he gave up on the venture.
Charles Quaintance took up the cause in 1908, and he raised the fun quotient by providing a string a burros, so customers could ride up the mountain. These burro rides preceded the building of the Castle Rock Mountain Railway.
Quaintance was a photographer, so he took pictures of the groups before they headed up the mountain. Before they returned, he developed the photos and offered them for sale. As a result, such photos come up fairly often in old photo sales. Since each touring group was unique, so are the photos!
