Carbondale (1888, 6,181 feet), named for a coal mining town in Pennsylvania, became a railroad town that tapped many area coal mines. Basking in the glow of nearby Aspen, it has a handsome, healthy main street of one- and two-story buildings. The post office (1987), 655 Main Street, is a one-story, cubistic red brick building with deeply recessed banks of windows, finished at the top with an oversailing course. Inside is a mural relocated from the Glenwood Springs post office, Frank Mechau's Wild Horse Race (c. 1936). Mechau called the colorful tempera on canvas “a drama of forms and force, of colors and textures, with a lightning line sewing the cyclone chaos together.” The old blacksmith shop (1890s), 26 South 3rd Street, is now a restaurant with a lawn sculpture contribution to Main Street. The old D&RG depot (c. 1888), 97 North 3rd Street, now serves as an American Legion post, with the flag rising out of a red, white, and blue trash drum.
Writing Credits
If SAH Archipedia has been useful to you, please consider supporting it.
SAH Archipedia tells the story of the United States through its buildings, landscapes, and cities. This freely available resource empowers the public with authoritative knowledge that deepens their understanding and appreciation of the built environment. But the Society of Architectural Historians, which created SAH Archipedia with University of Virginia Press, needs your support to maintain the high-caliber research, writing, photography, cartography, editing, design, and programming that make SAH Archipedia a trusted online resource available to all who value the history of place, heritage tourism, and learning.