Rifle (1884, 5,345 feet), named for Rifle Creek, was originally a cow town which claimed to load more cattle into rail cars than any community in Colorado. The Rifle Bridge over the Colorado River (1909, Charles G. Sheely), 1 mile south of Rifle off I-70 (NR), is the longest (430 feet) pinned truss auto bridge left in the state. The handsome double span has been closed to motor traffic and reserved for pedestrians.
A D&RG parlor car at the I-70 entrance road was purchased by the Chamber of Commerce for $1 and converted to a tourist center. The old City Hall, 337 East Avenue, has been converted to the Rifle Creek Museum. The United Methodist-Presbyterian Church (1890s), northeast corner of East Avenue and 4th Street, is a Queen Anne church of tawny local sandstone with a three-story belfry. The Red Lion Pub (1902), northwest corner of Railroad Avenue and West 3rd Street, has an elaborate frieze and metal-bracketed cornice atop two stories of local beige sandstone cut in large, rough-faced blocks.
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