The older picture is on a postcard from the turn of the last century - circa 1905. I have attempted to get a new picture from the same angle, although there is a building in the way now. The location is on Front St., between 2nd and 3rd streets, and the description on the back of the postcard is as follows:

"This is a remarkable rock formation resembling as a distance an old tower, and presents an imposing appearance. The pretty little village of the same name that nestles beneath its shadow is is the county seat of Douglas COunty. Distance from Denver, 33 miles. Elevation, 6,219 feet."

The reason that this picture is so important to me is that I own the house pictured on the left side. On the new picture, you can just see the top of the roof, as it is still covered with trees and bushes. The Railroad station is now the Castle Rock Museum and is located on Elbert St. and can be seen from I-25. It was moved in the 1970s by my sister and ex-brother in law was made into a living unit at first. i have the pleasure of living both in the remodeled RR station and the house shown on the picture.

One can find several versions of the postcard. They were all taken on thee same day, and show the steam engine in a couple of positions. It was taken in the fall of the year and there were no leaves on the trees and the ground was brown, but due to the then popular habit of air brushing in leaves and grass, the trees on this picture have leaves and the ground is green.

The town is just completing a 15 million dollar upgrade of the sewer and water and repaving the street, hence the porta-potty on the corner, but that is just the way it is. I frankly liked the town much better 20 years ago when we still had just about 10,000 population and the county was maybe 30,000, but that had to change and the new faux-old buildings which have been built have tried to make Castle Rock into something that is never was in history. But, change we must ....