About Us

A Look Back at Telluride, Colorado

"Telluride remains deliciously unspoiled, still cocooned in a time-capsule of sorts, with a main street positively reeking of 19th- Century ambiance." ~ Financial Times

Wrapped in its majestic landscape and remote location you will find the history of Telluride, Colorado. Telluride was one of the last places in the country to be mapped and early surveyors marveled at its beauty and bounty. Although the romance of snow keeps Telluride there, the discovery of gold and silver put it on the map.

Ute people were the first visitors to the Telluride Valley. These visitors used the summer for hunting and the winter to find shelter and dry grounds.

Finns, Swedes, Irish, Cornish, French, Italians, Germans and Chinese who came to seek their fortune made Telluride their melting pot. In 1880, the coming of the railroad brought the population to 5,000 people. The town boasted all the amenities of a thriving community, plus saloons, gambling and a much-heralded red-light district. Mining for silver, gold, zinc, lead and copper resulted in an impressive 350 miles of tunnels that honey-comb the mountains at the east end of the valley. The wealth of Telluride attracted the likes of Butch Cassidy and his “Wild Bunch” who made a brazen bank withdrawal in 1889. Cassidy and his gang wrested $24,000 from the San Miguel National Bank, none of which was ever recovered.

Telluride was resurrected in the 1970s by another kind of gold: SNOW. When a small group of wishful locals led by miner Billy Mahoney Sr. joined forces with newcomer Joe Zoline, a ski area was carved out of the mountain on the south side of town.

Officially opening in December of 1972, the area had five lifts and more vertical skiing than mountains twice its size. The ski resort reshaped the economy and new life came to Telluride. Ski bums, hippies and entrepreneurs looking for a new frontier joined the mining community and revived the town.

Telluride’s population today still falls short of its mining heyday, languishing at around 2000 residents. The character of this once boisterous mining community has been shaped by the rugged beauty that surrounds it. Only the faces that enjoy it have changed.

The staff of Smuggler’s Brew Pub & Grille welcomes you to Telluride and hopes you enjoy your stay. All of our handcrafted Award winning Ales and Lagers are created in our 7 bbl brewhouse in the basement just below the restaurant. If the Brewery door is open pop in for a tour or ask your server.