Historic Georgetown Inc.

Library of Congress photos show us as we were...

Georgetown, Colorado, in the 1930s, showing a view of Argentine Street with the Clear Creek County Court House and its Annex on the southwest corner of 5th and Argentine Sts. Taken from 5th Street east of Argentine, this court house was sued from 1868, when Georgetown became the county seat, until "will into the 1970s", according to Dave Digerness, author of The Mineral Belt, Volume III. Reproduced from the collections of the Library of Congress, Depression Photo Series.

Looking southwest up Clear Creek Valley from the lot west of the Hotel Del Paris, buildings are on the west side of Taos Street (Taos Square) with the Alpine Hose Building (firehouse) on 5th Street. Sixth Street runs behind photographer and just outside of photo's right. Reproduced from the collections of the Library of Congress, Depression Photo Series.

"Remember Steinbeck's famous lines - 'We ain't gonna die out. People is goin' on.'? That's the feeling which comes through in those pictures. Every single one."

-- Roy Emerson Stryker, ca. 1962

During the Depression years of the 1930s, President Roosevelt created the Resettlement Administration, an agency designed to help tenant and small farmers, as well as migrant workers. Its historical section was headed by Roy Emerson Stryker.

With infectious enthusiasm he dispatched a small cadre of photographers whose ostensible mission was to document the RA's activities. In fact, they took the pictures they and he wanted, going far beyond narrow public relations work.

"We succeeded," wrote Stryker, "in doing exactly what out superiors wanted and said we should do: 'We introduced America to the Americans.'"

Stryker's crew took more than 100,000 photographs, of which more than 75,000 survive in the Library of Congress as the Farm Security Administration-Office of War Information Collection.

A few were taken of the Georgetown-Silver Plume area, some of which are presented here. Copies of several more are at the Tomay Library in Georgetown, who was kind enough to lend these for printing.

With thanks to Steve Leonard and his book of Colorado Trials and Triumphs.

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