And the West is History: Downtown Durango – ca. 1957

This postcard depicts the 800 block of downtown Durango as it appeared in the late 1950s. The Durango Woolworth store on the left opened in 1928 at 863 Main Ave. In 1941, it moved to this new location next door at 845 Main Ave. By 1958, it had moved one block north to 919 Main Ave. At its peak in 1979, the F.W. Woolworth Co. was the largest department store chain in the world, operating 6,500 stores across the United States. However, by 1996, this number had dropped significantly to just 400 remaining stores, including the Durango location. The Durango store closed for good on Oct. 26, 1997. – Ed Horvat for Animas Museum, edhorvat@animasmuseum.org (Catalog Number: 91.22.18 from the La Plata County Historical Society Photo Collections)