This week in Aspen History

“One of City’s landmarks was blown down today,” announced the Aspen Democrat-Times on May 6, 1911. “The Tagert barn on Cooper Avenue, between Mill and Aspen streets, was blown down at noon today. The building was erected in the early days of the camp from the first lumber cut at the McFarlane mill on Hunter creek. The building was two stories high with stall room for a hundred horses in the basement. It was a most pretentious structure and was considered the best equipped livery in the state outside of Denver and Colorado Springs when the Clarendon hotel, which was situated on the same block, was in its prime and when nothing was too good for Aspen and the monied people who came here to invest in the mines while yet silver was queen. Some time ago the property was acquired by W.C. Tagert and later occupied by Sherm Smulling as a livery barn. Winter before last a portion of the building was converted into an ice skating rink. This was torn down a month or so ago. The building which was blown down today was used by Mr. Tagert to store extra buggies, sleds, transfer and delivery bobs belonging to a number of business concerns. The heavier vehicles were not much damaged, but a number of top buggies stored in the middle of the building were badly wrecked. At this writing it is impossible to give the amount of loss sustained. Thus one by one the old landmarks are passing away. A number of fences were also blown down in other portions of the city.”