U.S. Cities and Towns: Sapinero, COLORADO (Ghosttown/Unincorporated Community)

Sapinero was originally on the north bank of the Gunnison River, one mile north from its present location (just downstream from the mouth of Soap Creek). Sapinero was originally a stop on the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad's narrow gauge main line between Denver and Salt Lake City. Eventually, a standard gauge route supplanted the Gunnison line, and the narrow gauge's final abandonment came in 1955. In about 1963, when Blue Mesa Dam was built on the Gunnison River below Sapinero, the town was moved and re-established in its present location, prior to the area's inundation by the water of Blue Mesa Reservoir.

Blue Mesa Reservoir, Colorado's largest man made lake. Sapinero at upper right.

THE NAME SAPINERO

When travel in the area was by foot, horseback and wagon, travelers headed west from Gunnison did not have too many obstacles caused by the terrain. When the trail was not following close to the river, the hills were neither too steep nor too long to stop the travelers. However, this easy travel ended 26 miles west of Gunnison. At that point the Gunnison River plunged into the narrow depths of the Black Canyon. Steep rocky slopes and sheer granite walls plunging to the waters edge made continued westward travel along the river impossible. Travel along either rim of the canyon was difficult and often blocked by smaller canyons where tributary streams joined the river. The western end of the valley at the upper end of the Black Canyon was a natural place to stop and to rest before the journey was continued. The little settlement that grew there eventually became known as Sapinero.

Links for more information and Pictures on Sapinero:

• http://oldsapinero.com/

• http://www.coloradopast.com/index.php?category=ghosttowns&subcategory=sawatch&selection=Sapinero

• http://www.ghostdepot.com/rg/mainline/marshall%20route/sapinero.htm

U.S. Cities and Towns: San Bernardino, CALIFORNIA (City on the Move)

San Bernardino's colorful history begins in the early years of the 19th century. Spanish missionaries were the first settlers to the region. They chose the fertile valley at the foot of a majestic mountain range as an outpost for other missionaries who traveled throughout the California territory preaching to the various Indian tribes.

Tradition has it that Father Francisco Dumetz made his last trip from Mission San Gabriel to the San Bernardino Valley and on May 20th, 1810, set up an altar in a planned effort to convert the Indians living there. Padre Dumetz named the area "San Bernardino" after Saint Bernardino of Siena, the patron saint of the day on the Catholic Calendar.

In 1819, Mission San Gabriel established Rancho San Bernardino in the area. The main concern of the missionaries was the spiritual welfare of the Indians, but they also took a part in their material well being, showing their peaceful friends how to bring water down from Mill creek and the best ways to plant and irrigate crops. As the mission flourished, so did the Indians.

Official City Link: http://sbcity.org/default.asp

The Santa Fe Station and Harvey House in San Bernardino

U.S. Cities and Towns: The Town Of Fort White, FLORIDA (Home Of The Ichetucknee River)

The Town of Fort White, named for a former Second Seminole War fort built nearby in 1837, was founded in 1870 and flourished briefly after the arrival of the railroad in 1888.

Phosphate mining and the growing of citrus and cotton sparked a boom that before 1900 made Fort White the second largest city in Columbia County with a population of nearly 2,000. The boom collapsed when severe freezes in the winter of 1896-1897 destroyed the local citrus industry.

Phosphate mining ceased by 1910, and the boll weevil ended cotton farming before World War I.

A handful of historic buildings, such as the Old Fort White School (1915) remain from the town's era of prosperity.

Official Town Link:  http://townoffortwhitefl.com/