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 ygiene's
unusual name recalls a local sanitarium, the Hygiene Home, built in 1886 and torn down in 1926. To many of Colorado's
early travelers, this was not a landscape to be explored, mined, or farmed. Its dry climate and inspiring vistas
attracted many health-seekers, some of whom settled permanently.
"The air is life-giving," wrote explorer and travel writer Isabella Bird.
"The climate of Colorado is considered the finest in North America, and consumptives, asthmatics, dyspeptics, and
sufferers from nervous diseases, are here in hundreds and thousands ...." Hygiene and nearby Lyons became home to a
number of spas and health resorts, providing unique business opportunities for women such as
Lillie Lyon.
Although its sandstone quarries have operated since the 1880s, Lyons now thrives primarily on mountain-bound tourism. Billing itself as the "Gateway to the Rockies," it marks the transition between plains and mountains. |
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