Hotel Jerome, Aspen, Colorado Postcard

"Hotel Jerome, Aspen, Colorado" by Catherine Sherman. The Hotel Jerome in Aspen, Colorado, opened in 1889 at the area's silver boom and was the only Aspen hotel to survive the silver crash, even though it had to survive for a while as a boarding house. The Hotel Jerome is located on East Main Street (State Highway 82) in Aspen, Colorado, United States. The three-storey brick building is often described as one of the city's major landmarks. In 1986 the hotel was listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It was built by Jerome B. Wheeler, at the time co-owner of Macy's and a major investor in Aspen during its early boom years. He wanted the city to have a hotel that equaled European ones in its refinements and amenities. It was one of the first buildings west of the Mississippi to have full electric lighting and it has the only above ground ballroom in Aspen. During Prohibition a celebrated spiked drink, the Aspen Crud, was invented at its J-Bar. Later, the drink and bar became popular with members of the Tenth Mountain Division while they trained in the area. After the war, Aspen and its new ski resort became a popular destination, and celebrities vacationing in Aspen often stayed at the Jerome, and it became known as a place where they and the locals freely mingled.