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1. How does the City decide how long to keep its records?

The City of Durango has adopted the Colorado Model Municipal Records Retention Schedule. This schedule, which is available for you to search and use online, describes how long the various types of City records must be kept. The URL is https://www.colorado.gov/pacific/archives/municipal-records-retention-manual and for your benefit a single searchable 163-page PDF file of the entire Schedule is located here on the City’s website (the multi-page index is at the end of that document).

2. How can I learn more about the history of the City of Durango?

We have published a number of booklets to give you a quick introduction to some of the historical aspects of the City of Durango. All of them are available to you on the City's website at http://durangogov.org/index.aspx?NID=190 -- in the Histories "Search Type." For starters, you could search for these booklets, by inserting one of these words (with the asterisks around it) in the Subject search box: *interesting* *primer* *tour* *mayors* *lessons* *sister cities* *biking*

3. I am looking for historic photos of Durango--how can I view them online?

• You can search the City's digitized Historical Photos online at http://durangogov.org/index.aspx?NID=190  They focus on the City government itself, and properties the City manages or regulates. 
• To view historic photos of Durango, you might have better results searching Fort Lewis College's Southwest Studies Center site at https://swcenter.fortlewis.edu/Archives/DigitalImages.aspx -- do a Google search of their site for your terms, along with photo*. The Center has some of the archives of the City of Durango, described in the online finding aids. Also, try the Animas Museum's site at http://www.animasmuseum.org/research.html -- which also lists other sites for photos, including the fabulous collection (thousands of them online) at the Denver Public Library's Western History Department.

Search for City Records Online

4. How can I learn more about Greenmount Cemetery?

To recognize some of the persons of Durango buried in this beautiful cemetery, we have produced two biographical walking tours, each with an accompanying map and index.  One is an overall tour of Greenmount, focusing on 72 grave sites; the other takes you to the burial sites of the 158 individuals who were buried during the time frame of the 1918/19 Spanish Flu epidemic.   Both tour guides are accessible on the Learn More About Durango page on this website (along with their maps, which are a separate download there).

The City’s online GIS (Geographic Information Systems) headstones data (accessed at the GIS viewer on the City’s website) may also be interesting to you.  The last page of the introductory general walking tour explains how to zero in on plots and/or names in Greenmount Cemetery, and includes photos of headstones. 

The tour booklets and the map/index one-sheet insert for each walking tour are also available for free on the rack inside the lobby of City Hall, but are not mailed out.

If you have a particular question regarding the City’s records pertaining to a particular personal name and/or plot location at Greenmount, feel free to email the Records Administrator,