1. Breckenridge Ski Resort became Colorado’s first major resort to permit snowboarding.
2. Four O’Clock Run is famous for more than just being an access to point to our Breckenridge hotel. In Christmas Vacation, the scene where Chevy Chase rides into the Walmart parking lot was filmed on Four O’Clock Run; the resort’s longest trail at 3.5 miles. The Walmart parking lot itself was actually filmed 9 miles to the north in Frisco, Colorado.
3. Another movie was filmed at Breckenridge Ski Resort – A-Chair served as the location where Harry got his tongue stuck on the chairlift in Dumb and Dumber.
4. The Town of Breckenridge was founded in the summer of 1859 as a base camp along the Blue River after the discovery of gold in the region.
5. When Breckenridge was originally founded, it was spelled “BreckINridge” in honor of the Vice President at the time, John C. Breckinridge. Two years later this 14th Vice President of the United States decided to take sides with Confederate Army during the Civil War, something the townspeople frowned upon … so they changed the spelling to “BreckENridge.”
6. Breckenridge is Colorado’s largest historic district with over 350 historic structures on the National Register of Historic Places.
7. It snowed for 79 days in a row in 1898.
8. Only 86 inches of snow fell during the winter of 1980-81.
9. The Town of Breckenridge is 7 miles long and 2 miles wide.
10. The yearly Kingdom Days celebration is in response to the town being inadvertently left of the U.S. map in the mid-1800s. The town became known as “Colorado’s Kingdom” until the mistake was rectified nearly 50 years later.
11. The highest lift in North America – the Imperial Express Superchair at Breckenridge Ski Resort – checks in at 12,840 feet.
12. The Gold Pan Saloon, located on historic Main Street, is one of the oldest running pubs in the country (since 1859), and is the oldest working saloon west of the Mississippi (oldest continuous liquor license).
13. The number 300 rings true with averages of 300+ inches of annual snowfall and 300 days of sunshine a year.
14. Colorado’s largest chunk of gold was discovered in Breckenridge in 1887. “Tom’s Baby” weighed in at 13.5 pounds. A larger-than-life bronze sculpture in Prospector Park invites visitors to rub the nugget for luck, while commemorating the historic find and local mining history.
15. Breckenridge’s population dropped down to less than 400 people by 1960, but the ski area came to the rescue and injected new life into the area as the population has now soared to nearly 5,000.
If any or all of these fun facts entice you to come check out Breckenridge for yourself, why not make your home away from home the Wedgewood Lodge? Click here to see what we’re all about.
*Photos courtesy of Breckenridge Ski Resort, Wikimedia Commons, Liam Doran/GoBreck, & Liam Doran/BreckCreate.