Meghan Drueding

Robinson Jeffers had become a literary celebrity by the time photographer Julian P. Graham shot this 1932 portrait of the poet outside Hawk Tower at Tor House.

Tuberculosis (TB) tore through the United States during the 19th and early 20th centuries. Records from 1900 show that the disease, also historically known as consumption, was one of the country’s leading causes of death that year. Doctors often prescribed exposure to fresh air as a treatment, so TB patients flocked to high-elevation areas like Colorado. Louis Dupuy, the proprietor of the Hotel de Paris in Georgetown, Colorado, likely hosted guests who suffered from TB.

As a free service, Route 66 preservationist Ed Klein often advises business owners on the Mother Road. He counsels them to think carefully about their goals for their historic buildings. “I always tell them [to think about]: What was the heyday of this place?” he says. “What was it that people were most excited about?