 lorence Molloy and Mabel MacLeay were Boulder's first female taxi drivers. The two widows came to Boulder from Syracuse, New York in 1916. Old-timers remember them as opposites, Mabel being lady-like and petite and Florence a stalwart six-footer. Beginning in 1922, the women ran their taxi business from the Hotel Boulderado. In winter, they ferried riders around Boulder; in summer they took tourists on scenic mountain drives. Jean Sherwood encouraged the two women to open the Double M dude ranch in Gold Hill. There they offered summer vacations, horseback riding, and scenic automobile tours. Sherwood's "Bluebirds" often spent time there. Florence and Mabel wintered at their stone home at 1019 Spruce Street, now Boulder's oldest house. |
