The section house is located at the summit of Boreas Pass and in the late 1800s and early 1900s served as the main building for the Denver, South Pacific, and Pacific Railroad when it made its way over the pass. This area was the site of the highest narrow guage railroad in the United States. During the period between 1870 and 1920, a town of 150 people existed at Boreas Pass helping to maintain the railroad and the trains that passed by. The pass was formerly known as Breckenridge Pass in the 1860s.