List of ghost towns in Colorado
Carson
Plata
This is a list of some ghost towns in the U.S. State of Colorado. Colorado has over 1,500 ghost towns, although visible remains of only about 640 still exist. Due to incomplete records and legends that are now accepted as fact, no exhaustive list can realistically be produced.
Colorado ghost towns[]
Most Colorado ghost towns were abandoned for the following reasons:
- Mining towns were abandoned when the mines closed; many due to the devaluation of silver in 1893.
- Mill towns were abandoned when the mining towns they serviced closed.
- Farming towns on the eastern plains were often deserted due to rural depopulation.
- Coal towns were abandoned when the coal (or the need for it) ran out.
- Stage stops were abandoned when the railroad came through.
- Rail stops were deserted when the railroad changed routes or abandoned the spurs.
Others were abandoned for more unusual reasons. Some were resort towns which never brought in enough tourists. One or two former townsites are now underwater, caused by the creation of reservoirs; a few are covered in mining tailings, as noted below. Of the list below, some involve settlements with visible tangible remains such as structures or cemeteries, while the precise location of others is known only through maps and historic accounts.
Table of Colorado ghost towns[]
The following is a sortable table of some of the most notable Colorado ghost towns.
Notes[]
- ^ Arapahoe City was the original seat of Jefferson County, Jefferson Territory.
- ^ Autobees was the original seat of Huerfano County, Colorado Territory.
- ^ is now submerged in Eleven Mile Reservoir.
- ^ Iola is now submerged in Blue Mesa Reservoir.
- ^ McPhee is now submerged in McPhee Reservoir.
- ^ Mount Vernon was the home of Territorial Governor Robert Williamson Steele and administrative capital of the Provisional Government of the Territory of Jefferson.
- ^ Oro City was the original seat of Lake County, Colorado Territory.
- ^ was the original seat of Summit County, Colorado Territory.
- ^ was the original seat of St. Vrain's County, Jefferson Territory and Weld County, Colorado Territory.
- ^ was the original seat of Costilla County, Colorado Territory.
- ^ Most of the town of Stout is now submerged in Horsetooth Reservoir.
- ^ Tarryall City was the original seat of Park County, Jefferson Territory and Park County, Colorado Territory.
Gallery[]
Abandoned buildings at Animas Forks, Colorado.
Houses along Ashcroft, Colorado's Main Street, 2007.
Token coin with the value of $1.00, issued by the Rawley Mine Commissary in Bonanza, Colorado.
Caribou, Colorado circa 1911.
Caribou, Colorado in 2005.
The remains of an old cabin at Dyersville, Colorado.
An abandoned house in Eastonville, Colorado.
The Arcade Saloon in Eldora, Colorado in 1898.
Remains of the old ore mill in Eureka, Colorado.
Remains of the Bassick silver mine, Querida, Colorado.
Saint Elmo, Colorado in 2005.
See also[]
- Colorado
- Bibliography of Colorado
- Index of Colorado-related articles
- Outline of Colorado
- Colorado statistical areas
- Geography of Colorado
- History of Colorado
- List of counties in Colorado
- List of places in Colorado
- List of protected areas of Colorado
References[]
- Writers' Program of the Work Projects Administration in the State of Colorado (1947). Ghost towns of Colorado. Hastings House.
- Bauer, Carolyn (1987). Colorado Ghost Towns: Remnants of the Mining Days. Primer Publishers. ISBN 1-55838-067-1.
- Boyd, Leanne; H. Glenn Carson (1984). Atlas of Colorado Ghost Towns. Carson Enterprises. ISBN 0-941620-19-0.
- Brown, Robert (1972). Colorado Ghost Towns - Past and Present. Caxton Press. ISBN 0-87004-218-1.
- Brown, Robert (2003). Ghost Towns of the Colorado Rockies. Caxton Press. ISBN 0-87004-342-0.
- Brown, Robert (1963). Jeep Trails to Colorado Ghost Towns. Caxton Press. ISBN 0-87004-021-9.
- Dallas, Sandra (1988). Colorado Ghost Towns and Mining Camps. Norman, Oklahoma: University of Oklahoma Press. ISBN 0-8061-2084-3.
- Eberhart, Perry (1959). Guide to the Colorado Ghost Towns and Mining Camps.
External links[]
Definitions from Wiktionary
Media from Wikimedia Commons
News from Wikinews
Quotations from Wikiquote
Texts from Wikisource
Textbooks from Wikibooks
Resources from Wikiversity
- Colorado state government website
- Colorado tourism website
- History Colorado website
- Full Resolution Ghost Town and Historic Photos by Coloradopast.com
- Colorado Ghost Town Photos by Rocky Mountain Profiles
Coordinates: 38°59′50″N 105°32′52″W / 38.9972°N 105.5478°W
- Ghost towns in Colorado
- Colorado geography-related lists
- Colorado history-related lists
- Lists of places in Colorado
- American Old West-related lists
- Lists of ghost towns in the United States