Photo used by permission. Thanks John! Click on the photo for more of John's great pics!
In 1860, an expedition led by Captain Charles Baker
arrived in the San Juan mountains. Reports of seemingly inexhaustible placer
brought a stampede of miners to the area in the same year. The first mining
claim in the San Juans was staked in 1871. The town site of Silverton
was selected in 1873. At the general election in 1874,
the county seat of La Plata County, which
included Ouray, San Juan, Dolores, and part of San Miguel counties was moved
from Howardsville to Silverton.
Two big mines, the Yankee Girl and the Guston
were discovered August
12, 1881. The Genessee-Vanderbilt followed in 1882, and the National Bell in 1883.
Other mines in the area were the Toltec, the Golden Fleece, the
Tom Moore, the Silver Wing, the Sound Democrat,
the Pride of the West, the Green Mountain, the Highland Mary,
the Little Nation, the Iowa Tiger, the Gold Prince
and the Old Hundred.
The Idarado mine is a vast complex of ore rich mines including Liberty Bell, Smuggler Union,
Tomboy,
Black Bear, and others and has more than ninety miles
of tunnels going through the mountain to the
Pandora mine at Telluride. The Idarado closed in November, 1978.
As recently as 1975, it had almost
500 employees and was a major producer of lead, zinc, copper, gold, and silver.
The Molas Divide near Silverton Colorado.
Photo by John Clethero. Click on the Pic to see his website!
Silverton in located in a secluded mountain valley,
high in the San Juan Mountain range. ( 9318 ft.)
Silverton is the county seat of San Juan County,
and is the ONLY community in San Juan County.
Silverton has approximately 500 year-round residents.
The population of the county peaked in 1900, at 5000 inhabitants.
This county has the highest mean elevation
of any county in the United States. There is not one acre of agricultural
land in the entire county as the growing season here is approximately 14 days.
For More Information Contact:
Silverton Chamber of Commerce
1-800-752-4494 e-mail
P.O. Box 565
Silverton, CO 81433
(970) 387-5654
