Silverton Town Hall
The Mayflower Mill
Old Hundred Mine and the Old Hundred Boarding House
Three Exceptional Ways to Get to Silverton
Formerly a booming bonanza town, Silverton is now a quiet mountain retreat and National Historic Landmark. It's an archetype of a Colorado mining community that peaked with the Silver Boom, and has since found a way to survive and settle into a relaxed groove all its own. Visit this hideaway in the scenic San Juan Mountains and tour preserved historic sites that range from a fire-ravaged town hall to a boarding house among the clouds.
Silverton Town Hall
Luck is an often-used word when it comes to mining towns, and in the case of Silverton’s Town Hall, it was bad luck from the beginning. In 1908, when it was being built, the building’s stone façade crumbled down onto 14th Street. In the 1970s, another wall began to fail and had to be re-engineered. But it was a simple spark on a cold November night in 1992 that seemingly sealed the fate of Silverton’s civic center. A raging fire gutted the Town Hall and left the town’s residents with a conundrum: raze it and start over, or reclaim it as it once was.
Just months before the inferno, Silverton’s largest employer—the Sunnyside Mine—abruptly closed, leaving many residents without a job. San Juan County lost half its revenue and Silverton saw its population cut in half. The six-day fire left many residents standing in the street with tears in their eyes. But the people of Silverton weren’t ready to let the fire cripple their town. Through a series of grants, the pink sandstone Town Hall was meticulously rebuilt to its original floor plan, with minor adjustments to bring it up to code. The salvaging of Town Hall became a cathartic healing for the Silverton residents who helped restore and rebuild it. In fact, many were unemployed workers from the mine who learned carpentry and stoneworking skills that could be used later for a new profession. It was largely because of this that the San Juan County Historical Society won the National Honor Award for Historic Preservation from the National Trust for Historic Preservation.
Today, you can walk into the upstairs portion of Town Hall and see photos of the epic fire and the building's reconstruction.
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The Mayflower Mill
Bucking the trend of the post-Depression Colorado mining industry, the Sunnyside Mine and the accompanying Mayflower Mill continued to extract and process base materials such as lead, zinc and copper (with the occasional gold and silver nugget) until 1991. The fully intact mill—which was designated a National Historic Landmark in 2000—is a rarity in the American West: few mills from its day remain. A tour of the mill gives you the chance to see mining innovations of the 20th century up close and personal. Along with the aerial tram that transported ore (and the occasional miner) from the mine to the mill, tours demonstrate thow the mill used sophisticated techniques to extract gold from ore. As a significant piece of San Juan County’s history, the Mayflower Mill was donated to the San Juan County Historical Society shortly after it was shuttered in 1991.
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Old Hundred Mine and the Old Hundred Boarding House
The Old Hundred Mine tapped the veins of Galena Mountain with mild success from 1872 to 1973, when the operation finally closed. Originally staked by a set of German-immigrant brothers—Otto, Gustave and Reinhard Neigold—the mine’s story is one interwoven with high expectations, improbable engineering and ultimately, unrealized dreams. The Neigolds prospected the veins of the peak for 30 years, but never had the resources to dig as deep as they wanted to. In 1904 they sold the outfit to the Old Hundred Mine Company, hoping that annual payments from the company would make them wealthy. For four years, this seemed reasonable, but ultimately the operation dragged into the red and was sold on back taxes in 1924. In the late 1960s, efforts to resurrect the dream were fueled by modern technological advances. Even then, the Old Hundred’s ore failed to yield enough gold to produce a profit.
A tour of the mine takes you deep into the chasms of Galena Mountain, and offers an authentic and enlightening encounter with the inner workings of a 20th-century mine. Take the tour, then impress your friends with the knowledge you've accrued, by using such terms as “tugger-hoist,” “single-jacking” and “air slusher.”
As you exit the mineshaft, you can catch a glimpse of the improbable Old Hundred Boarding House. Located at 12,000 feet on the crumbling face of Galena Mountain, the three-story wood structure once housed 40 miners, who were transported to and from the base of the mountain by the same aerial tram that moved loads of ore off the mountain. Considering the loose rock slope beneath its foundation, the 102-year-old structure seems doomed to collapse. But its demise was put on hold in 1999 with an enormous effort spearheaded by the San Juan County Historical Society, the Colorado Historical Society, the Old Hundred Gold Mining Company, the Colorado Division of Minerals and Geology, and the Bureau of Land Management. By flying materials in by helicopter, a team of carpenters and contractors were able to restore the roof and affix the building to the mountain peak with a series of cable connections.
The boarding house is situated on private land, so bring a pair of binoculars to see the details of its remarkable construction.
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Three Exceptional Ways to Get to Silverton
The Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad continues to weave its way up the Animas River Gorge between Durango and Silverton. Opened in 1882, its original purpose was to carry both freight and passengers, but today, thanks to a booming tourism business in both towns, the coal-fired train continues to shuttle passengers up the scenic canyon without the burden of freight.
The other engineering wonder that connected Silverton with the outside world was the so-called “Million Dollar Highway,” which threaded a course over Red Mountain Pass en route to Ouray. At the time, the road served as an important supply line by linking Silverton to the Uncompahgre River Valley. Today, the cliff-clinging highway is a 24-mile segment of the 236-mile San Juan Skyway Scenic and Historic Byway.
The other scenic road requires four-wheel drive and a lack of fear when it comes to heights. The Alpine Loop Scenic Byway links Silverton with Lake City and Ouray via a network of old mule-cart roads that traverse the San Juan Mountains. The road demands a skilled driver with 4x4 experience, but if you're an intrepid soul who can manage the challenge, the rewards of solitude and unparalleled vistas are priceless.
Did You Know?
In 1906, when the San Juan County Courthouse was completed in Silverton, it appeared that the county’s growth had limitless potential. Today, Silverton is the only incorporated town in San Juan County, with a modest population of 547.
From its groundbreaking to completion, the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad took only 9 months to build. As you ride the train through some of Colorado’s most rugged terrain, take stock in the construction crew’s remarkable efficiency.
Good to Know Before You Go:
Look into purchasing a Silverton Heritage Pass, which will save you 15 percent on admission to three of Silverton’s key historic attractions: the Mayflower Mill, the Old Hundred Mine and the Silverton Museum and Jail. The Silverton Heritage Pass can be purchased at any of these sites.
The drive to Silverton from Ouray over the Million Dollar Highway is only 24 miles long and takes just under an hour. Reaching the town from the south via Highway 550 from Durango, takes an hour and a half.
Town Hall
Free.
Open Monday–Friday, 8 am–noon, and 1–5 pm.
Mayflower Mill
Adults: $6.50
Seniors: $5.50
Kids under 12: Free
Open daily, 10 am–5 pm, Memorial Day–September.
Old Hundred Mine and Boarding House
Adults: $16.95
Seniors: $14.95
Children (ages 5–12): $7.95
Children (ages 4 and under): Free
Open daily, 10 am–4 pm, May–mid-October
http://www.minetour.com
ADA Accessibility:
As part of its revitalization, the Silverton Town Hall was brought up to code and now includes an accessible ramp for those in wheelchairs.
While the interior tour of the Mayflower Mill is not wheelchair accessible, the exterior can be enjoyed.
Tours of the Old Hundred Mine are fully ADA accessible.
For another attraction that is wheelchair accessible, visit The Mining Heritage Center of the Silverton Museum and Jail.
The Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad offers a lift car to receive wheelchairs.
Town of Silverton
Located 49 miles north of Durango on Highway 550 in Southwest Colorado.
www.silvertoncolorado.com
(800) 752-4494 (Silverton Chamber of Commerce)
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This project is partially funded by a State Historical Fund grant award from the Colorado Historical Society.
Colorado's Historic Sites
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