Editing Silverton, Colorado (section)

== History ==
{{Infobox NRHP
 | name                     = Silverton Historic District
 | nrhp_type                = nhld
 | nocat                    = yes
 | image                    = SilvertonHotel.jpg
 | caption                  = Grand Imperial Hotel, Silverton Historic District in 1971
 | location                 = Silverton, Colorado
 | locmapin                 = Colorado#USA
 | area                     = {{convert|695|acre|ha}}
 | built                    = 1882
 | architect                = 
 | architecture             = Late Victorian
 | designated_nrhp_type     = July 4, 1961<ref name="nhlsum">{{cite web|url=http://tps.cr.nps.gov/nhl/detail.cfm?ResourceId=156&ResourceType=District|title=Silverton Historic District|access-date=October 13, 2007|work=National Historic Landmark summary listing|publisher=National Park Service|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080104184848/http://tps.cr.nps.gov/nhl/detail.cfm?ResourceId=156&ResourceType=District|archive-date=January 4, 2008}}</ref>
 | added                    = October 15, 1966
 | increase                 = April 3, 1997
 | refnum                   = 66000255
 | increase_refnum          = 97000247<ref name="nris">{{NRISref|2007a}}</ref>
}}

=== Mining era ===
[[File:Abandoned Mine at Silverton, Colorado.jpg|thumb|An abandoned mine in Silverton]]
[[File:Abandoned mine in the San Juan Mountains, just above Silverton, Colorado.jpg|thumb|An abandoned mine just above Silverton]]
[[File:Remains of an Abandoned Mine's Ore Chute near Silverton, Colorado.jpg|thumb|Remains of an abandoned mine's ore bin along the Million Dollar Highway between Durango & Silverton]]

Settlements in the area surrounding present-day Silverton began in 1860 after a group of prospectors led by Charles Baker made their way into the [[San Juan Mountains]] searching for gold. The area was soon referred to as "Baker's Park", and the group found traces of placer gold nearby.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|last=Twitty|first=Eric|date=March 1992|title=Historic Mining Resources of San Juan County, Colorado|url=https://www.historycolorado.org/sites/default/files/media/document/2017/655.pdf|access-date=May 18, 2021|website=National Register of Historic Places}}.</ref>

Long before settlement, the area was regularly explored by the [[Ancestral Puebloans|Anasazi]], and later the [[Ute people|Utes]], who hunted and lived in the San Juans during the summer.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book|last=Smith|first=Duane A.|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/56351338|title=A brief history of Silverton|date=2004|publisher=Western Reflections Pub|isbn=1-890437-95-6|edition=2nd|location=Montrose, Colo.|pages=102|oclc=56351338}}</ref> There is also speculation that Spanish explorers and fur traders ventured into the area before Baker's 1860 expedition.<ref name=":1" />

After the Brunot Agreement with the Utes in 1873, which exchanged {{convert|4|e6acre|sqmi km2|abbr=unit|spell=in}} for the [[Southern Ute Indian Reservation]] and $25,000 per year, several mining camps were constructed.<ref name="Voynick">Voynick, S.M., 1992, Colorado Gold, Missoula: Mountain Press Publishing Company, {{ISBN|0878424555}}</ref> These would later become the communities of [[Howardsville, Colorado|Howardsville]], [[Eureka, Colorado|Eureka]], and Silverton.

Silverton was founded by mining entrepreneurs William Kearnes, Dempsey Reese, and Thomas Blair in 1874.<ref name=":0" /> The region boomed after George Howard and R. J. McNutt discovered the Sunnyside silver vein along Hurricane Peak. Gold was then discovered in 1882, which helped the region weather the [[Panic of 1893]] far better than other mining communities, such as Aspen or [[Creede, Colorado|Creede]].<ref name="GR2" /><ref name=":0" /> The '''Sunnyside Mine''' would become one of Colorado's longest running and most productive mines.<ref name=":2">{{Cite web|last=Bunyak|first=Dawn|date=1997|title=Silverton Historic District (boundary increase).|url=https://npgallery.nps.gov/GetAsset/e0fb36cb-f366-4243-b472-95ef79a73ec1|access-date=May 18, 2021|website=National Register of Historic Places}}</ref> The mine was shut down after the [[1929 stock market crash]], but was acquired by Standard Metals Corp. in 1959, and reopened, finding gold in 1973 with the Little Mary vein. The region's economy was dealt a devastating blow in 1992 when the mine and the corresponding Shenandoah-Dives mill, the last operating in the region, permanently closed.<ref name=":3">{{Cite web|last=Russek|first=Melanie|date=n.d.|title=Resiliency Plan for Silverton & San Juan County, Colorado|url=https://www.nado.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/SJC-Resilency-Plan-2020-Final-002.pdf|access-date=May 18, 2021|website=National Association of Development Organizations.}}</ref><ref name=":2" /> The closure meant the end of jobs for over one third of Silverton's workforce.<ref name=":3" />

=== Tourism era ===
The town has a long history of tourism and efforts to market tourism by the Silverton Commercial Club (now the Chamber of Commerce) dates back as early as 1913.<ref name=":1" /> By the 1930s, interest in the “Old West” was already attracting tourists from around the world, for which the newly constructed U.S. Route 550 further enabled access.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Weiser-Alexander|first=Kathy|date=2021|title=Silverton, Colorado – High in the San Juans|url=https://www.legendsofamerica.com/silverton-colorado/3/|access-date=May 18, 2021|website=Legends of America}}</ref> Tourism continued to increase in the latter part of the 20th century, but Silverton's harsh winters and isolation made it a summer-only attraction.<ref name=":1" /> Following the closure of Sunnyside, Silverton lost much of its tax base as the town's population dwindled to just over 500, a quarter of its peak population one hundred years earlier.<ref>{{Cite web|title=1910 Census Supplement For Colorado (p. 583).|url=https://www2.census.gov/library/publications/decennial/1910/abstract/supplement-co.pdf|access-date=May 18, 2021|website=U.S. Census Bureau}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|date=2003|title=Colorado: 2000, Population and Housing Unit Counts (Report No. PHC-3-7) (p. 11)|url=https://www.census.gov/prod/cen2000/phc-3-7.pdf|access-date=May 18, 2021|website=US Census Bureau}}</ref><ref name=":2" />

[[File:An Invitation from San Juan County Silverton Colorado.jpg|thumb|left|1911 Brochure inviting tourists to Silverton]]

The town's scenic {{cvt|3|ft}} [[narrow-gauge]] railroad, originally built by the [[Denver and Rio Grande Railroad]] (later renamed the Denver and Rio Grande Western or D&RGW) primarily to haul ore to Durango, became popular as a tourist attraction, and this traffic increased after World War II when the line was featured in several popular [[western film]]s and its staff began actively promoting tourism. As mining and other rail freight declined, the D&RGW petitioned the [[Interstate Commerce Commission]] in 1960 to abandon the line, but the petition was denied due to the strong tourist traffic.<ref name=":4"/> In December 1968, the D&RGW discontinued service on its [[Alamosa–Durango line]] west of [[Antonito, Colorado]], and formally abandoned the line in 1969, severing Silverton's only remaining connection to the national rail network.<ref name=":4">{{Cite web|last=Weiser-Alexander|first=Kathey|date=2018|title=Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad|url=https://www.legendsofamerica.com/durango-silverton-railroad/|access-date=May 18, 2021|website=Legends of America}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.drgw.net/info/SanJuanExtension |title=The San Juan Extension |website=drgw.net |access-date=December 22, 2024}}</ref> The Silverton–Durango line now served tourists exclusively, and in 1980, the D&RGW sold it to an independent operator who renamed it the [[Durango and Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad]] (D&SNG). Operations continue today, bringing several trainloads of tourists to Silverton daily during operating season, and the D&SNG also operates a museum in the town.<ref name=":4"/>

The town's population, buoyed by strong summer tourism and an emerging winter economy, has since recovered.<ref name="GR2" /> The construction of the expert-level ski area [[Silverton Mountain]] in 2002 marked the beginning of Silverton's year-round tourism. Another ski area, the [[Purgatory Resort]], is marketed as being within the Durango Metropolitan Area but is actually closer to Silverton than it is to Durango. Winter festivals such as [[Skijoring]] have brought crowds that rival those in the summer,<ref>{{Cite web|last=Owen|first=Faith|date=February 2020|title=Silverton skijoring: The most extreme sporting event of the winter.|url=https://www.360durango.com/blog/Durango-Events/Silverton-Skijoring-the-Most-Extreme-Sporting-Event-of-the-Winte.html|access-date=May 18, 2021|website=360Durango.Com}}</ref> and the potential for new winter activities such as the expansion of the town-operated ski hill could permanently improve Silverton's winter tourism. The town has also become well known for its winter backcountry activities such as snowmobiling, ice climbing, and backcountry skiing.

Both the town and the rail line were designated a [[National Historic Landmark]] in 1961. In 1966, the entire town was placed on the [[National Register of Historic Places]]. These boundaries were expanded in 1997 with the addition of the Shenandoah-Dives mill and other historical structures.<ref name=":2" /> The town's only grocery store is the Silverton Grocery & Deli, formerly called the Greene Street Grocery.<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VDCDDx_v3Ok Short 2024 documentary made by [[Rocky Mountain PBS]]</ref>

=== Notable disasters ===
The area surrounding Silverton has been the scene of several well-documented disasters, many of them due to avalanches and mining accidents.

==== 1906 avalanches ====
Five miners perished in a slide at the Sunnyside mine in January 1906. Only a few months later, twelve miners were killed in another slide at the Shenandoah Mine, making it one of the most deadly slides in the history of Colorado.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Shenandoah Mine Avalanche|url=https://usminedisasters.miningquiz.com/saxsewell/shenandoah_news_only.htm|access-date=May 20, 2021|website=usminedisasters.miningquiz.com|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Bohlen|first=Teague|date=January 13, 2017|title=The Ten Worst Avalanches in Colorado History|url=https://www.westword.com/news/the-ten-worst-avalanches-in-colorado-history-8687198|access-date=May 20, 2021|website=Westword}}</ref>

==== 1918 influenza pandemic ====
The [[Spanish flu|Spanish Flu]] arrived in Silverton near the end of October 1918, and quickly devastated the community. In a single week, 125 people, more than 5% of the town's population, perished from flu complications.<ref>{{Cite web|date=June 28, 2020|title=The "Spanish" Flu of 1918|url=https://www.silvertonstandard.com/news/spanish-flu-1918|access-date=May 20, 2021|website=Silverton Standard|language=en}}</ref> By the time the pandemic waned the following March, 246 people had died, accounting to more than 10% of the population.<ref name=":5">{{Cite web|title=In 1918, flu pandemic ravaged Southwest Colorado|url=https://www.durangoherald.com/articles/in-1918-flu-pandemic-ravaged-southwest-colorado/|access-date=May 20, 2021|website=Durango Herald|language=en-US}}</ref> This gave Silverton the dubious honor of having the highest mortality rate for the Spanish Flu in the entire nation.<ref name=":5" />

==== Lake Emma disaster ====
On June 4, 1978, when the water from Lake Emma collapsed into Sunnyside mine, shooting out of a portal with a force that toppled a 20-ton locomotive.<ref name=":6">{{Cite web|date=August 8, 2015|title=Animas River: EPA's Colorado mine disaster plume flows west toward Grand Canyon|url=http://www.denverpost.com/environment/ci_28608746/epas-colorado-mine-disaster-plume-flows-west-toward}}</ref> Fortunately, no injuries were reported as disaster occurred on a Sunday when nobody was present in the mine.<ref name=":6" />

==== Gold King Mine disaster ====
In 2015, the EPA and its contractors [[2015 Gold King Mine waste water spill|caused an environmental catastrophe]] when they accidentally destroyed the plug holding water trapped inside the Gold King Mine, which caused three million US gallons (eleven thousand cubic meters) of [[Acid mine drainage|mine waste water]] and [[tailings]], to flow into a tributary of the [[Animas River]].