Editing Silverton, Colorado

{{short description|Town in Colorado, United States}}
{{Use American English|date=January 2025}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=April 2024}}
{{Infobox settlement
| official_name      = Silverton, Colorado
| other_name         = 
| native_name        = <!-- for cities whose native name is not in English -->
| nickname           = 
| settlement_type    = [[Town]]
| motto              = 
<!-- images and maps -->
| image_skyline      = Silverton.jpg
| image_caption      = 
| image_flag         = 
| flag_size          = 
| image_seal         = 
| seal_size          = 
| image_shield       = 
| shield_size        = 
| image_map          = File:San Juan County Colorado Incorporated and Unincorporated areas Silverton Highlighted 0870580.svg
| mapsize            = 250x200px
| map_caption        = Location of Silverton in San Juan County, Colorado.
| pushpin_map        = <!-- the name of a location map as per http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template:Location_map -->
| pushpin_map_caption = 
| pushpin_mapsize    = 
<!-- Location -->
| subdivision_type   = [[List of sovereign states|Country]]
| subdivision_name   = {{USA}}
| subdivision_type1  = [[U.S. state|State]]
| subdivision_name1  = {{flag|Colorado|name=State of Colorado}}
| subdivision_type2  = [[List of counties in Colorado|County]]<ref name=COMun>{{cite web | url = http://www.dola.state.co.us/dlg/local_governments/municipalities.html | title = Active Colorado Municipalities | publisher = [[Colorado|State of Colorado]], Department of Local Affairs | access-date = September 1, 2007 | url-status = dead | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20091212060308/http://www.dola.state.co.us/dlg/local_governments/municipalities.html | archive-date = December 12, 2009 }}</ref>
| subdivision_name2  = [[San Juan County, Colorado|San Juan County]] - [[County seat|seat]]<ref name=CountySeatsCO>{{cite web|url=http://www.cdphe.state.co.us/hs/cntyseat.html|title=Colorado County Seats|publisher=[[State of Colorado]], Department of Public Health and Environment|access-date=December 31, 2007}}</ref>
| government_footnotes = 
| government_type    = [[Colorado municipalities#Statutory town|Statutory Town]]<ref name=COMun/>
| leader_title       = [[Mayor]]
| leader_name        = Dayna Kranker
| leader_title1      = 
| leader_name1       = 
| established_title  = Established
| established_date   = September 15, 1874
| established_title2 = [[Municipal corporation|Incorporated]]
| established_date2  = November 15, 1885<ref name=MuniIncCO>{{cite web | url = http://www.colorado.gov/dpa/doit/archives/muninc.html | title = Colorado Municipal Incorporations | publisher = [[Colorado|State of Colorado]], Department of Personnel & Administration, Colorado State Archives | date = December 1, 2004 | access-date = September 2, 2007}}</ref>
| established_title3 = 
| established_date3  = 
| unit_pref          = Imperial
| area_footnotes     = <ref name="CenPopGazetteer2019">{{cite web|title=2019 U.S. Gazetteer Files|url=https://www2.census.gov/geo/docs/maps-data/data/gazetteer/2019_Gazetteer/2019_gaz_place_08.txt|publisher=United States Census Bureau|access-date=July 1, 2020}}</ref>
| area_total_km2     = 2.16
| area_land_km2      = 2.16
| area_water_km2     = 0.00
| area_total_sq_mi   = 0.83
| area_land_sq_mi    = 0.83
| area_water_sq_mi   = 0.00
<!-- Population -->
| population_as_of   = [[2020 United States census|2020]]
| population_footnotes = <ref name="Census 2020">{{cite web |url=https://data.census.gov/profile/Silverton_town,_Colorado?g=160XX00US0870580 |title=Silverton town, Colorado |author=United States Census Bureau|date= |website= |publisher= |access-date=April 5, 2023 |quote=}}</ref>
| population_note    = 
| population_total   = 622
| population_density_km2 = auto
| population_density_sq_mi = auto
<!-- General information -->
| timezone           = [[Mountain Time Zone|Mountain (MST)]]
| utc_offset         = -7
| timezone_DST       = [[Mountain Time Zone|MDT]]
| utc_offset_DST     = -6
| coordinates        = {{coord|37|48|39|N|107|39|53|W|region:US_type:city|display=inline,title}}
| elevation_footnotes = <ref name=gnis/>
| elevation_ft       = 9302
<!-- Area/postal codes & others -->
| postal_code_type   = [[ZIP code]]<ref name=ZIPcode>{{cite web | url = http://zip4.usps.com/zip4/citytown.jsp | title = ZIP Code Lookup | format = [[JavaScript]]/[[HTML]] | publisher = [[United States Postal Service]] | access-date = January 2, 2008 | url-status = dead | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20101122200027/http://zip4.usps.com/zip4/citytown.jsp | archive-date = November 22, 2010 }}</ref>
| postal_code        = 81433 ([[PO Box]])
| area_code          = [[Area code 970|970]]
| blank_name         = [[Federal Information Processing Standard|FIPS code]]
| blank_info         = 08-70580
| blank1_name        = [[Geographic Names Information System|GNIS]] feature ID
| blank1_info        = 2413289<ref name=gnis>{{GNIS|2413289}}</ref>
| website            = {{URL|https://townofsilverton.colorado.gov/}}
| pop_est_as_of      = 
| pop_est_footnotes  = 
| population_est     = 
}}

'''Silverton''' is a [[List of municipalities in Colorado#Statutory town|statutory town]] that is the [[county seat]], the most populous community, and the only [[List of municipalities in Colorado|incorporated municipality]] in [[San Juan County, Colorado|San Juan County]], [[Colorado]], United States.<ref name=COMun/><ref name="GR6">{{cite web|url=http://www.naco.org/Counties/Pages/FindACounty.aspx|access-date=June 7, 2011|title=Find a County|publisher=National Association of Counties}}</ref> The town is located in a remote part of the western [[San Juan Mountains]], a range of the [[Rocky Mountains]]. The first mining claims were made in mountains above the Silverton in 1860, near the end of the [[Pike's Peak Gold Rush|Colorado Gold Rush]] and when the land was still controlled by the [[Ute people|Utes]].<ref name=":2" /> Silverton was established shortly after the Utes ceded the region in the [[Brunot Agreement|1873 Brunot Agreement]], and the town [[Boomtown|boomed]] from silver mining until the [[Panic of 1893]] led to a collapse of the silver market, and boomed again from gold mining until the recession caused by the [[Panic of 1907]].<ref name=":0" /> The entire town is included as a federally designated [[National Historic Landmark District]], the '''Silverton Historic District'''.

Originally called "Bakers Park", Silverton sits in a flat area of the [[Animas River]] valley and is surrounded by steep peaks. Most of the peaks surrounding Silverton are [[thirteener]]s. The highest being [[Storm Peak (Colorado)|Storm Peak]], at 13,487 feet.<ref>{{Cite web|title=14ers.com • 13er Storm Peak A|url=https://www.14ers.com/13ers/peak.php?peakkey=2770|access-date=May 19, 2021|website=www.14ers.com}}</ref> The town is less than 15 miles from 7 of Colorado's 53 [[List of Colorado fourteeners|fourteeners]], and is known as one of the premier gateways into the Colorado backcountry.

Silverton's last operating mine closed in 1992, and the community now depends primarily on tourism and government remediation and preservation projects. Silverton is well known because of the [[Durango and Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad]], a former mine train that is now a National Historic Landmark, and internationally recognized events such as the [[Hardrock Hundred Mile Endurance Run]]. The town population was 622 at the [[2020 United States census|2020 census]].<ref name="Census 2020" />

== 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]].

==Demographics==
{{US Census population
|1900= 1360
|1910= 2153
|1920= 1150
|1930= 1301
|1940= 1127
|1950= 1375
|1960= 822
|1970= 797
|1980= 794
|1990= 716
|2000= 531
|2010= 637
|2020= 622
}}

As of the [[census]]<ref name="GR2">{{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov|publisher=[[United States Census Bureau]]|access-date=January 31, 2008|title=U.S. Census website}}</ref> of 2000, there were 531 people, 255 households, and 149 families residing in the town. The population density was {{convert|656.0|PD/sqmi|PD/km2|sp=us|adj=off}}. There were 430 housing units at an average density of {{convert|531.2|/mi2|/km2|disp=preunit|units&nbsp;|units|}}. The racial makeup of the town was 97.36% [[White (U.S. Census)|White]], 0.75% [[Native American (U.S. Census)|Native American]], 0.38% [[Pacific Islander (U.S. Census)|Pacific Islander]], 0.75% from [[Race (United States Census)|other races]], and 0.75% from two or more races. [[Hispanic (U.S. Census)|Hispanic]] or [[Latino (U.S. Census)|Latino]] of any race were 7.72% of the population.

There were 255 households, out of which 24.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 43.5% were [[Marriage|married couples]] living together, 9.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 41.2% were non-families. 36.9% of all households were made up of individuals, and 4.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.06 and the average family size was 2.63.

20.7% of town residents were under the age of 18, 4.0% from 18 to 24, 28.4% from 25 to 44, 39.9% from 45 to 64, and 7.0% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 44 years. For every 100 females, there were 108.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 110.5 males.

The median income for a household in the town was $30,486, and the median income for a family was $39,375. Males had a median income of $30,588 versus $19,886 for females. The [[per capita income]] for the town was $16,839. About 14.0% of families and 21.6% of the population were below the [[poverty line]], including 29.4% of those under age 18 and 7.1% of those age 65 or over.

The local school system has a total of 53 K-through-12 students as of November 2006.

==Geography==
According to the [[United States Census Bureau]], the town has a total area of {{convert|0.8|sqmi|km2}}, all of it land. Silverton is one of the highest towns in the United States, at {{convert|9,318|ft|m}} above sea level. The town is located in [[San Juan County, Colorado|San Juan County]], the highest county in the United States, with a mean elevation of {{convert|11,240|ft|m|abbr=off|sp=us}}. Silverton sits in a flat area of the [[Animas River]] valley and is surrounded by several [[thirteener]]s, the highest being Storm Peak, at 13,487 feet. The town is less than 15 miles from seven of Colorado's 53 "[[List of Colorado fourteeners|fourteeners]]", ''i.e.'', mountain peaks with a summit elevation of at least {{convert|14,000|ft|m|abbr=off|sp=us}}.

==Climate==
Silverton has an alpine [[subarctic climate]] ([[Köppen climate classification]] ''Dfc'') with very cold, snowy winters and cool to warm summers with adequate precipitation year-round.
{{Weather box
|location = Silverton, Colorado, 1991–2020 normals, 1904-2020 extremes: {{convert|9285|ft|m|abbr=on}}
|single line = Yes
|collapsed = Yes
|Jan record high F = 62
|Feb record high F = 61
|Mar record high F = 68
|Apr record high F = 72
|May record high F = 82
|Jun record high F = 96
|Jul record high F = 93
|Aug record high F = 92
|Sep record high F = 88
|Oct record high F = 78
|Nov record high F = 68
|Dec record high F = 65
|year record high F =

|Jan avg record high F = 48.3
|Feb avg record high F = 50.3
|Mar avg record high F = 55.9
|Apr avg record high F = 62.4
|May avg record high F = 70.9
|Jun avg record high F = 79.2
|Jul avg record high F = 82.1
|Aug avg record high F = 79.2
|Sep avg record high F = 75.3
|Oct avg record high F = 68.4
|Nov avg record high F = 58.7
|Dec avg record high F = 47.3
|year avg record high F = 82.6

|Jan high F = 34.4
|Feb high F = 36.3
|Mar high F = 42.7
|Apr high F = 48.2
|May high F = 58.4
|Jun high F = 70.0
|Jul high F = 74.7
|Aug high F = 71.9
|Sep high F = 65.6
|Oct high F = 55.0
|Nov high F = 43.0
|Dec high F = 33.5
|year high F =

|Jan mean F = 14.3
|Feb mean F = 16.7
|Mar mean F = 24.4
|Apr mean F = 32.6
|May mean F = 41.9
|Jun mean F = 50.5
|Jul mean F = 56.5
|Aug mean F = 54.4
|Sep mean F = 47.7
|Oct mean F = 37.6
|Nov mean F = 25.0
|Dec mean F = 14.4
|year mean F =

|Jan low F = -5.9
|Feb low F = -2.8
|Mar low F = 6.1
|Apr low F = 17.0
|May low F = 25.4
|Jun low F = 31.0
|Jul low F = 38.3
|Aug low F = 37.0
|Sep low F = 29.7
|Oct low F = 20.1
|Nov low F = 7.0
|Dec low F = -4.6
|year low F =

|Jan avg record low F = -21.1
|Feb avg record low F = -18.4
|Mar avg record low F = -11.3
|Apr avg record low F =  3.9
|May avg record low F =  16.7
|Jun avg record low F =  26.3
|Jul avg record low F =  32.3
|Aug avg record low F =  31.7
|Sep avg record low F =  22.3
|Oct avg record low F =  9.5
|Nov avg record low F =  -11.0
|Dec avg record low F =  -19.3
|year avg record low F = -23.8

|Jan record low F = −38
|Feb record low F = −39
|Mar record low F = −25
|Apr record low F = -18
|May record low F = 0
|Jun record low F = 14
|Jul record low F = 20
|Aug record low F = 13
|Sep record low F = 5
|Oct record low F = -12
|Nov record low F = -24
|Dec record low F = −35
|year record low F =

|precipitation colour = green
|Jan precipitation inch = 2.04
|Feb precipitation inch = 2.10
|Mar precipitation inch = 2.05
|Apr precipitation inch = 1.74
|May precipitation inch = 1.68
|Jun precipitation inch = 0.93
|Jul precipitation inch = 2.38
|Aug precipitation inch = 2.83
|Sep precipitation inch = 2.75
|Oct precipitation inch = 2.13
|Nov precipitation inch = 1.66
|Dec precipitation inch = 1.63
|year precipitation inch =

|Jan snow inch = 30.80
|Feb snow inch = 28.50
|Mar snow inch = 29.40
|Apr snow inch = 18.20
|May snow inch = 8.20
|Jun snow inch = 0.40
|Jul snow inch = 0.0
|Aug snow inch = 0.0
|Sep snow inch = 0.50
|Oct snow inch = 7.70
|Nov snow inch = 21.50
|Dec snow inch = 27.40
|year snow inch =

|source 1 = NOAA<ref name = NOAA>
{{cite web
|url = https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/services/data/v1?dataset=normals-monthly-1991-2020&startDate=0001-01-01&endDate=9996-12-31&stations=USC00057656&format=pdf
|publisher = National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
|title = Silverton, Colorado 1991-2020 Monthly Normals 
|access-date = August 12, 2023
}}
</ref>
|source 2 = XMACIS (records & monthly max/mins)<ref name = XMACIS>
{{cite web
|url = https://xmacis.rcc-acis.org/
|publisher = National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
|title = xmACIS
|access-date = December 9, 2023
}}
</ref>
}}

{{Weather box
|location = 1906-2005 Silverton, Colorado.
|single line = Y
|collapsed = Yes
|width=auto
|Jan high F = 34.0
|Feb high F = 36.6
|Mar high F = 40.6
|Apr high F = 47.3
|May high F = 57.6
|Jun high F = 67.9
|Jul high F = 73.1
|Aug high F = 70.5
|Sep high F = 64.7
|Oct high F = 55.1
|Nov high F = 43.2
|Dec high F = 35.1
|year high F = 52.2
|Jan low F = -1.9
|Feb low F = 1.0
|Mar low F = 8.1
|Apr low F = 18.5
|May low F = 26.4
|Jun low F = 31.9
|Jul low F = 37.9
|Aug low F = 37.2
|Sep low F = 30.3
|Oct low F = 22.0
|Nov low F = 9.5
|Dec low F = 0.2
|year low F = 18.4
|precipitation colour = green
|Jan precipitation inch = 1.68
|Feb precipitation inch = 1.75
|Mar precipitation inch = 2.30
|Apr precipitation inch = 1.72
|May precipitation inch = 1.46
|Jun precipitation inch = 1.39
|Jul precipitation inch = 2.72
|Aug precipitation inch = 3.10
|Sep precipitation inch = 2.81
|Oct precipitation inch = 2.34
|Nov precipitation inch = 1.49
|Dec precipitation inch = 1.73
|year precipitation inch = 24.50
|Jan snow inch = 25.8
|Feb snow inch = 25.3
|Mar snow inch = 28.4
|Apr snow inch = 17.3
|May snow inch = 4.3
|Jun snow inch = 0.3
|Jul snow inch = 0.0
|Aug snow inch = 0.0
|Sep snow inch = 0.9
|Oct snow inch = 8.5
|Nov snow inch = 20.0
|Dec snow inch = 24.0
|year snow inch = 154.9

|source 1 = The Western Regional Climate Center<ref name="WRCC">{{cite web
| url =http://www.wrcc.dri.edu/cgi-bin/cliMAIN.pl?cosilv| title =Seasonal Temperature and Precipitation Information | access-date =March 29, 2013 | publisher =Western Regional Climate Center }}</ref>|date=March 2013}}

==Notable people==
*[[Bill Alsup]], former IndyCar driver
*[[Robert Baer]], author and former case officer at the [[Central Intelligence Agency]] briefly retired here.<ref>[http://trib.com/news/state-and-regional/ex-spy-feels-at-home-in-mountain-town/article_4ca1c677-af8c-5c7a-8ee3-ac4a215061dd.html Ex-spy feels at home in mountain town {{!}} Wyoming News {{!}} trib.com] Retrieved November 14, 2016.</ref>
*[[Anton Larson]], Trooper in Teddy Roosevelt's Rough Riders, Spanish–American War
*[[Arthur Pink]], evangelical pastor and writer, lived in Silverton briefly
*[[Harold Ross]], founding editor of ''[[The New Yorker]]'' who was a native of [[Aspen, Colorado|Aspen]], Colorado

==In popular culture==
In the novel ''[[The Christopher Killer]]'' by [[Alane Ferguson]], the main setting is in Silverton.

Country singer [[C. W. McCall]] recorded "The Silverton," about the Silverton and Durango Railroad, on his 1975 album ''[[Black Bear Road]]''.

''[[Night Passage (film)|Night Passage]]'' (1957) was filmed in Silverton and [[Durango, Colorado]].<ref>Rowan, Terry (2013). ''The American Western A Complete Film Guide''. Lulu Press, Inc. Page 286. {{ISBN|9781300418580}}.</ref>

[[Shaun White]]'s secret training facility for the Vancouver Olympics (2010) called "Project X" was located on Silverton Mountain.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.silvertonstandard.com/news.php?id=126|title=Olympic gold shines on Silverton " " Local News|website=www.silvertonstandard.com|access-date=September 24, 2018}}</ref>

The board game Silverton by [[Mayfair Games]] is named after this location.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/511/silverton|title=Silverton board game at Boardgamegeek.com|access-date=November 9, 2018}}</ref>

For several years in the 1970s and 1980s, Silverton was the site for the International Speed-Skiing Championship.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Wallace|first=William N.|date=April 21, 1982|title=SPEED SKIERS DEFYING GRAVITY|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1982/04/21/sports/speed-skiers-defying-gravity.html|access-date=May 24, 2021|issn=0362-4331}}</ref>

==List of historic structures==
{| class="wikitable"

|Header1="col" width="225" | Name
|Header2="col" width="35" |Year Built
|Header4="col" width="225"|Comments
|-
|Teller House, 1250 Greene Street<ref>{{cite web |url=https://tellerhouse.com/ |title=Home |website=tellerhouse.com}}</ref>
[[File:Teller-House.jpg|thumb|]]
|1896
|Brewery owner Charles Fischer built the Teller House as a hotel
|-
|Alma House, 220 East 10th Street<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.innoftherockies.com/the-inn|title=The Inn}}</ref>
[[File:Alma-House.jpg|thumb|]]
|1898
|Bridget Hughes opened the Alma House in 1902 as a boarding house for miners
|-
|Silverton Train Depot, corner of 10th and Cement Street<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.durangotrain.com/dsng-museum-silverton/|title=D&SNG Museum in Silverton}}</ref>
[[File:Silverton-Train-Depot.jpg|thumb|]]
|1882
|Now the Durango and Silverton Narrow Gage Museum
|-
|Lode Theater, 1309 Greene Street<ref name="SAL" >{{cite book |last1=Corr |first1=Jeff |title=Images of America: Silverton and the Alpine Loop |date=2014 |publisher=Arcadia Publishing |location=Charleston, South Carolina |isbn=978-1-4671-3155-1 |pages=127}}</ref>
[[File:Lode-Theater2.jpg|thumb|]]
|1909
|Originally constructed as a saloon; in 1916 converted to the Star Theatre; in 1925 became the Gem Theatre, and in 1938 became the Lode Theatre
|-
|Bausman's Merchandise, 1303 Greene Street<ref name="SAL" />
[[File:Bausman's-Merchandise Building.jpg|thumb|]]
|1895
|-
|San Juan County Jail, 1557 Greene Street<ref name="SAL" />
[[File:County Jail, Silverton, Colorado.jpg|thumb|]]
|1902
|When the jail was completed it was the third jail in Silverton. It was never used extensively; by the 1930s it was a homeless shelter. It sat vacant for 25 years and then converted into a museum.
|-
|First Congregational Church, 1070 Reese Street<ref name="SAL" />
[[File:Silverton-Congregational-Church.jpg|thumb|]]
|1880
|The steeple was added in 1892
|-
|San Juan County Water and Power Company substation/ Animas Power & Water Company<ref name="SAL" /><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.sanjuancountyhistoricalsociety.org/silverton-power-station.html|title=Silverton Power Station}}</ref>
[[File:San Juan County Water and Power Company.jpg|thumb|]]
|1906
|Using hydroelectric power from Rockwood, Colorado, electricity was piped to this substation, where transformers distributed power to surrounding mines
|-
|Hillside Cemetery<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.sanjuancountyhistoricalsociety.org/hillside-cemetery.html|title=Hillside Cemetery ~ Silverton, Colorado}}</ref>
[[File:Hillside Cemetery Silverton, Colorado.jpg|thumb|]]
|1875
|A 20-acre site on the north side of Silverton, the first recorded burial is of Rachel Farrow, a young girl who died of pneumonia; James Briggs who died in 1878 from a snow slide is the first marked grave. Of 3300 documented burials, 2000 have no identifiable markers—wooden markers have deteriorated and disappeared.
|-
|Ye Old Livery, 1120 Greene Street<ref name="SAL" /><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.legendsofamerica.com/silverton-colorado/3/#:~:text=Ye%20Old%20Livery%20was%20once,Hotel%20opened%20t%20in%201882.|title = Silverton, Colorado – High in the San Juans – Legends of America}}</ref>
[[File:Old Livery.jpg|thumb|]]
|1897
|Built as a [[Livery yard|livery]] (stable for horses and mules). It had the first elevator in Silverton, and horses were lifted to the second floor while wagons were serviced on the first
|-
|County Club Saloon/Benson Block, 1208 Greene Street<ref name="SAL" /><ref name="SWT" >{{cite web |title=Silverton Walking Tour |url=http://www.aztecnm.com/fourcorners/colorado/silverton/walkingtour/WalkingTour.pdf}}</ref>
[[File:Country Club.jpg|thumb|]]
|1901
|The corner of the building served as the County Club; since 1902 the building has served as a hotel, saloon, and one of the town's first garages.
|-
|Imperial Hotel/Grand Imperial<ref name="SAL" /><ref name="SWT" /><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://sah-archipedia.org/buildings/CO-01-SA11|title = Grand Imperial Hotel|date = July 16, 2018}}</ref>
[[File:Imperial Hotel, Silverton, Colorado.jpg|thumb|]]
|1882
|Originally a house with private and government offices upstairs. In 1883 the third floor was converted to hotel rooms. Englishman Charles S. Thomson built this grand hotel, a two-story Italianate building with a [[Mansard roof|mansard]] third story and prominent battery of gabled dormers. Wrought iron columns separate first-floor plate glass storefronts. Above a first story of square-cut, irregularly coursed [[ashlar]] are a second story faced in brick with rhythmical rows of arched windows and a third story with rounded dormers set in diamond-patterned sheet metal. The county courthouse occupied the second floor for several years before the present courthouse was completed. In 1950 Winfield Morton of Dallas, Texas, bought the hotel for $60,000 and spent $369,000 to convert its fifty-six rooms and three bathrooms into forty-two rooms with baths. Resplendent with Victorian fixtures, it is now a forty-room hotel with first-floor lobby, shops, dining rooms, and a splendid saloon whose cherry back bar has diamond dust mirrors set in three ornate arches originating from [[Corinthian capitals]].
|-
|San Juan County Miners Union Hospital, 1315 Snowden Street<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.historycolorado.org/location/san-juan-county-hospital-miners-union-hospital|title=San Juan County Hospital-Miner's Union Hospital &#124; History Colorado}}</ref>
[[File:Miners-Hospital.jpg|thumb|]]
|1902
|Architect F.E. Edbrooke—whose works include the Colorado State Capitol building—designed the building in the Renaissance style
|-
|Public School, 1160 Snowden Street<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.silvertonschool.org/contact-us.html |title=contact us - SILVERTON SCHOOL |website=www.silvertonschool.org |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150115082139/http://www.silvertonschool.org/contact-us.html |archive-date=January 15, 2015}}</ref><ref name="SAL" /><ref name="SWT" />
[[File:Public School, Silverton, Colorado.jpg|thumb|]]
|1911
|This building replaced the original wooden structure, which was a fire hazard. It still functions as the school for Silverton, K-12.
|-
|St. Patrick's Church, 1005 Reese Street<ref name="SAL" /><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://sah-archipedia.org/buildings/CO-01-SA15|title = St. Patrick's Catholic Church|date = July 16, 2018}}</ref>
[[File:St.-Patrick's-Church.jpg|thumb|]]
|1905
|This building replaced a frame church (1884) erected a block farther up 10th Street. Italian and Tyrolean miners donated much of the masonry work and helped construct the rectory (1906) next door. The large, square, open bell tower with a ball finial and Celtic cross and the corner minarets are unique features of this otherwise standard [[Romanesque Revival]] church with its round-arched openings, rose windows, buttresses, and rough stone foundation.
|-
|Carnegie Library, 1117 Reese Street, 1371 Greene Street<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.historycolorado.org/location/carnegie-library-silverton|title = Carnegie Library (Silverton) &#124; History Colorado}}</ref><ref name="SWT" />
[[File:Carnegie-Library2.jpg|thumb|]]
|1905
|Between 1883 and 1929 [[Andrew Carnegie]], an American industrialist and philanthropist, founded 2,509 [[Carnegie library|Carnegie Libraries]] world-wide, and 1,689 in the United States alone, representing almost one-half the total number of libraries in the United States. Most were constructed in varying architectural styles, including Beaux-Arts, Italian Renaissance, Baroque, Classical Revival, and Spanish Colonial.
|-
|Silverton City Hall, 1360 Greene Street<ref name="SWT" /><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.sanjuancountyhistoricalsociety.org/historic-preservation.html|title = SJCHS Historic Preservation Accomplishments}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://sah-archipedia.org/buildings/CO-01-SA05|title = Town Hall|date = July 16, 2018}}</ref>
[[File:Silverton-City-Hall2.jpg|thumb|]]
|1908
|In 1908 the bell tower collapsed while under construction. Built of Silverton's distinctive local rosy-purple sandstone, it was restored in the 1970s, then re-restored after the Thanksgiving weekend fire in 1992 caused by a heating system that kept snow off the roof. During this fire the bell tower collapsed; reconstruction took three years. The dome caps the open bell tower of this two-story building with a second-story balcony under a [[Neoclassical architecture|Neoclassical]] pediment supported by paired [[Ionic order|Ionic]] columns.
|-
|Wyman Building, 1371 Greene Street<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://thewyman.com/about|title = About - the Wyman Hotel - Silverton Colorado}}</ref><ref name="SAL" /><ref name="SWT" />
[[File:Wyman-Hotel.jpg|thumb|]]
|1902
|Built by Louis Wyman who in part gained his fortune by gaining contracts to haul ore from the North Star Mine. On the top corner of the building you can see the image of a burro that he had chiseled into the stone to commemorate the animal that helped make his fortune.
|-
|Church on the Hill, 1101 Snowden Street<ref name="SWT" />
[[File:Church-on-the-Hill.jpg|thumb|]]
|1898
|Originally built as St. John's Episcopal church, it was leased to schools for overflow classrooms until 1901. The [[Belfry (architecture)|belfry]] came from an old school house in the ghost town of Eureka, Colorado.
|-
|San Juan County Courthouse, 1557 Greene Street<ref name="SWT" /><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://sah-archipedia.org/buildings/CO-01-SA07|title = San Juan County Courthouse|date = July 16, 2018}}</ref>
[[File:San Juan County Courthouse, Silverton, Colorado.jpg|thumb|]]
|1907
|The dome sits atop this [[Georgian Revival]] monument. On the courthouse lawn is a monument imbedded with ore specimens from fifty-one local mines. Native gray sandstone was used for the foundation as well as the trim of this two-story structure of pressed gray brick, capped by a square tower with an elongated, open bell cupola. Paired [[Doric order|Doric]] columns of cast stone support the entry porticos. The interior is pristine, with the original hexagonal tile mosaic floors, oak wood-work, high ceilings, signage, fixtures, and maps showing mining claims and the original town plat.
|-
|Old Arcade Trading Company, 1202 Blair Street<ref name="SWT" /><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.silvertoncolorado.com/index.php?biz=yes&bizstatus=viewone&biz_id=322&subcat_id=&cat_id=12|title = Silverton, Colorado Chamber of Commerce}}</ref>
[[File:Old-Arcade.jpg|thumb|]]
|1929
|The last bordello to be constructed on Blair Street, it sold bootleg whiskey and employed prostitutes. It has served as a pool hall, saloon, and gambling house; it is still colored orange as it was in 1929.
|-
|Silverton Meat and Produce/Brown Bear Cafe, 1129 Greene Street<ref name="SWT" />
[[File:Silverton-Meat-and-Produce.jpg|thumb|]]
|1893
|Was originally a butcher shop; lodging was provided upstairs. In 1933 it became the San Juan Bar. Most recently it became the Brown Bear Cafe, which has been closed.
|-
|Posey and Wingate Building, 1269 Greene Street<ref name="SWT" /><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.legendsofamerica.com/silverton-colorado/3/|title=Silverton, Colorado – High in the San Juans – Legends of America}}</ref>
[[File:Posey-and-Wingate-Building.jpg|thumb|]]
|1880
|This is the oldest commercial building in western Colorado and has been a hardware store, a bank, and a pool and billiards hall. It housed the First National Bank Silverton from 1883 to 1934.
|-
|General Store, 1304 Greene Street<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://sah-archipedia.org/buildings/CO-01-SA04|title = Pickle Barrel (Sherwin and Houghton Store)|date = July 16, 2018}}</ref>
[[File:General-Store2.jpg|thumb|]]
|1880
|Built of local gray granite for the walls and a stone false front with a tiny wooden bracketed cornice. Rough-cut granite blocks form the uncoursed walls, inside and out, of this one-story building with its original triple-arch plate glass storefront, hardwood floors, and 12-foot-high ceilings. It operated as a general store until 1900 when it was converted into a saloon; after prohibition it operated as a soda fountain and confectionary store.
|-
|}

==See also==
{{portal|Colorado}}
* [[Durango and Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad]]
* [[Hardrock Hundred Mile Endurance Run]]
* [[Million Dollar Highway]]
* [[Old Hundred Gold Mine]]
* [[San Juan Mountains]]
* [[San Juan Skyway National Scenic Byway]]
* [[Shenandoah-Dives (Mayflower) Mill]]
* [[Alpine Loop National Back Country Byway]]
{{clear}}

==References==
{{reflist|22em}}

==External links==
{{commons category|Silverton, Colorado}}
{{Wikivoyage|Silverton (Colorado)}}
* [http://www.silvertoncolorado.com/ Silverton Chamber of Commerce Website]
* [http://dtdapps.coloradodot.info/staticdata/Downloads/CityMaps/SILVERTON.pdf CDOT map of the Town of Silverton]
* {{Official website|https://townofsilverton.colorado.gov/}}
* [http://www.westernmininghistory.com/towns/colorado/silverton/ Silverton history and photos] at Western Mining History
* [http://lcweb2.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/S?pp/hh:@field(SUBJ+@od1(COLORADO--San+Juan+County--Silverton)) Silverton Historic District photos and documentation] from [[Historic American Buildings Survey]]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20070927214201/http://www.anseladams.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=137 Silverton, Colorado photograph] by [[Ansel Adams]] in 1951
* {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20100911201336/http://nevada-railways.net/contact.html The Silverton Branch of the D&RGW]}}
* [http://www.silvertonstandard.com/ Silverton Standard Newspaper Website]

{{San Juan County, Colorado}}
{{Protected areas of Colorado}}
{{National Register of Historic Places}}
{{Colorado county seats}}

{{authority control}}

[[Category:Towns in San Juan County, Colorado]]
[[Category:County seats in Colorado]]
[[Category:Mining communities in Colorado]]
[[Category:San Juan Mountains (Colorado)]]
[[Category:Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Colorado]]
[[Category:National Register of Historic Places in San Juan County, Colorado]]
[[Category:National Historic Landmarks in Colorado]]
[[Category:National Historic Landmark Districts]]
[[Category:Towns in Colorado]]