Animas Forks, Colorado

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Wild flowers in bloom in Animas Forks ghost town.

Animas Forks, Colorado is a ghost town twelve miles northeast of Silverton. The town is managed by the Bureau of Land Management.

[edit] Location

Animas Forks is located on a system of roads known as the Alpine Loop. The loop is a 65 mile system of unpaved roads which connects the small mountain towns of Lake City, Ouray, and Silverton. Most the land in the area is managed by either the U.S. Forest Service or the Bureau of Land Management. The Alpine Loop is visited by over 100,000 people each year. Animas Forks, at an elevation of 11,200 feet is more than two miles above sea level.^[1]

[edit] History

Situated high in the San Juan Mountains, the Animas Forks ghost town offers a “living history” educational experience in a setting of breathtaking views.

The town's first log cabin was built in 1873 and by 1876 the community had become a bustling mining community. At that time the town contained 30 cabins, a hotel, a general store, a saloon, and a post office. By 1883 450 people lived in Animas Forks and in 1882 a newspaper, the Animas Forks Pioneer, began publication and lasted until October 1886. Every fall the residents of Animas Forks migrated en masse to the warmer town of Silverton. In 1884 a 23 day blizzard inundated the town with 25 feet of snow, the residents had to dig tunnels to get from building to building. Mining, speculation and processing mills helped Animas Forks grow.^[2]

[edit] Decline

When mining profits began to decline investment in Animas Forks was no longer justified and although mining made a brief 1904 rebound with the construction of the Gold Prince Mill, the town's mining days were nearing an end. A rail line ran through the area and also restimulated interest in mining in the community but the railroad never reached its expectations. The Gold Prince Mill closed in 1910 and in 1917 most of the mill's major parts were removed for a new facility in Eureka. The mill's dismantling signaled the beginning of the end for Animas Forks and the town was a ghost town by the 1920s.^[3]

[edit] The ghost town today

Today visitors can stroll through the many abandoned buildings at Animas Forks. "Living history" characters, including the doctor's wife, a teacher, numerous pioneer children, and even the town sheriff stop to chat with visitors. The characters will share historical info and stories of the struggles of survival on the Colorado frontier.

[edit] Image gallery

The mining community of Animas Forks in its heyday.	View down main street of Animas Forks in the Animas River Valley.	Wood buildings with false fronts line a rocky dirt street.	A man on a horse wearing a jacket and hat, looking out into valley from the Otto Mears road; road leads down to the town of wood frame structures and the Gold Prince Mill.
Sheds, tents, and dynamite blasting dust at the Gold Prince Mill.	A railroad line with cars winds its way around Mastedon Gulch. Tents are pitched among horizontal and box-shaped buildings.	The Gold Prince Mill; image shows rock walls, roof beams, and a crane.	Gold Prince Mill construction; shows miners working on blasted embankments, a horse-drawn wagon, concrete forms, and a mixing plant.

[edit] Notes