Saints John, Colorado

Saints John, originally called Coleyville, is a former silver-mining town in Summit County, Colorado, USA. About a mile from the town of Montezuma, Saints John was the site of one of the first silver discoveries in Colorado. Although no longer a town, it still has several inhabitants.

History

A prospector named Coley discovered silver in 1863 or 1864 on the slope of Glacier Mountain, and built a crude furnace to extract silver from the ore. Other prospector followed, including John Cullom, who discovered the Saints John Lode. In 1867, he sold the Saints John lode to the Boston Silver Mining Company, which built an ore mill, next to which grew the town, originally called Coleyville.[1][2] In the 1870 census, the town name had changed to Saints John, which had a population of 71, which made it the largest town in Summit County.[3]

The fortunes of the town followed those of the Saints John mine. The mine ceased working in 1928.[4]

Geography

The site of Saints John is at 39°34′18″N 105°52′54″W / 39.57167°N 105.88167°W, at an altitude of 10,764 feet (3,281 m) above mean sea level. The site accessible by dirt road from Montezuma.[5]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Robert L. Brown, Jeep Trails to Colorado Ghost Towns (Caxton Press, 1963) 188-189.
  2. ↑ T. S. Lovering (1935) Geology and Ore Deposits of the Montezuma Quadrangle, Colorado, US Geological Survey, Professional Paper 178, p.66-67.
  3. ↑ Ninth Census-Volume I, The Statistics of the Population of the United States (1872) p.96.
  4. ↑ T. S. Lovering (1935) Geology and Ore Deposits of the Montezuma Quadrangle, Colorado, US Geological Survey, Professional Paper 178, p.104.
  5. ↑ US Board of Geographic Names, Saints John, accessed 3 November 2010.

External links