Been a while since I last posted, but that is not to say we have not been Ghost Town and Cemetery hunting!
One new site on Mt. Sherman, can't tell for sure, but it might be the Dauntless Mine. It is a very easy hike up from the gate at the end of the road. I was very intrigued by the site - the mine is obviously gated and locked, but looks as though there is some activity up there recently. Lots of artifacts, some looking a bit newer than others - the mine was likely first there in the late 1800s, yet there is an old car and truck - don't think that was original...
Pictures at: Pictures on Photobucket
August 21, 2010 was the Boreas Pass Railroad Days and not only was there excellent information and slide show (yes, an slide show with film slides and not just a Powerpoint) about the railroad, but the Roundhouse was open for tours. Not a whole lot to say about this, it was just some great pictures and discussions.
Pictures at: Pictures on Photobucket/
Monday, September 6, 2010
Monday, July 12, 2010
Visited Ghost Towns
We visited a number of "Ghost Towns" at the same time as the below cemeteries, here are a few comments on them.
Overall, many of the so called Ghost Towns that are located near towns do have a significant amount of history, but are lacking in what we feel is a true Ghost Town. Our definition of a Ghost Town is a site that has been abandoned for many decades and still has the original buildings in their original shape - not refurbished.
Don't get us wrong, we very much appreciate and honor those who have taken the time to restore the old buildings and document the history of a town or area, such as Como, but they are not in our true definition of a Ghost Town.
Como: Ricky and others are doing an excellent job of restoring the old buildings, including the roundhouse. There are many original buildings, some still in rough shape - but what they are doing in Como is restoring the old buildings and really acknowledging the history of the area.
Boreas Pass: At the top of Boreas Pass are some refurbished buildings and also an old train car. The original purpose of the road to the pass was a railroad, so there are some artifacts still remaining at the pass. We recommend when first passing through Como to visit the Mountain Man Gallery and pick up a Boreas Pass brochure, which will give insight into the wagon wheel numbers along the side of the road up to the pass.
Park City: Some older buildings exist, but have been restored. When coming into town, take a look to the right, nestled back on the hill is what appears to be an old mine - we did not venture to the building, looked like private property from the road to the building.
Alma Junction: Some old row houses along County Road 12 about a mile off Highway 9 - interesting, but nothing much more to say about them.
Redstone: Has been completely restored and it looked to us to be a vacation spot for wealthy Denver suburbanites. Definitely a lot of history in the town, but not much in terms of our definition of a Ghost Town, except.... The most obvious feature of the Redstone area is the remains of the Coal Kilns on the side of the road before you turn off 133 to go into Redstone. There appear to be a lot of original looks to the kilns, but at the same time, some of the kilns are closed off with cement cinder blocks - not sure those were around in the late 1800's... Also, look at the kilns on the side of the driveway back to the stables - looks as though a number of them were destroyed when putting in the driveway. One last word, the front kilns are roped off, so you cannot get close, but there are kilns behind those and you might get a better look at those.
Redstone Pictures
Marble: Although this too is not much of a Ghost Town, a VERY interesting place to visit. Just to look at all of the marble in the river is amazing. It looks as though they are again mining marble from the quarry. We got to Marble late in the day and the road to the quarry was blocked, so we could not visit that nor could we go to the museum to talk to anyone about the area. One cool thing was a marble symposium going on near the river (about a mile in from the town limits) - a number of artists from around the world (saw one lady from London, England) were sculpting in, what else, marble. The area looks to be a permanent location for this type of thing, electrical and air connections were permanent in the ground. So if you visit the area, look for that location, there may be some sculpting going on.
Marble Pictures
Crystal: When you continue through Marble you can go to Crystal, which from all accounts, looked to be a true Ghost Town. One minor problem - there is a sign on the road that says 4 wheel drive vehicles only - heed that sign... We did not have a 4x4 and made it about a mile in and thought better of it... We did find a marble shop in Marble that appears to do jeep tours into Crystal, but alas, because it was late in the day, the shop was closed.
Independence: This is a true Ghost Town despite being restored by, I believe, the Aspen Historical Society. Pictures and a separate blog post will follow on this...
Independence Pictures
Overall, many of the so called Ghost Towns that are located near towns do have a significant amount of history, but are lacking in what we feel is a true Ghost Town. Our definition of a Ghost Town is a site that has been abandoned for many decades and still has the original buildings in their original shape - not refurbished.
Don't get us wrong, we very much appreciate and honor those who have taken the time to restore the old buildings and document the history of a town or area, such as Como, but they are not in our true definition of a Ghost Town.
Como: Ricky and others are doing an excellent job of restoring the old buildings, including the roundhouse. There are many original buildings, some still in rough shape - but what they are doing in Como is restoring the old buildings and really acknowledging the history of the area.
Boreas Pass: At the top of Boreas Pass are some refurbished buildings and also an old train car. The original purpose of the road to the pass was a railroad, so there are some artifacts still remaining at the pass. We recommend when first passing through Como to visit the Mountain Man Gallery and pick up a Boreas Pass brochure, which will give insight into the wagon wheel numbers along the side of the road up to the pass.
Park City: Some older buildings exist, but have been restored. When coming into town, take a look to the right, nestled back on the hill is what appears to be an old mine - we did not venture to the building, looked like private property from the road to the building.
Alma Junction: Some old row houses along County Road 12 about a mile off Highway 9 - interesting, but nothing much more to say about them.
Redstone: Has been completely restored and it looked to us to be a vacation spot for wealthy Denver suburbanites. Definitely a lot of history in the town, but not much in terms of our definition of a Ghost Town, except.... The most obvious feature of the Redstone area is the remains of the Coal Kilns on the side of the road before you turn off 133 to go into Redstone. There appear to be a lot of original looks to the kilns, but at the same time, some of the kilns are closed off with cement cinder blocks - not sure those were around in the late 1800's... Also, look at the kilns on the side of the driveway back to the stables - looks as though a number of them were destroyed when putting in the driveway. One last word, the front kilns are roped off, so you cannot get close, but there are kilns behind those and you might get a better look at those.
Redstone Pictures
Marble: Although this too is not much of a Ghost Town, a VERY interesting place to visit. Just to look at all of the marble in the river is amazing. It looks as though they are again mining marble from the quarry. We got to Marble late in the day and the road to the quarry was blocked, so we could not visit that nor could we go to the museum to talk to anyone about the area. One cool thing was a marble symposium going on near the river (about a mile in from the town limits) - a number of artists from around the world (saw one lady from London, England) were sculpting in, what else, marble. The area looks to be a permanent location for this type of thing, electrical and air connections were permanent in the ground. So if you visit the area, look for that location, there may be some sculpting going on.
Marble Pictures
Crystal: When you continue through Marble you can go to Crystal, which from all accounts, looked to be a true Ghost Town. One minor problem - there is a sign on the road that says 4 wheel drive vehicles only - heed that sign... We did not have a 4x4 and made it about a mile in and thought better of it... We did find a marble shop in Marble that appears to do jeep tours into Crystal, but alas, because it was late in the day, the shop was closed.
Independence: This is a true Ghost Town despite being restored by, I believe, the Aspen Historical Society. Pictures and a separate blog post will follow on this...
Independence Pictures
Marble Cemetery (39-04.768N, 107-13.644W)
Overall: A very lucky find, interesting, not real big but still in use today.
Oldest Grave: Jennie Hodgson, Born: Feb 14, 1884, Died: April 2, 1906 Gravestone
Photos: Pictures on Photobucket
Observations: We were on our way to the town of Marble when I spotted a flag in an open field and then noticed some grave stones - a very lucky find! It was not documented in the book we had, so we very much enjoyed the find despite it not being the biggest or most elaborate cemetery.
Another site that is still in use today.
There were two very interesting finds at this location - first is a handful of graves from around 1900 that are under a large pine tree. That is something very interesting about these older cemeteries that we were not used to - trees growing everywhere and many right on top of graves.
The second find of interest is a single marble pillar in one of the fenced areas. It is pretty beaten up - it is on a slope and could have gotten beaten up if it had fallen and rolled down the slope. But there was only one pillar in the corner - one other corner looked barren and could/should have had another pillar.
Because this area is Marble and therefore known for its marble production - most of the grave stones were made out of marble - go figure...
Further Research: Because of the last second find, we did not get the exact distance from Marble or Highway 133 - we are planning on visiting the area again to head into the mountains to find the Ghost Town of Crystal - we plan on noting the distance to the site to better help future visitors.
Oldest Grave: Jennie Hodgson, Born: Feb 14, 1884, Died: April 2, 1906 Gravestone
Photos: Pictures on Photobucket
Observations: We were on our way to the town of Marble when I spotted a flag in an open field and then noticed some grave stones - a very lucky find! It was not documented in the book we had, so we very much enjoyed the find despite it not being the biggest or most elaborate cemetery.
Another site that is still in use today.
There were two very interesting finds at this location - first is a handful of graves from around 1900 that are under a large pine tree. That is something very interesting about these older cemeteries that we were not used to - trees growing everywhere and many right on top of graves.
The second find of interest is a single marble pillar in one of the fenced areas. It is pretty beaten up - it is on a slope and could have gotten beaten up if it had fallen and rolled down the slope. But there was only one pillar in the corner - one other corner looked barren and could/should have had another pillar.
Because this area is Marble and therefore known for its marble production - most of the grave stones were made out of marble - go figure...
Further Research: Because of the last second find, we did not get the exact distance from Marble or Highway 133 - we are planning on visiting the area again to head into the mountains to find the Ghost Town of Crystal - we plan on noting the distance to the site to better help future visitors.
Alma/Buckskin Cemetery (39-17.450N 106-04.524W)
Overall: Another cemetery that is a lot bigger than you would expect or that you can initially see due to the trees.
Oldest Grave: Sophia R. Richardson, 1814 - 1866 Gravestone
Photos: Pictures on Photobucket
Observations: We had a bit of initial difficulty getting to the location - there was a water main break in the town of Alma, so the road was closed to auto traffic. Thankfully it is only about a 2 mile walk to the cemetery.
As with the Como Cemetery and as you will see with the Marble Cemetery as well, this cemetery is still in use. There are actually some very interesting recent graves - in the forward part of the cemetery on the downhill side. Take a look at the photo link above for a few of those - especially the curved metal headstone.
Other than the new grave markers, typical for an older cemetery - lots of unmarked graves and any of the very old markers are in remarkably good shape. The unmarked graves were a bit creepy - small crosses made out of sticks and string.
Ricky in Como - remember to go see her if you are in the area - indicated the cemetery was recently refurbished and it definitely looks that way - very clean and well kept.
Further Research: We are not planning any further research at this time. Will probably check back in a couple years to see if any of the unmarked sites have been labeled.
Oldest Grave: Sophia R. Richardson, 1814 - 1866 Gravestone
Photos: Pictures on Photobucket
Observations: We had a bit of initial difficulty getting to the location - there was a water main break in the town of Alma, so the road was closed to auto traffic. Thankfully it is only about a 2 mile walk to the cemetery.
As with the Como Cemetery and as you will see with the Marble Cemetery as well, this cemetery is still in use. There are actually some very interesting recent graves - in the forward part of the cemetery on the downhill side. Take a look at the photo link above for a few of those - especially the curved metal headstone.
Other than the new grave markers, typical for an older cemetery - lots of unmarked graves and any of the very old markers are in remarkably good shape. The unmarked graves were a bit creepy - small crosses made out of sticks and string.
Ricky in Como - remember to go see her if you are in the area - indicated the cemetery was recently refurbished and it definitely looks that way - very clean and well kept.
Further Research: We are not planning any further research at this time. Will probably check back in a couple years to see if any of the unmarked sites have been labeled.
Saturday, July 10, 2010
Como Cemetery (39-19.566N, 105-54.111W)
Overall: A very interesting and surprisingly large cemetery that is still in use today.
Oldest Grave: Charles S. Link; Aged 21yrs; Died 1871
Photos: Pictures on Photobucket
Observations: Initially we had a bit of a rough time finding the location of this cemetery, as we were thinking it was right off the road, but it is a bit further in off the road. Head through Como on the paved road and once the road turns to gravel (you will pass over cattle grating) it is about 0.5 miles on the left - you can see a single, small building back off the road 100 yards or so.
First look of the cemetery is a bit underwhelming, there are only a dozen or so grave markers visible in the clearing; however, look into the woods, you will see hundreds more. This site is pretty large and will take a bit of time to get all of the way through. The most disturbing find was a fresh grave that had no grave stone.
Throughout the cemetery are grave stones from the 1880, into the 1900 and to present day. Many family plots are there behind fences. This site also had a large number of graves unmarked or marked with simple wooden crosses and no other information. There is an effort underway by the town of Como to clean up the cemetery and it appears the only refurbishment currently underway is some cleaning up of the weeds and straightening the headstones.
Further Research: When visiting Como you should take some time to visit the Mountain Man Gallery and talk to Rickie - she has been in Como for 47 years and is a wealth of knowledge about the history of the entire area and the efforts to document that history. For those interested, on August 21, 2010, Como will have a sort of Open House with Historians and also the roundhouse will be open for tours. If you happen to be up there, look for us, most likely in the cemetery, but we could also be in town learning more about Como.
Oldest Grave: Charles S. Link; Aged 21yrs; Died 1871
Photos: Pictures on Photobucket
Observations: Initially we had a bit of a rough time finding the location of this cemetery, as we were thinking it was right off the road, but it is a bit further in off the road. Head through Como on the paved road and once the road turns to gravel (you will pass over cattle grating) it is about 0.5 miles on the left - you can see a single, small building back off the road 100 yards or so.
First look of the cemetery is a bit underwhelming, there are only a dozen or so grave markers visible in the clearing; however, look into the woods, you will see hundreds more. This site is pretty large and will take a bit of time to get all of the way through. The most disturbing find was a fresh grave that had no grave stone.
Throughout the cemetery are grave stones from the 1880, into the 1900 and to present day. Many family plots are there behind fences. This site also had a large number of graves unmarked or marked with simple wooden crosses and no other information. There is an effort underway by the town of Como to clean up the cemetery and it appears the only refurbishment currently underway is some cleaning up of the weeds and straightening the headstones.
Further Research: When visiting Como you should take some time to visit the Mountain Man Gallery and talk to Rickie - she has been in Como for 47 years and is a wealth of knowledge about the history of the entire area and the efforts to document that history. For those interested, on August 21, 2010, Como will have a sort of Open House with Historians and also the roundhouse will be open for tours. If you happen to be up there, look for us, most likely in the cemetery, but we could also be in town learning more about Como.
Park City (39-16.765N, 106-04.360W)
Overall: For this being the first cemetery that we visited, it was a bit creepy, but definitely piqued our interest. Only a single gravestone exists, any wooden crosses mark graves, but no information was available at the site.
Oldest Grave: Leola M. Noel; Aged 1 yr, 19 days; Died April 18, 1883
Photos: Pictures on Photobucket
Observations: There were no signs or indications of where the cemetery is located - proceeding west on County 8 out of Alma, the cemetery is about 1.6 miles on the left. It is an open field up a slight hill from the road, between a couple of residential houses - you can see a fenced area around some trees from the road and the lone grave marker is visible as you walk up the hill.
Again, this was a bit creepy, but very interesting. The lone grave is in remarkably good shape as it is not protected by any trees or anything else from the elements. There are a number of wooden crosses, most in the open field, but a few in the trees.
It was a bit depressing that there is little to note who is buried in the cemetery and it definitely appears that the cemetery is no longer in use.
Further Research: After a bit of further looking in existing books, apparently all of the grave stones, save for little Leola's, were stolen in the 1950's and there are few records available to note who is buried in the cemetery and when it was first and last used. We will update if we find anything further on our first and still most interesting cemetery.
Oldest Grave: Leola M. Noel; Aged 1 yr, 19 days; Died April 18, 1883
Photos: Pictures on Photobucket
Observations: There were no signs or indications of where the cemetery is located - proceeding west on County 8 out of Alma, the cemetery is about 1.6 miles on the left. It is an open field up a slight hill from the road, between a couple of residential houses - you can see a fenced area around some trees from the road and the lone grave marker is visible as you walk up the hill.
Again, this was a bit creepy, but very interesting. The lone grave is in remarkably good shape as it is not protected by any trees or anything else from the elements. There are a number of wooden crosses, most in the open field, but a few in the trees.
It was a bit depressing that there is little to note who is buried in the cemetery and it definitely appears that the cemetery is no longer in use.
Further Research: After a bit of further looking in existing books, apparently all of the grave stones, save for little Leola's, were stolen in the 1950's and there are few records available to note who is buried in the cemetery and when it was first and last used. We will update if we find anything further on our first and still most interesting cemetery.
Welcome!
Welcome to our Colorado Cemeteries and Ghost Town Blog! Hopefully it will be as entertaining and informative for you as it was fun for us exploring.
I (Paul) recently took up photography as a hobby and in trying to decide what would be fun to photograph, Shelley showed me a Ghost Towns of Colorado book that we had. Realizing that there were a number of these in our backyard here in the Foothills of Colorado, we decided to take a trip down to Fairplay and visit a couple of Ghost Towns.
While searching around the area, we discovered the Park City Cemetery, which by all accounts and presentations is not much to look at, but it was more than fascinating and got us hooked on not only the Ghost Towns, but also Cemeteries.
However, what we found in our Ghost Town book was a bit lacking and we decided to not only use this blog as a further explanation of what the sites hold, but because I am getting into photography, a photographic journey into the past of the Gold Rush days in Colorado.
I (Paul) recently took up photography as a hobby and in trying to decide what would be fun to photograph, Shelley showed me a Ghost Towns of Colorado book that we had. Realizing that there were a number of these in our backyard here in the Foothills of Colorado, we decided to take a trip down to Fairplay and visit a couple of Ghost Towns.
While searching around the area, we discovered the Park City Cemetery, which by all accounts and presentations is not much to look at, but it was more than fascinating and got us hooked on not only the Ghost Towns, but also Cemeteries.
However, what we found in our Ghost Town book was a bit lacking and we decided to not only use this blog as a further explanation of what the sites hold, but because I am getting into photography, a photographic journey into the past of the Gold Rush days in Colorado.
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