Monarch on the Horizon, Leadville, 2024. One of the best-preserved historic mining buildings that remain standing in proximity to Stumptown where the Brown’s lived just outside of Leadville.
Remnants, Alta Lakes, 2024. Fragments remain strewn about from a mining site at the high elevation of Alta Lakes (11,300'/3,444m). The area has been intentionally undeveloped for the past 50 years to protect National Forest Land.
Little Jhonny Mine, Leadville, Date Unknown. Molly Brown Archives. This image shows the mine complex that struck the largest vein of gold in North America. No structures remain standing from the original mine.
M. Mine, Leadville, 2024. A well-preserved timber ore house in the Leadville’s mining district.
Veins, Front Range, 2021. A single pair of train tracks pierce through the Front Range mountains in a tunnel that is still used to this day for coal, freight, and passenger travel.
Least Few Rusty Nails, Leadville, 2024. Rickety tracks remain barely intact showing nails protruding from the old timber. The tracks lead to a wooden ore house near Leadville.
Leadville, 1890-1905. Photograph by G.B. Sanborn. Public Library Archives. View of the booming mining town from Carbonate Hill. Denver.
Yankee Girl Mine, Million Dollar Highway, 2022. Trailings and what is left of the Yankee Girl Mine on the Million Dollar Highway between Ouray and Silverton. In 2005 the building was destined to be demolished unless a buyer came in to purchase and stabilize the building. Mark Young stepped in and with the help of locals and the Colorado State Historical Fund, the building was reinforced and saved from demolition. It remains a relic along one of Colorado's most scenic highways.
A Visit of the East Portal Camp Cabins, Tolland, 2023. Along a popular hiking trail lies a colorfully painted cabin in a lush meadow near the East Portal of the Moffat Tunnel.
Miss Crystal Mill, Crystal, 2023. This is one of Colorado's most iconic historic buildings. The Crystal Mill was a wooden powerhouse that provided compressed air to nearby silver mines by way of a waterwheel.
Idarado Miner's Cabin, Million Dollar Highway, 2022. A miner's cabin stands along the Million Dollar Highway between Ouray and Silverton in the San Juan Range. Small mining claims were often consolidated into large company holdings such as Idarado. The mine and mill operated until 1978.
Sum of Rocks, Sangre de Cristo Range, 2023. A view of a ridge line looking northeast as seen from the top of Little Bear Peak (14,043' - 4,278m). The peak is located in Southern Colorado's Sangre de Cristo Range.
Mt of the Holy Cross, Sawatch Range, 1904. Photograph by G.B. Sanborn. Molly Brown Archives. Historic image of an iconic Colorado peak, standing at 14,009’ (4,276m). First ascent of the mountain was in 1873.
Pine, Sawatch Range, 2023. Remains of roads cut along the mountain side of the upper Winfield mining district. Prospecting first started in the area in 1867.
Ariel of Glenwood Springs, Glenwood Springs, Date Unknown. Molly Brown Archives. Historic view of the town along the Colorado River.
Glenwood, Glenwood Springs, Date Unknown. Molly Brown Archives. Street View down Grand Ave with Hotel Colorado at the end of the street. Ariel of Glenwood was taken from somewhere atop the mountain in the background.
My Dear Snow Angel, Chicago Lakes Trail, 2022. A dear late friend enjoys the view along the Chicago Lakes Trail in the Front Range. The lakes were a popular outdoor destination even before the National Forest was established.
The First Home Built in Red Cliff, Red Cliff, Date Unknown. Photography by William Edward Hook. Molly Brown Archives. The mining boomtown of Red Cliff was the first permanent settlement on the Eagle River. Rail service here started in 1881. Passengers departed Denver at 7:30pm and arrived in Red Cliff 11:45am the next day.
Rounding Hell Gate, Colorado Midland RX, Date Unknown. Photograph by Harry Buckwalter. Molly Brown Archives. Buckwalter was a photographer that made travelogues for railways companies documenting scenes from the west. He worked as a reporter and photographer at the Rocky Mountain News of Denver and is said to be Colorado’s first photojournalist.
Chiseled Curve, Royal Gorge, 2022. With a need to connect the Lower Arkansas Valley to Leadville, rails were laid through a lengthy 50 miles stretch called the “Grand Canyon of the Arkansas”. Construction from Cañyon City to Leadville was completed on July 20, 1880. The Royal Gorge Route Railway operates passenger travel along the scenic Arkansas river to this day.
Granite Canon Gorge, Colorado Midland RX, Date Unknown. Photograph by Harry Buckwalter. Molly Brown Archives. Another example of Buckwalter’s photographs of railways. The Colorado Midland Railway was the first standard gauge railroad built over the Continental Divide in Colorado. It ran from Colorado Springs to Leadville and continued to Glenwood Springs and Grand Junction.
The Great Trestle, Colorado Midland R.R. near the Hagerman Tunnel, Date Unknown. Molly Brown Archives. The initials of the famous photographer W.H. Jackson are scribbled out. During Jackson's era, photographers frequently purchased and sold negatives amongst themselves, with the current holder of the negative claiming authorship. Could this be one of his original images?
Ruby, East Portal Camp Cabins, 2023. Detail of a window shudder at an East Portal Camp Cabin near the Moffat Tunnel. The more contemporary paint job gives the cabin some extra character.
Landscape and Mining Town, Location and Date Unknown. Molly Brown Archives. Possibly a schoolhouse stands in the foreground of a modest mining settlement.
In 'n Out, Independence, 2024. A historic building with no roof stands at the foot of Independence Mountain in the Sawatch Range. Gold was struck here on July 4, 1879. The town grew as others got word of rich mineral deposits. At its height it housed 1500 residents and was a stagecoach stop along a pass over the continental divide. Like many mining boom towns, once resources dried up and railways were established to nearby Aspen, the town faded back into the landscape. By 1912 it was completely abandoned.