Friday, August 15, 2014

Another Ghost Town

Thirteen miles south of Lake City, Co you will find the remains of a small mining town of Sherman. Founded in 1877  it was home at one time to over 300 miners of gold, silver, copper and lead. There were several *mines in this area, that was prone to flooding in the Spring. The town was built at the confluence of Cottonwood Creek and the lake Fork of the Gunnison River. Many of the miners left in the winter and returned in late Spring when the snow was melted and the streams fat with that snow melt, were down.
I like that this recently erected sign educates us all... that this place did exist
The largest remaining structure pictured above are the walls of what was the Black Wonder Mill ,where ore was crushed and processed.
Other than there are several miners cabins that are sadly decaying.
this interior shot shows you that the floors were just dirt.


At this point I am not sure what could be done to preserve the area.

For those interested in what was the demise of this little place. Well, in the early 1890's the U. S. government devalued silver...which abruptly slowed down it's mining. Also, in order to keep the waters from the creek and the river back, a crude dam was constructed...which shortly thereafter burst and flooded, almost the entire town. Sherman never recovered. One man who owned more than one cabin, settled a debt he owed to a man in Lake City by giving him several of these cabins, which are part of our town  (Lake City) today. Most of this area where the town stood, is private property now ( with no trespassing signs) so I couldn't;t investigate like I wanted. (hate that).

* Mines in the area of Sherman were:  New Hope, Smile of Fortune, Minnie Lee and the largest, The Black Wonder.

Portions of this information came from the Bureau of Land Management brochure


7 comments:

  1. That is an interesting history about the area around you. A pity that nobody wants to explore this and keep the history alive, except you.

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  2. You missed your calling as an historian! Good info with supporting photos.

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  3. sad about the flood. glad a few things remain.

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  4. It is a pity that this will all be lost in a few more years.

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  5. Well sometimes the counties get funds and create parks and such, or possibly state wide to preserve and allow for folks to see they things were! You never know, if you get the right folks with enough drive they can make anything happen. Thanks for sharing it.

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  6. The old ghost towns of CO. I get shivers when I come upon one.

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  7. The stories that these old ghost towns could tell!
    They once housed hopes, dreams and families.

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