Historical Summit County Colorado Mines
One of the most exciting outdoor mountain activites is exploring historical mines in Summit County in a Jeep. Both guided and unguided tours are avalible. To learn more about historical mines in Summit County I recommend you pick up a great favorite book of mine which can be found found in book stores by local author Mary Ellen Gilliland. Her book “SUMMIT” is available! Mary Ellen Gilliland’s also has eight additional books which include humorous county history titled,”Colorado Rascals, Scoundrels and No Goods,” and “The New Summit Hiker.”
Summit, boasted the Hamilton Mine, a silver-gold producer about one mile in from the Swan, with a 10-stamp mill that ran 24 hours per day and processed 70 to 80 tons of ore monthly. The Hamilton Group consisted of 12 claims owned in 1899 by E. W. Dee. By 1902, the Hamilton had a tramway, flumes and its own reservoir. By 1909, the mine, though poorly managed, grossed $400,000. The Hamilton operated from 1887 until at least 1910.
A little farther along, at the mouth of Brown’s Gulch stood Swan City, its site now obliterated by dredge tailings. Offices for the Eddy Mining Company, IXL Mine, New York and Summit Mines headquartered here in a 300-population town with a sawmill for flume lumber and a concentrator owned by C. A. Weeks. (See Chapter 14 for details on Swan City.)
The Cashier Mine, a heavy longtime producer of silver-gold ore, was located on the east side of Brown’s Gulch. The Cashier had adits on three levels, some very large stopes (chambers) and a 40-stamp mill. The mine yielded some beautiful specimens of tangled wire gold, like that found on famous Farncomb Hill. Just past Swan City, the IXL Mine had its 40-ton concentrating mill on the valley’s south side.
Officials recently authorized bulldozing the remaining buildings at Tiger. Years earlier its structures were torn down due to habitation by persistent squatters. For a while, a lone log cabin, the old Tiger assay office, and some mine buildings marked the site of Tiger, former company-town headquarters of the powerful Royal Tiger Mines Company.
In May, 1917, the company, under John Traylor, grouped area mines, including nearby Swan City’s rich Cashier and substantial IXL (five large claims) under one corporate roof. The IXL soon connected with the Cashier via tunnel. A 500-ton mill went up. A complete company town arose to house workers. (See Chapter 14 for details.) In 1926, Traylor purchased the dredge and properties of the powerful Tonopah Placers Company. The Royal Tiger Mines Company worked from 1917 to 1934, provided vital tax and payroll dollars for a depressed Summit County. Then, in 1938, the company filed for bankruptcy. B & B Mines Company acquired its property in 1940. B & B, which stands for Boston and Breckenridge, owed many historic Breckenridge-area mines located in the famed Golden Horseshoe of rich lodes. In 2005 Summit County purchased the company’s large holdings for open space.
Continue on beyond Tiger until the road forks. A sign there indicates that the left turn leads to the Swan’s North Fork. Perched high in a meadow near timberline on the North Fork is old Rexford, another company town. One hundred yards above it is Rexford’s mine, the rich Rochester King (later called the Arrastre King), discovered by Daniel Patrick in 1880. The mine grossed about $5,000 per month in 1881. Consisting of six claims, the Rochester shipped 500 tons of gold-silver ore by 1883. The Black Swan, White Swan, Sweet William, Santa Claus and Ben Franklin claims merged to form the mine. Although the Rexford post office closed in 1883, mining continued here. In 1889, a new mill went up, with a wooden tramway connecting to the mine. (Chapter 14 details Rexford’s history.)
Visitors can explore Rexford by jeep or hike into the town.
Driving south along the Tiger Road another split appears. Here one can proceed along a jeep road that follows the Swan’s Middle Fork to Swandyke. (The road becomes rough as you progress toward the old townsite.) At Swandyke, the Brilent Mine, the Uncle Sam, at the head of Wise Mountain, Three Kings, Pompeii and Isabella operated despite the town’s isolated, near-timberline location.
Swandyke blossomed in the late 1890’s. Its postoffice opened in 1898 and a big iron sulfide strike caused a minor boom in 1899. The Carrie Mine installed a modern electro-cyanide mill and a Tyler five-stamp mill that year. Strikes, including those at the Pompeii and the Swandyke Gold Mining and Milling Company’s 12 rich claims continued through the next decade. In 1899, Swandyke’s Uncle Sam Lode made news. A March 22, 1899 Denver newspaper reported a strike with samples that averaged $780 in gold, “the highest running $2,933.” By 1910, the postoffice closed and Swandyke population dipped to 15. (See Chapter 14 for more on Swandyke.)
This tour follows the Swan’s South Fork to the Georgia Gulch site of old Parkville. A broken Masonic marker, vandalized in 1978, indicates the townsite, which was buried above its rooftops by mine tailings. (See Chapter 19 on Parkville.) …
REAL ESTATE
If you would like additional information about real estate in Breckenridge Colorado as well as anywhere in Summit County Colorado contact us at 1-800-791-3990 ext 421.
Jeffery McClintock, is a real estate broker in Summit County and prides himself on providing clients with professional guidance in all phases of residential new construction, including market research, product development, consulting, marketing and advertising. His personal mission is to bring to you a level of knowledge, experience, commitment, high standards and results to answer your real estate needs. He believes, the most effective way to provide superior service is to build a strong working relationship with you. His system includes regular consultations and feedback, which is the best tool for identifying and clarifying your real estate objectives and help define strategic solutions.
