State atlas · filed under CO

Ghost Towns of Colorado

Colorado's dead towns map its ore: silver camps killed en masse by the 1893 crash, gold towns that outlived them by a decade, and high-altitude settlements where winter finished whatever the markets started.

584 sites surveyed across Colorado — 13 charted with full records so far, entered by year of settlement. The rest are awaiting verification.

✕Charted — click for the recordSurveyed — records pending

Survey note

The federal place-name archive records 584 vanished or historical sites in Colorado — ghost towns, mining camps, townsites, and railroad stops. We chart them a few at a time, as the records can be verified. Every mark on this map is a place that once had a name.

TownYearsLast pop.Classification

BoggsvilleBent Co.1866–18800Historic Townsite CaribouBoulder Co.1870–19050Vanished Place Animas ForksSan Juan Co.1873–19200Verified Ghost Town AltaSan Miguel Co.1877–19480Verified Ghost Town IndependencePitkin Co.1879–18990Vanished Place TincupGunnison Co.1879–191810Near-Abandoned St. ElmoChaffee Co.1880–19220Verified Ghost Town AshcroftPitkin Co.1880–19120Verified Ghost Town CrystalGunnison Co.1880–19170Verified Ghost Town GilmanEagle Co.1886–19840Verified Ghost Town LudlowLas Animas Co.1896–19540Vanished Place DearfieldWeld Co.1910–19460Vanished Place UravanMontrose Co.1936–19860Vanished Place

Society Pro

See Colorado as the surveyors drew it, 1879 to 1919

523 USGS survey sheets from those years cover Colorado. Pro lays them over today's map with a swipe between then and now, and adds every mine feature, lost place and mineral site the federal record holds for the state.

43,297mine features

17,669mineral sites

371lost places

523survey sheets

The full survey ledger

Every vanished town the federal archive records in Colorado — each with its own record page, verified and expanded over time.

AdelaideLake Co.AlpineChaffee Co.AltaSan Miguel Co.AltmanTeller Co.American CityGilpin Co.AnacondaTeller Co.Animas ForksSan Juan Co.ApexGilpin Co.Astor CityEagle Co.Badger House CommunityMontezuma Co.BaltimoreGilpin Co.Bear RiverRoutt Co.BeartownSan Juan Co.BrookfieldBaca Co.BrumleyLake Co.CampbelltownGunnison Co.Capers SpurPueblo Co.Capitol CityHinsdale Co.CarbonateGarfield Co.CardinalBoulder Co.CaribouBoulder Co.ChandlerFremont Co.ChattanoogaSan Juan Co.Chimney RockArchuleta Co.ClimaxLake Co.CoronaGrand Co.De NovaWashington Co.DelaguaLas Animas Co.DudleyPark Co.DyersvilleSummit Co.Echo HouseMontezuma Co.ForbesLas Animas Co.Fort JulesburgSedgwick Co.Fort Saint VrainWeld Co.Fort SedgwickSedgwick Co.Garland CityCostilla Co.GillettTeller Co.GladstoneSan Juan Co.Grand IslandBoulder Co.GriffthLa Plata Co.GustonOuray Co.HancockChaffee Co.HessieBoulder Co.Holy Cross CityEagle Co.HorseshoePark Co.IndependencePitkin Co.IndependenceTeller Co.IolaGunnison Co.Iron CityChaffee Co.KokomoSummit Co.LeavickPark Co.LeonardSan Miguel Co.LogtownLa Plata Co.MadridLas Animas Co.ManhattanLarimer Co.MidwayGunnison Co.MirageSaguache Co.Mound CityTeller Co.NathropChaffee Co.NinetyfourClear Creek Co.Old Fort BentOtero Co.Old Fort VasquezWeld Co.Old Mountain ViewEl Paso Co.OroLake Co.Park CityPark Co.ParkvilleSummit Co.PerigoGilpin Co.PhoenixGilpin Co.PiedmontLas Animas Co.PrestonSummit Co.PrimeroLas Animas Co.QuartzvillePark Co.RexfordSummit Co.RomleyChaffee Co.RubyPitkin Co.RuediEagle Co.Saint ElmoChaffee Co.Saint ThomasLas Animas Co.Saints JohnSummit Co.SedgewickSaguache Co.Seven LakesTeller Co.ShavanoChaffee Co.ShirleyChaffee Co.SilverdaleClear Creek Co.SneffelsOuray Co.SoprisLas Animas Co.Sopris PlazaLas Animas Co.StonewallChaffee Co.SummitvilleRio Grande Co.Swallows NestMontezuma Co.SwanChaffee Co.TigerSummit Co.TomboySan Miguel Co.TrumpPark Co.TuckervilleLa Plata Co.TungstenBoulder Co.TuttleKit Carson Co.UlaCuster Co.ViolaLas Animas Co.VulcanGunnison Co.WeaverMineral Co.WezelLincoln Co.WideawakeGilpin Co.WortmanLake Co.YankeeClear Creek Co.

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