The story
Alta served the Gold King and neighboring mines on the shoulder of the mountains above Telluride from 1877. Its place in history was secured in 1891, when the Ames hydroelectric plant in the valley below sent alternating current up the mountain to the Gold King's motors — the world's first commercial transmission of AC power for industry, a Westinghouse/Tesla milestone born of the mine's desperation over fuel costs.
Mining continued in waves until a 1948 mill fire ended it. The surviving cluster — boarding houses, the mine office, cabins with the Wilson Peak skyline behind them — sits by the road to the Alta Lakes, one of the most scenic ghost approaches in the San Juans.
What remains today
Several substantial buildings including the two-story boarding house and mine office, plus mill ruins, just below Alta Lakes.
From the archives
Rocky Mountain reflection in one of the string of Alta Lakes outside Telluride, Colorado
Rocky Mountain reflection in one of the string of Alta Lakes outside Telluride, Colorado
Source: Library of Congress digital collections.
Questions from the field
- What's Alta's claim to fame?
- The Gold King mine above Alta became the first industrial customer of long-distance alternating-current power in 1891, fed by the Ames plant in the valley — the demonstration that helped AC win the 'war of the currents.'
From the field
The most valuable part of this record is the part only visitors can write.
Stamp your passport
Check in at Alta — GPS-verified visits earn an inked stamp.
File a field report
Road conditions, what's still standing, what's gone — your report joins the record.
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Credited, dated, and preserved as part of Alta's permanent record.
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Primary sources for this record
- — USGS GNIS feature 187155
- — IEEE Milestone — Ames Hydroelectric Plant
- — San Miguel County historical records