Ironton is an extinct town located in Ouray County, Colorado, United States. It lay south of the present town of Ouray, adjacent to the sites Guston and Red Mountain Town, fellow ghost towns. During the 1880s and 1890s, Ironton formed part of the Red Mountain Pass mining district, the second largest silver mining district in Colorado.[3] The Ironton post office operated from May 2, 1883, until August 2, 1920.[4]
Ironton | |
|---|---|
Mining ghost town | |
 Ironton Ghost Town in 2014 | |
  Ironton Location within the state of Colorado | |
| Coordinates: 37°55′58″N 107°40′49″W / 37.9328°N 107.6803°W | |
| Country | United States |
| State | Colorado |
| County | Ouray |
| Elevation 2987 | 9,800 ft (3,000 m) |
| Population (2010) | |
| • Total | 0 |
| Time zone | UTC-7 (Mountain (MST)) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC-6 (MDT) |
| ZIP codes | 81432[1] |
| GNIS feature ID | 187227 [2] |
History edit
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Ironton (also formerly named "Copper Glen") was built on flatter ground than surrounding towns. Settled sporadically through the 1870s and 1880s, a major period of settlement that solidified Ironton as a community saw roughly 300 structures begin construction during a three-week span. It was a staging area for supplies coming from Ouray.[5] Ironton was a major transportation junction between Red Mountain Town and Ouray in addition to having some of its own mines. Ironton had a peak population of over 1000 and had two trains arriving daily from Silverton. There were many chain stores from the nearby cities of Ouray and Silverton on the Silverton Railroad. This narrow gauge railroad backed by noted financier Otto Mears reached Ironton in 1889.[6] Mears would later introduce toll roads to the area, resulting in the "Million Dollar Highway." The town lived into the first part of the 20th century but slowly faded as mining operations declined.[7] The final resident of the town, Milton Larson, appeared as a contestant on the July 1, 1963, episode of I've Got A Secret, with this as his secret. He died in the mid-1960s.[8] The town site is still occasionally visited by tourists.[9]
See also edit
References edit
- ^ "Guston (historical), Ouray County, Colorado". CO HomeTownLocator. Retrieved March 9, 2021.
- ^ "Ironton". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior. October 13, 1978. Retrieved March 9, 2021.
- ^ "Red Mountain Town, CO Ghost Town – by Silverton". Uncover Colorado. Retrieved March 9, 2021.
- ^ Bauer, William H.; Ozment, James L.; Willard, John H. (1990). Colorado Post Offices 1859–1989. Golden, Colorado: Colorado Railroad Historical Foundation. ISBN 0-918654-42-4.
- ^ "Colorado Past". Retrieved May 4, 2011.
- ^ "Silverton Railroad". Legends of America. Retrieved March 9, 2021.
- ^ "Ghost towns". Retrieved May 4, 2011.
- ^ "Ironton Colorado Townsite - Ghost town". Archived from the original on April 20, 2012. Retrieved March 2, 2014.
- ^ "The Ghost Town of Ironton, Colorado". Archived from the original on July 5, 2013. Retrieved March 2, 2014.
External links edit
Media from Commons
News from Wikinews
Quotations from Wikiquote
Travel information from Wikivoyage
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