Gothic, Colorado

Gothic
Gothic
Ghost town
	Gothic, Colorado
	Gothic, Colorado, behind some buildings of the Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory
	Gothic Gothic
	Coordinates: 38°57′33″N 106°59′23″W / 38.9592°N 106.9897°W
Elevation	2,900 m (9,500 ft)
Population
• Total	Seasonal
Time zone	Mountain

Gothic, Colorado is a ghost town in the American state of Colorado. It is in the West Elk Mountains.

Now, it is not a true ghost town, as in the warmer months it is the high-altitude biological field station of the Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory, near Crested Butte.

Gothic's history

In 1879, an explosion at the nearby Sylvanite Mine rocked the Gothic area. The blast shot strands of "wire-silver." Soon, prospectors arrived, and Gothic exploded.

Getting its name from Gothic Mountain, Gothic was incorporated on July 17, 1879, a mining town.^[1] Gothic was a silver boomtown in the 1880s, and had over 100 residents and a post office. Also discovered was galena, gold, ruby silver ore, and pyrite.

In 1880, former US president Ulysses S. Grant visited. Horace Tabor put money in the Elk Mountain Bonanza newspaper. Reality seemed ideal. ^[2]

Silver prices crashed with the Sherman Silver Purchase Act in 1893. By 1914, town had one resident. From the initial building boom, only the saloon still stands.^[3]

Over a decade since Gothic had been declared a ghost town, the land was purchased by one Dr. John Johnson. It was converted into the Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory. In the summer, around 160 live there,^[4] and billy barr, who prefers lower-case, has been there since 1973, and has done important enviromental observations.^[5].^[6]