OURAY COUNTY, COGENWEB PROJECT

TOWNS
 
Ahwiler's Park This place was near Ouray and known for its radium mineral springs.
Albany
Located about 6 miles south of Ouray and was a railroad siding at the junction with the Million Dollar Highway.
Alder Creek This place had a post office from 1878 to 1880.
American Flats See Engineer City.  Formerly held name.
Andrus A mining camp south of Mt. Sneffels and the Virginus Basin.
Argentum This town was established in November of 1876 located on the west end of Burrows Park north of Copper Creek.  This place was said to have had a post office given the name Whitecross in 1882.  There is also the speculation this pace could have once been called Burrows or Burrows Park.
Ash This town existed because of the Bachelor Mine on the south side of Dexter creek and the Calliope Mine on the north side.  Its name was a combination of initials to the last names of the three owners, Armstrong, Sanders, and Hurlburt.  This place had a post office from 1899 to 1905.
Aurora This place had a post office from 1880 to 1884.  It was located along the Dallas Creek.
Bachelor Cabins This place was a mining camp lower down from Carson established about 1896.  It was know by the locals who gave it this name.
Burro Creek Found on a 1885 map east of Eldredge.
Camp Bird This town is at an elevation of 9754 feet (2973 meters) and was established in 1896.  It was named for the Camp Bird Gold Mine which refers to a bird that was often at mining camps, the Rocky Mountain Jay.  The area was originally mined for silver by two British men but the ore never panned out as expected so they gladly sold their holdings in 1881.  A new contractor came in to mine the area but quit in terror when rock slides and the snows started.  The area remained abandoned until 1895 when a man named Thomas Walsh sent someone to the abandoned mines looking for siliceous ores he could use for his smelter.  When he saw the samples from this area and the high content of gold he immediately bought all the old claims.  When he sold his claim in 1902, he was a multimillionaire, and the mine was the largest gold mine in the world.  The town thrived until about 1911 when gold mining in the area started slowing down.  Very little mining is done now.  This place had a post office from 1898 until 1918.
Carson This town was established in 1882 and had a post office from 1897 to 1905.  It was named for Christopher Carson who owned the nearby Bonanza King Mine.
Chipeta This was a failed venture by a group of prominent men such as David F. Day, publisher of the Ouray newspaper "Solid Muldoon", Otto Mears and David Moffat, president of the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad.  They set up "Ramona Town Company" and filed Articles of Incorporation for a town next to Portland 18 December 1886.  It was intended to be the terminus for the railroad being built to Ouray.  The plan crumbled when Ouray offered a better deal and incentives for the railroad to come to their town.  It was originally know as Dayton (for Day's Town) and then changed to Helena for the wife of D&RG Railroad's president.  It was then changed to Romona after a book Helena Moffat wrote and then changed again to Chipeta to honor Chief Ouray's wife.  It was never recognized by the postal authorities because there was already a post office in Portland.
Colona This town is at an elevation of 6385 feet (1946 meters) and was established in 1860.  It was previously named for Enos Hotchkiss, who discovered the Golden Fleece Mine, but the towns people voted for it's current name in 1862.  Its name means colonist in Spanish.  Its post office ran from 1891 to 1943.
Copper Glen See Ironton.  Briefly held name.
Corkscrew Gulch This town was not much more than a railroad stop on a branch of the Denver & Rio Grande Southern.  Some mining was done in the area.
Dallas This town is at an elevation of 6915 feet (2108 meters) and was established in the spring of 1879 along Dallas Creek where it flows into the Uncompahgre River.  It was called Unaweep and then Gold City.  By August the gold miners had abandoned the site.  A year later the town started up again next to the old gold placers and was named Dallas for George Mifflin Dallas, Vice President under James Polk (1845-49).  This time it was a major station for for stages and wagons heading west.  It was incorporated April 2, 1889 and located along the Unaweep Creek.  A new railroad junction was located a couple miles from Dallas at Ridgway in 1890 which spelled slow death for this town.  The post office ran from 1884 to 31 October 1899.  The loss of the post office may or may not be attributed to Mrs. Carmichael.  She had been the postmistress for ten years when she was arrested by United States authorities 13 May 1899.  It turned out her accounts were four thousand dollars short due to embezzlement.
Dallas Divide This town was formerly Aurora but when activity in the area started up again the people gave it this name.  As with Aurora this town was along the San Miguel county line.  A post office operated here from 1894 to 1909.  The post office was moved to Noel.
Dallasville This town had a post office from 1877 to 1879.
Dallas Fork By Dallas Creek and found on an 1885 map.
Deti A railroad stop on a branch of the Denver & Rio Grande Southern 12 miles southwest of Ridgway
Eldredge This town is at an elevation of 6522 feet (1988 meters) and was located a little southeast of Colona.  It was a stop on the Montrose to Ouray rail line and located on Billy Creek.
Engineer City This was a mining camp located along the county line between Ouray and Hinsdale counties on the east side of Engineer Mountain.  Most of the camp was in Ouray but a portion spilled over into Hinsdale.  It was established in 1881 around the Frank Hough Mine.
Folsum This town had a post office in 1888.
Gabbert This town had a post office from 1898 to 1903.
Gold City See Dallas.  Briefly held name.
Gray Copper Gulch Small mining camp just southwest of Ironton.
Guston This town is at an elevation of 10600 feet (3231 meters) and was established in the early 1880's.  It came about because of the Guston mine and by the 1890's it had a population of 300 and mail service from Ouray.  It had the only church in the area and the only church to announce services with a mine whistle, which was donated by a miner.  The post office operated from 1892 to 1898
Hagens This town was on a 25 car passing track on the Denver & Rio Grande Southern railroad and located 5 miles west of Ridgway.
Henson This place had a post office from 1894 to 1910.
Hillside Spur This town was not much more than a railroad stop in the 1880's.  It was on the Denver & Rio Grande branch between Ridgway and Placerville along the San Miguel and Ouray county line.
Hotchkiss See Colona.  Briefly held name.
Hot Springs This place had a post office from 1877 to 1879.  It was located about half way between Portland and Ridgway on the Denver & Rio Grande railroad.
Ironton This town is at an elevation of 9796 feet (2986 meters) and was established in 1882.  The campsite was surveyed in spring of 1883 and incorporated 24 March 1884.  It started out being known as Copper Glen and Ironton but the miners decided to drop the Copper Glen name.  It grew very fast because of many productive mines in the area which prompted the rail line to be extended from Red Mountain Town in 1889.  This Rainbow Route brought many tourist to the town in the 1890's because of the rugged beauty of the ride from Silverton to here.  The silver crash almost killed the town but small gold discoveries kept it alive.  The 1890 census listed 323 people living here and had people in the city proper until the 1960's.  The post office operated from 1883 to 1920.
Joker This place was a railroad stop on the Denver & Rio Grande about a mile north of Red Mountain Town.  It was also found on an 1923 map.
Lake Hughes This town was not much more than a railroad stop on Denver & Rio Grande and located a few miles north of Ouray.  It was also found on an 1895 map
Lawrence This place had a post office from 1883 to 1884.  Its post office was moved to Dallas.
Lone Basin This place was a mining camp near Engineer City.  It was found on an 1881 map.
Los Pinos Established in 1875 it was an Uncompahgre Ute agency named after the one that was in Saguache County.  It was also a railroad mail stop.
Magentie See Ridgway.
Mayol's Trenchards A town west of Aurora on road to Placerville.  Found on an 1881 map.
Mineral Farm A short lived mining camp just south of Ouray.
Mineral Point This town is at an elevation of 11474 feet (3497 meters) and was one time the highest town in the San Juan Mountains.  It was named for location on a 60-foot knob of quartz.  The Old Lout Mine was nearby with one of the richest lodes in the area.
Norfolk Creek Found on an 1885 map north of Ouray.
Ouray This town is at an elevation of 7811 feet (2381 meters) and is the county seat.  It is located in a bowl shaped valley surrounded on three sides by the San Juan Mountains.  It was first laid out by Capt. Cline and Judge Long in 1875.  At first the camp was called Uncompahgre City or just Uncompahgre but lasted about as long as it take to say the name and changed to Ouray in honor of the chief of the Western Ute Indians.  Even though there were many good paying mines in the area and an initial rush of people this town grew slowly due to its isolation.  With the coming of a branch of the Denver & Rio Grande railroad from Montrose in 1887 and a further extension to Ridgway three years later brought new life to the town.  The town coined "Gem of the Rockies" early on and attracted tourists, artists and writers because of its beauty.  The town was incorporated March 24, 1884 and today is more interested in tourism than mining.  It has an estimated population of 650.
Palmetto A mining camp in the American Flats area.
Park City A mining camp located about 12 miles south of Mineral Point.
Paymaster This town was not much more than a railroad stop.
Piedmont This town was not much more than a railroad stop on the Denver & Rio Grande about 4 miles south of Ridgway.
Pierce A mining camp north of Mineral Point.  Found on an 1881 map.
Plumer See Portland.  Name of post office there.
Porters See Sneffels.  Briefly held, named for George Porter who had a photography studio at the site.
Portland This town is at an elevation of 7257 feet (2212 meters) and was established in 1877 and incorporated March 16, 1886.  It is located at the southern tip of Uncompahgre Park four miles north of Ouray.  It supplied vegetables and other produce for Ouray and the many mines in the area.  At one time it had 300 people a school, post office and several businesses.  The town slowly died when the railroad passed it by.  In 1940 fifty people still lived here but a Colorado law in 1975 forced the abandonment of ghost towns.  The post office operated here from 11 January 1878 to 1896.  It started up again and was called Plumer this time by the postal authorities for one of the founders for this town.  This was because another Portland had been given a post office in Freemont County.  The Plumer post office lasted from 1900 till the middle of 1901.
Red Canon Creek Found on an 1885 map between Ouray and Portland just north of Windham.
Red Mountain This town is at an elevation of 10875 feet (3315 meters).  This place was known as High Line Camp and Sky City before settling with Red Mountain Town.  Although the town was established in 1882 and incorporated in 1883, there was silver mining in the area since 1879.  In 1886 the town up and moved to its present position on a flat area at the head of Red Mountain Creek.  With the coming on the Rainbow line in September of 1888 and the many very productive gold mines in the area, Red Mountain was a very lively town which lasted until after the turn of the century.  But gold was not the only thing mined here.  Copper, lead, silver and zinc made it a very profitable area.  A post office operated here from 1883 to 1913.
Richardsons A mining camp near Mount Sneffels.  Found on an 1881 map.
Ridgway This town is at an elevation of 6988 feet (2130 meters).  It was established in 1890 when two men Otto Mears and Fred Walsen set up a town site two and a half miles southwest of Dallas.  They made it a junction for the Denver & Rio Grande and a new line they wished to run to Durango.  The birth of this town is clouded in controversy.  Some say Dave Wood, who owned large tracts of land here, wanted to make a killing(riches), while others said Denver & Rio Grande wanted to, and still others said it was the logical place for it.  Which ever is true it did prove to be a good place and the town prospered serving both the ranchers of the area and the ore trains coming through.  It was originally to be named Magentie then McGinty and then Jordan but was established as Dallas Junction.  The name was soon changed to avoid confusion with the old town of Dallas and called Ridgway Junction and finally just Ridgway.  This name was in honor of R. M. Ridgway, superintendent for the mountain division of the railroad.  This town was incorporated 2 April 1891 and has an estimated population of 430.
Riverside A mining camp on Red Mountain Creek in Curran Gulch.  Found on an 1881 map.
Ruby City This place had a post office from 1878 to 1879.  Located near Sneffels where some mining still goes on today.
Ruby City This Ruby City was found on an 1885 map located on Cow Creek along the county line with Hinsdale.
Sneffels This town is at an elevation of 10610 feet (3234 meters).  It was established not long before Ouray when a group of miners led by men named Quinn and Richardson came into the area and set up claims.  It was originally named Porters and then named for Mt. Sneffels and briefly carried the name Mount Sneffels.  The name of Sneffels came from the Jules Verne's Icelandic peak in "A Journey to the Center of the Earth".  There were many profitable mines located in this area but not well known.  It was southwest of Ouray and had a post office from 1879 to 1930.  Still some mining going on.
Sterling Was little more than a tent city mining camp above Whitecross.
Tellurim A mining camp in the late 1870's and early 1880's above Whitecross.  It was named for a gold-producing ore.
Thistledown This town is at an elevation of 8935 feet (2723 meters).  It is located a few miles southwest of Ouray at the confluence of Canyon Creek and Weebawken Creek.
Unaweep See Dallas.  Briefly held name.
Uncompahgre City See Ouray.  Briefly held name.  It is the Ute word for "Red Lake" and given to the hot springs by Ouray.
Upper Camp Bird This place was farther up the mountain from Camp Bird.
Valleyview A railroad stop on the Denver & Rio Grande Southern about 2 miles north of Dallas Divide.  Found on a 1923 map.
Vance Place This town was at an elevation of 9037 feet (2754 meters).
Vanderbilt This town was not much more than a railroad stop and located in the southwest of the county.
Virginus This town was established in 1877 with the discovery of a very rich gold mine.  The town took the name of the mine and was mainly a camp for the men working the mine.  It was located in the very southwest corner of the county.  A post office operated from 1887 to 1894.
Westons A mining camp southeast of Camp Bird.  Found on an 1881 map.
Whitecross This town was established 1880 in Burrows Park across the canyon from Whitecross Mountain.  It was named for the white cross of quartz at the knob of Whitecross Mountain seen from the town.  The miners here worked in the Tabasco Mine.
Windham This was a small ranch with the Windham smelter that produced for a while.  This place had a post office from 1878 to 1881.  Found on an 1881 map.
Yankee Girl This town was mostly just a camp for the miners working a productive mine of the same name.  It had more than 300 workers at one time.  It was also one of the stops along the Rainbow line built by Otto Mears.  Found on an 1885 map.

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