1889 Map of Anthracite

About this map

Irwin and Ruby stand as central hubs in this high-altitude landscape, where the hunt for silver and coal defined the late nineteenth-century economy of the West Elk Mountains. Surveyed by Henry Gannett and Anton Karl in the 1880s, the map reveals an intricate network of basins and gulches, such as Dippold Basin and Oh-be-joyful Gulch, that provided the topographical framework for mining exploration. The arrival of the Denver South Park and Pacific Railroad in the southern reaches at Baldwin signaled the industrial shift towards transporting resources like coal from the Anthracite Range to broader markets. Beyond the burgeoning settlements like Pittsburgh and Elkton, the map traces early transportation routes including the White River Trail, illustrating how miners and prospectors navigated the complex terrain between peaks like Gothic Mt and Mt Marcellina.