Loading map...

1897 Map of Silverton

Name: 1897 Topographic Map of Silverton
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1897
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1897

About this map

The town of Silverton serves as the industrial and transportation anchor for this high-altitude mining district during the late nineteenth-century boom. Narrow-gauge rail lines, including the Denver & Rio Grande R. R. and the Silverton R. R., thread through deep canyons to reach isolated camps and ore-processing sites. The landscape is densely packed with extractive infrastructure, from the Stoiber Smelter on the valley floor to the Yankee Girl Mine and Sunnyside Mine perched in the surrounding basins.

Settlements like Animas Forks, Howardsville, and Eureka appear at the confluence of glacial gulches, indicating a region entirely shaped by the silver and gold rushes. The presence of numerous mills, such as the San Juan Chief Mill and North Star Mill, alongside high-altitude passes like Cinnamon Pass, illustrates the logistical complexity of moving heavy machinery and ore across the San Juan Mountains.