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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

Silverton serves as the industrial and transportation hub for this 1895 survey, where the Denver & Rio Grande R.R. meets the Denver & Silverton Line and the steep Silverton and Red Mountain R.R. The landscape is defined by an intensive concentration of late-19th-century mining infrastructure, featuring major operations like the Sunnyside Mine, the Stoiber Smelter, and the massive Revenue Tunnel. Numerous smaller mining camps and processing sites are scattered across the high basins and gulches, including Mineral Point, Animas Forks, and Eureka.

The presence of the Continental Divide and multiple county lines highlights the administrative complexity of this mineral-rich region. Significant water bodies like Silver Lake and the Animas River provided the necessary power and processing resources for mills such as the Highland Mary Mill and San Juan Chief Mill. This map offers a remarkably dense record of the high-altitude settlement pattern during the peak of the Colorado silver boom.