I explored a ghost town that once had 3,000 people, 100 houses, and many businesses. Take a look at the crumbling buildings that remain.
The author near one of the crumbling buildings of the Caribou ghost town.Monica Humphries/Insider
- Caribou, Colorado, was once a thriving mining town about an hour from Denver.
- At its peak, it had 3,000 residents, 100 houses, a three-story hotel, and three saloons.
For many abandoned mining towns across America's West, the only remnants are crumbling buildings, historical images, and articles depicting what once stood there. The same rings true for Caribou, Colorado.
A view of the interior of a building at the Caribou ghost town. Monica Humphries/Insider
Caribou was once a silver mining town that boomed with 3,000 people, according to Western Mining History. Today, stone buildings, a wooden cabin, and a boarded-up mine entrance are all that remain.
Only two stone buildings remain at Caribou, Colorado. Monica Humphries/Insider
Source: Western Mining History
This fall, I drove a little over an hour from my home in Denver, Colorado, to explore the ghost town. Caribou is located 50 miles west of Denver near Nederland, Colorado, in the Indian Peaks Wilderness.
A pinpoint marks the former Caribou mine. Google Maps
As I passed the small mountain town of Nederland, I hopped on Caribou Road and headed toward the former mining town.
Caribou Road leading to the abandoned Caribou mine. Monica Humphries/Insider
I noticed several clues to Colorado's past and present mining industry along the road. I spotted abandoned mine chutes in the distance and the entrance to the active Cross Mine.
The entrance to the Cross Mine near Nederland, Colorado. Monica Humphries/Insider
But when two crumbling stone buildings came into view, I knew I had arrived at the Caribou ghost town.
A view of the two stone buildings. Monica Humphries/Insider
I parked my car and quickly learned there wasn't much to investigate. Signs signaled that much of the former mining town is now on private property, so I only explored two stone buildings sitting at the edge of the public road.
A close-up of a stone entrance to a building at the Caribou ghost town. Monica Humphries/Insider
I walked along the road and spotted bright orange fencing and "KEEP OUT" signs cautioning curious explorers to stay away. It was an entrance to the old mine.
The fenced-off area where the entrance to the Caribou mine is located. Monica Humphries/Insider
I was surprised at how little was left of Caribou considering how large it once was. As 4x4 Explore reports, the town was once bustling with people and had more than 100 buildings.
Views of Caribou taken in the 1880s. Carnegie Library for Local History / Museum of Boulder Collection
Source: 4x4 Explore
According to Ghost Towns, the Arapaho Indians discovered the area's wealth long before the miners arrived and named the nearby mountain "Treasure Mountain."
A view into the valley at the Caribou ghost town. Monica Humphries/Insider
Source: Ghost Towns
The story of how it then became the Caribou mining town varies by source. As the National Register of Historic Places reports, most agree that Samuel Conger was the first American to find silver in the Indian Peaks area.
A view of Caribou, Colorado. Carnegie Library for Local History / Museum of Boulder Collection
According to Ghost Towns, Conger caught wind of the mountain's nickname in the mid-1800s, but since the region was occupied, he couldn't search for the mountain's treasure.
Arapaho chiefs meet with other tribe leaders and the governor of Colorado in Denver in 1863. DEA / BIBLIOTECA AMBROSIANA / Getty Images
When gold was discovered near modern-day Denver in the mid-1800s, the pressure from Americans to relocate Native Americans increased, according to the National Park Service, and the Arapaho tribe was forcefully removed from states including Colorado.
The site currently has two stone buildings remaining. Monica Humphries/Insider
Source: National Park Service
In 1869, Conger headed to the now-deserted mountains for a hunting trip where he found minerals, according to 4x4 Explore.
A lump of silver. Oat_Phawat/Getty Images
Source: 4x4 Explore
Conger took his findings to Central City, Colorado, where he showed his rocks to two men with experience in mining, William Martin and George Lytle; they identified it as silver ore, the National Register of Historic Places reports.
A view of Central City, Colorado, in the 1800s. George D. Wakeley/Library of Congress/Corbis/VCG/Getty Images
According to the National Register of Historic Places, Conger told Martin and Lytle the location of the silver. With funding from two others, Martin and Lytle set out to stake their claim and uncovered two veins of silver ore, the same source reports.
A view from the summit of Arapaho Pass, near Nederland, Colorado. Sparty1711/Getty Images
Martin and Lytle headed back to Central City to share their discoveries with Conger and the two men who funded the expedition, according to the National Register of Historic Places.
A view looking down into the Caribou mining town. Carnegie Library for Local History / Museum of Boulder Collection
The group filed claims for two mines: Conger took a mine named Poor Man all to himself and the other four shared the claim of the Caribou mine, the same source reports.
Miners with tools standing in front of the Racine Boy Mine, Silver Cliff, Colorado. (Poor Man and Caribou mines not pictured.) Hulton Archive/Getty Images
The group returned and for the rest of 1869, they built mines and extracted ore, the National Register of Historic Places reports. That spring, word of the silver spread and miners flocked to Caribou, according to 4x4 Explore.
Men on horses, on the balcony, and standing along Potosi Street in Caribou in 1883. Carnegie Library for Local History / Museum of Boulder Collection
In 1871, Caribou's owners sold the mine and its new owners invested heavily to maximize production, the National Register of Historic Places reports. Profits were high, and the Caribou mining town formed.
A street in Caribou. Men standing in front of stores. Carnegie Library for Local History / Museum of Boulder Collection
By 1872, Caribou was booming. There were 100 houses, a three-story hotel, a bakery, a brewery, a meat market, a billiards parlor, a newspaper publishing company, a church, several saloons, and three hotels, according to 4x4 Explore.
A view of Caribou, Colorado. Carnegie Library for Local History / Museum of Boulder Collection
Source: 4x4 Explore
Between 1875 and 1884, the Caribou mine changed owners a handful of times, and they consolidated Caribou with nearby mines, according to the National Register of Historic Places.
A group of Caribou residents. Carnegie Library for Local History / Museum of Boulder Collection
By the early 1880s, most of the silver deposits were depleted, and by 1884, the Caribou mining operation ended, according to the National Register of Historic Places.
A building in Caribou, Colorado. Carnegie Library for Local History / Museum of Boulder Collection
Without a mine, Caribou's residents left and by 1885, only 140 people remained, the National Register of Historic Places reports.
Post office boxes left behind in Caribou, Colorado. Carnegie Library for Local History / Museum of Boulder Collection
In 1899, a fire swept through the town and destroyed the majority of the now-vacant buildings, and according to the National Register of Historic Places, they weren't rebuilt.
An image shows Caribou in the 1950s. Carnegie Library for Local History / Museum of Boulder Collection
By 1900, fewer than 50 people called Caribou their home, and the once-bustling mining town continued to lose residents until it turned into a ghost town, according to Ghost Towns.
A picture of the Caribou post office after the town was abandoned. Carnegie Library for Local History / Museum of Boulder Collection
Source: Ghost Towns
In 1980, Tom Hendricks, who owned the nearby Cross mine, purchased and reopened the Caribou mine hoping to make a profit from its silver, Uncover Colorado reported. Today, his operations continue.
One of the few remaining buildings of Caribou, Colorado. Monica Humphries/Insider
Source: Uncover Colorado
As I wandered along the road and looked down into the valley, I imagined the dozens of buildings that once filled the area.
A view into the valley at the Caribou ghost town. Monica Humphries/Insider
Somewhere was an old cemetery, according to the Carnegie Library for Local History.
Images of the cemetery in Caribou, Colorado. Carnegie Library for Local History / Museum of Boulder Collection
And I wondered if anything remained of the former post office, which was one of the last buildings of Caribou that closed in 1917, according to 4x4 Explore.
Men and boys stand on the porch of the J. Loyd Dry Goods and Groceries business. A Post Office sign hangs over the entrance. Carnegie Library for Local History / Museum of Boulder Collection
Source: 4x4 Explore
But as far as I could tell, nothing more than a few stone buildings remained. It was fascinating to envision how a place with so much life could become so overgrown by nature, as I observed.
A view of one of the remaining buildings at the Caribou abandoned mine. Monica Humphries/Insider
And I was thankful for the few buildings, historical images, and articles that I had access to, which shine a light into Caribou and the ghost town's past.
The author near one of the crumbling buildings of the Caribou ghost town. Monica Humphries/Insider
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