Ghost Towns: Gilman, Colorado

Ghost Towns is a relatively popular category for the Rural Resurrection website. Our last posting in this category was on Crystal Springs, North Dakota. There’s an old saying, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” It is important to learn from these ghost towns to help us avoid our communities becoming one as well. However, some of the stories in this category are just interesting tales to read. This week we’ll take a look at Gilman, Colorado.

History of Gilman

The ghost town of Gilman is located in central Colorado, about a two-hour drive from Denver. It sprouted up in 1886 as part of the rush created by the Colorado Silver Boom. Miners from all around descended on nearby Leadville with the promise of silver in their minds. This influx of travelers created trails and eventually, roads throughout the area opening new areas for mining exploration.

The profitable Iron Mask Mine and others in the area drew the attention of John Clinton, a judge and land speculator from Red Cliff. In the early 1880s he acquired a number of mines in the area putting them under one umbrella of ownership. He then set out to create a mining camp on the back side of Battle Mountain, overlooking the Eagle River. The camp eventually evolved into a mining town named after Clinton, before its name was changed in 1886 to Gilman in order to avoid confusion with a town of the same name in California.

The population in the area grew to over 1,500, before settling to 442 in the 1890 census after the initial silver rush ended. But mining continued to be quite viable in the area as over 100 tons of ore was shipped out per day on the railroad that ran along the Eagle River. A hotel and a boarding house was constructed, along with a general store, a billiard hall, and quite a few saloons.

The Struggles

Gilman suffered from a number of painful events over the years. The silver crash of 1893 shut down a number of mines for quite a while. A fire ravaged the town in 1899, destroying a number of buildings. Strikes and changes in demand for various materials mined also hampered the prosperity of the town.

Eventually, the mines shut down due to the unprofitability of the mines and the contamination of the groundwater. In 1985 the Battle Moutain Corporation evicted the remaining population after buying the land that the town sat on. Eventually, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) declared the 235 acres in and around Gilman as a Superfund Site due to 8 million tons of mine waste.

Jeffrey Beall, CC BY 4.0 , via Wikimedia Commons

Potential for New Life

The area has since been cleaned up and a developer purchased the land in 2004 with plans to create a gated ski community. The townsite of Gilman was just a portion of Florida real-estate developer Edward Ginn’s extravagant plan. He held visions to construct a 10-lift private ski resort, golf course, a luxury hotel, and adjoining subdivisions playing host to hundreds of private homes.

Ginn’s grand visions wooed the nearby town of Minturn. He asked for the community to annex 4,300 acres of the 5,300 acres of land that he had purchased in order to provide the needed municipal services for his development.

Representatives for Minturn didn’t just roll over in the hopes that the development would happen. They asked for a list of improvements to be provided by the developer in return for the annexation. This included a new recreation center, a new wastewater treatment plant, a scholarship fund, money for the purchase of nearby open space, as well as the provision of $3.5 million for wildlife protection. In all, the contribution package totaled nearly $200 million.

Yet many residents of Minturn were still not happy with the potential development. The Colorado Independent summarized the comments of one resident as, “Ginn’s development will subjugate the town to the Ginn Company’s rule, dismantle the town’s unique character, decimate prime elk and other wildlife habitat, raise property taxes and choke two-lane Main Street in a cacophony of big trucks for years to come.”

Abandoned Houses, CC-BY-SA-3.0-migrated, via Wikimedia Commons

Reliance on Finite Resources

Hundreds of towns have sprouted up over the years due to nearby mines. Unfortunately, many of them are now ghost towns, or are on the verge of being one. The truth of the matter is what they were mining was a finite resource. Sooner or later the metal or other material substance that these minors were extracting was going to run out. Or the profitability of running the mine would run so low, it wasn’t worth keeping the mine open.

A select few mining towns have been able to make the transition to a new economic base. Some have ridden on the coattails of their history and provided tourists with a look into the past. Others have found new life as ski resorts. But for many, the transition to a town known for something other than mining was quite daunting. Mining towns are often perched precariously on mountainsides, making the possibility of turning to an agricultural or industrial economic base unrealistic.

This is a fact of life in many towns. Whether it is a mining town like Gilman, or another company town like Newton, Iowa, when a majority of your town’s economic base is centered on one employer, it is not a good position to be in. Diversification of your economic base is important. Even if it is a series of smaller businesses with little-to-no dependence on the primary employer, that’s a step in the right direction.

Current Situation

The Minturn City Council unanimously approved the annexation and development plans for Ginn’s resort on February 27, 2008. The annexation was affirmed through a May 20, 2008 public referendum in which 87% of the voters approved of the annexation. The overall annexation area, which includes the former town of Gilman, now lies within the Minturn City Limits.

However, a year later, Ginn Company backed out of the development plans and Ginn’s original financier, Crave Real Estate Ventures, took over the property. To this day, nothing has happened to the site.

A number of explorers have meandered through the community over the years. They’ve done so illegally as it is private property. But pictures and videos like the one below provide a good look into this ghost town.

Beyond what is provided in this post, Gilman had an interesting history. For more on the history of Gilman, check out the Legends of America article on the town. For more on the development fiasco and the other legal battles in this area, check out the Colorado Independent’s article about it.

You may know of a ghost town with an interesting history. One that may be a helpful example to other communities, don’t keep it to yourself! Let us know through our contact form.