Why Silverton sits where it does: hard-rock mining in the San Juans

Silverton did not end up high in the mountains by accident. The town and the surrounding county grew because of what was in the rock: silver and gold drew miners into the San Juan Mountains starting in the 1870s, and a town formed to support the work.

That history is still visible on the ground. Old mining roads climb to sites that are now ghost towns or scattered ruins, like Animas Forks above town. Many of the rough four-wheel-drive routes people enjoy today were built to reach mines, not for sightseeing. Even the railroad that climbs up from Durango is tied to moving ore and people in and out of a place that snow could otherwise cut off.

Understanding this helps explain the county itself: a small, high community that exists where it does because of mining, and that has shifted over time toward tourism and history as the mines closed.

For careful, sourced background on Silverton’s mining past and the historic sites around the county, History Colorado is a good starting point rather than tourist retellings.