Saints John, Colorado

Saints John, originally called Coleyville and later Saint John, is a former silver-mining town in Summit County, Colorado. About a mile from the town of Montezuma, Saints John was the site of one of the first silver discoveries in Colorado. Although no longer a town, it still has several inhabitants.

Saints John
Mining ghost town
Saints John
Location within the state of Colorado
Coordinates: 39°34′18″N 105°52′54″W
CountryUnited States
StateColorado
CountySummit
Elevation
10,764 ft (3,281 m)
Time zoneUTC-7 (Mountain (MST))
 • Summer (DST)UTC-6 (MDT)
GNIS feature ID182364[1]

History

A prospector named Coley discovered silver in 1863 or 1864 on the slope of Glacier Mountain, and built a crude furnace to extract silver from the ore. Other prospectors followed, including John Cullom, who discovered the Saints John Lode. In 1867, he sold the Saints John lode to the Boston Silver Mining Company, which built an ore mill, next to which grew the town, originally called Coleyville.[2][3] In the 1870 census, the town name had changed to Saints John by local Masons when it had a population of 71, which made it the largest incorporated town in Summit County.[4][5]

The fortunes of the town followed those of the Saints John mine. The mine ceased working in 1928.[6] Several structures remain, including the home of the mine's superintendent and the ruins of mining buildings.[4]

Geography

The site of Saints John is at 39°34′18″N 105°52′54″W, at an altitude of 10,764 feet (3,281 m) above mean sea level. The site accessible by dirt road from Montezuma.[7] Saints John Creek flows through both the ghost town and present-day Montezuma.

See also

References
  1. "Saints John, Colorado". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey. 13 October 1978. Retrieved 11 March 2020.
  2. Robert L. Brown, Jeep Trails to Colorado Ghost Towns (Caxton Press, 1963) 188-189.
  3. T. S. Lovering (1935) Geology and Ore Deposits of the Montezuma Quadrangle, Colorado, US Geological Survey, Professional Paper 178, p.66-67.
  4. "St(s). John or Coleyville". Ghosttowns.com. Retrieved 11 March 2020.
  5. Ninth Census-Volume I, The Statistics of the Population of the United States (1872) p.96.
  6. T. S. Lovering (1935) Geology and Ore Deposits of the Montezuma Quadrangle, Colorado, US Geological Survey, Professional Paper 178, p.104.
  7. US Board of Geographic Names, Saints John, accessed 3 November 2010.


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