Silver Creek is a mining

ghost town Ghost Town(s) or Ghosttown may refer to: * Ghost town, a town that has been abandoned Film and television * Ghost Town (1936 film), ''Ghost Town'' (1936 film), an American Western film by Harry L. Fraser * Ghost Town (1956 film), ''Ghost Town'' ...

Clear Creek County Clear Creek County is a county located in the U.S. state of Colorado. As of the 2020 census, the population was 9,397. The county seat is Georgetown. Clear Creek County is part of the Denver metropolitan area. History Clear Creek County wa ...

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of t ...

, United States. The town never had a post office of its own, but received its mail via the Lawson post office.Aldrich, John K. (1984) "Silver Creel" ''Ghosts of Clear Creek County: a guide to the ghost towns and mining camps of Clear Creek County, Colorado'' Centennial Graphics, Lakewood, Colorado, page 30, The town is only accessible via unimproved road. Most of the mines were located upstream from the town.

History

Originally known as Daileyville after James Dailey, a local mine manager, the inhabitants soon changed the name to Silver Creek after the local stream that flows into Clear Creek near Lawson. The town was first settled around 1875 when silver ore deposits were discovered in the area; however, it was not officially incorporated until 1885.Krupar, Joseph J., Jr., "The Ghost Town of Silver Creek: A Remnant of the Clear Creek Silver Boom" ''Colorado Heritage'' (Summer 2002): pp. 16–21 The mines that supported the town were mostly closed after the 1893 silver crash, but reopened with the demand for metals leading up to and during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. The boom did not last, and by 1922 most of the mines were again closed. Among the biggest producers was the Nabob Mine, where a new shaft was sunk in 1906."The Mines:Colorado: Clear Creek County" ''Ore and Metals'' March 1, 1906
page 19
/ref> The town struggled on for a while, with the last inhabitants leaving during the Depression. By the 1970s only an old

mill Mill may refer to: Science and technology * * Mill (grinding) * Milling (machining) * Millwork * Textile mill * Steel mill, a factory for the manufacture of steel * List of types of mill * Mill, the arithmetic unit of the Analytical Engine early ...

and a few building foundations made of stone were left.

In popular culture

Silver Creek was the nearest settlement to the home of Annie Wilkes in the 1990

film adaptation A film adaptation is the transfer of a work or story, in whole or in part, to a feature film. Although often considered a type of derivative work, film adaptation has been conceptualized recently by academic scholars such as Robert Stam as a dial ...

Stephen King Stephen Edwin King (born September 21, 1947) is an American author of horror, supernatural fiction, suspense, crime, science-fiction, and fantasy novels. Described as the "King of Horror", a play on his surname and a reference to his high s ...

's '' Misery''.

History

In popular culture

Notes

Further reading