ghost town
A ghost town, deserted city, extinct town, or abandoned city is an abandoned settlement, usually one that contains substantial visible remaining buildings and infrastructure such as roads. A town often becomes a ghost town because the economi ...
in
San Miguel County, Colorado
San Miguel County is a county located in the U.S. state of Colorado. As of the 2020 census, the population was 8,072. The county seat is Telluride. The county is named for the San Miguel River.
History
San Miguel County was given the Spanis ...
, United States.
Tomboy was a mining town located east of Telluride.
At an elevation of , Tomboy is one of the highest ghost towns in the United States.
History
Located in a mountainous region known as the Savage Basin, the settlement was originally named "Savage Basin Camp". The Tomboy Mine was located nearby and began producing gold ore in 1894. Eventually the settlement became known as Tomboy.
A stagecoach carrying passengers and mail would pass daily through Tomboy. Tomboy had a store, school, stable, and cabins for the miners. Unusual for an 1800s mining town, Tomboy had a
YMCA
YMCA, sometimes regionally called the Y, is a worldwide youth organisation based in Geneva, Switzerland, with more than 64 million beneficiaries in 120 countries. It has nearly 90,000 staff, some 920,000 volunteers and 12,000 branches w ...
and tennis courts.
The mine was sold for $2 million to the
Rothschilds
The Rothschild family ( , ) is a wealthy Ashkenazi Jews, Ashkenazi Jewish noble banking family originally from Frankfurt. The family's documented history starts in 16th-century Frankfurt; its name is derived from the family house, Rothschild, ...
of London in 1897.
Between 1908 and 1914,
zinc
Zinc is a chemical element; it has symbol Zn and atomic number 30. It is a slightly brittle metal at room temperature and has a shiny-greyish appearance when oxidation is removed. It is the first element in group 12 (IIB) of the periodic tabl ...
was milled in Tomboy.
The mine operated until 1928, though work in the mine tunnel continued until 1978.
Remnants of Tomboy can be accessed by hikers or by four-wheel drive vehicles, though the settlement is now located on privately owned land.