Boarding houses in Sneffels, Colorado

At a bit over 10,000 ft, the silver-based town was formed in the mid-1870s with a post office established in 1879. The town had a peak population of about 2000 with the Revenue mine and mill (employed 600 men) the primary employer. The mill existed to serve the mines further upgrade; the Virginius mine being the primary producer ($28M to 1919). “Fame” eluded the Revenue as the Camp Bird mine outproduced the Revenue and attention was drawn to it.

The mill burned in 1915, the post office closed in 1935, and the town faded away.

A few structures such as these still existed when I took this photo but many had already collapsed from snow loads. I had first visited the site in 1979 but haven’t been up there for a number of years now; a quick glance at Giggle Maps appears to show the Revenue mine as active again and no signs of the town itself.

Now a popular recreation area … the road is still dangerous but has been improved over the years; not good publicity to lose a few tourists over the edge every year.