What a great place to visit. One hour north of Durango Colorado and 9,318 feet up in the San Juan Mountains, Silverton is a throwback to the old cowboy days of gold and silver mining. The population is around 600 today, but during the mining boom days it was as high as 5,000.
Early settlers came from all over the world to try and make their fortune, but the weather and the tough conditions convinced most to find another occupation. It was dangerous, violent, and the winters could be brutal and the isolation in the winter changed the minds of many prospectors.
The 1918 flu epidemic hit Silverton hard. More than 150 people died in October of that year. 10% of the population. Siverton was like most of the mountain mining towns in the Rocky Mountains of that era. Some became ghost towns, others found a new existance.
The world famous Durango/Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad runs from Durango to Silverton with tourists, and helped keep Silverton open for everyone to enjoy the past. The train did not run in 2020 and it remains to be seen if it will continue to operate.
However, some in Silverton have other plans. There are the Colorado Rocky Mountains and Silverton has some of the best for skiing. At this time Silverton Mountain is one of the best in Colorado for back country skiing.
Does Silverton have cats? Well of course they do. Cool cats 'cause it gets really cold in the winter. They get an average of 163 inches of snow in the winter.
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