Ashcroft, Colorado
Pitkin County
The townsite is significant as the remains of a prosperous Roaring Fork Valley mining camp of the 1880s. Originally known as Castle Forks, the town of Ashcroft was incorporated in 1882. Its peak population of approximately 1,000 supported a variety of commercial enterprises.
The ghost town of Ashcroft in the snow, 1973.
By the end of 1883, much of the population, and many of the buildings, began moving to Aspen. The post office remained open until 1912, and the last permanent resident left in 1925. Fewer than a dozen of the original log and/or wood frame buildings remain in place.
The most prominent of these is a two-story false front commercial building that housed the Hotel View. The townsite is now interpreted for visitors under the auspices of the Aspen Historical Society. The property is associated with the Mining Industry in Colorado Multiple Property Submission.