Martin Mining Complex
San Juan County
The Martin Mining Complex is associated with the mining industry in the San Juan Mountains and the Eureka Mining District. The complex displays the development of industrialized hard rock mining and the transportation infrastructure needed to make such mining profitable in a rugged region. The Martin Mining Complex is representative of the boom and bust cycle that was always present with industrialized mining. The 1929 Martin Boardinghouse is one of the best-preserved and largest boardinghouses still standing in the San Juan Mountains. More precisely, the Martin Boardinghouse can be called a “miners’ hotel” and is one of the largest and best preserved examples of its type.
Martin Mining Complex (1940s photograph.)
Boardinghouses typically contained one large room where supplies and materials jostled with double wood bunks three tiers high. Sometimes twenty or more men lived in this single large room. Miners’ hotels represented a step up in accommodations. The type generally contained individual bedrooms with two men to a room. Each man slept on his own bunk or bed. Indoor bathrooms offered hot water for showers. Other amenities might include a library stocked with books, magazines, and newspapers, hotel china in the dining room, and a better quality of food. The property is associated with the Mining Industry in Colorado and Historic Mining Resources of San Juan County Multiple Property Submissions.