Metal Mining and Tourist Era Resources of Boulder County
The Boulder County Metal Mining Multiple Property nomination is a collection of districts and buildings that illustrate the communities associated with the metal mining industry in the mountain region of Boulder County from 1858 to 1910.
The buildings in this submission are pioneer log, simple wood-frame, or simple Victorian in style. Between 1900 and 1935, several of these communities evolved into early tourist destinations.
(Cover documentation accepted by National Register in 1989.)
The district includes surviving examples of the Pioneer Log, Commercial Vernacular, and Rustic Tourist building traditions associated with the mountainous portion of Boulder County.
The 1898 two-story portion of the hotel is a well-preserved example of the type of vernacular log construction associated with the early commercial development of Eldora.
Organized in 1859, Gold Hill was one of Colorado’s earliest mining camps and remains an excellent example of the pattern of settlement and community development within the 19th century metal mining communities of Boulder County.
Typical of the vernacular building tradition it represents, this 2½ story, false front, wood frame commercial structure was built some time after 1896.
Construction on this simple stone building began in early 1935 with local stonemasons hauling rock out of nearby James Creek. In addition to the Town Board, the building plays host to musicians, school plays, dances, and many other community functions.
The 1901 Cardinal Mill is significant for engineering and industry as an outstanding example of a concentration facility as defined in the Mining Industry in Colorado Multiple Property Listing, and Amendment to Metal Mining and Tourist-Era Resources of Boulder County Multiple Property Documentation Form (MPDF). The mill was important to western Boulder County, contributing to a highly productive tungsten ore operation until 1942.
The Rocky Mountain Mammoth Mine is significant for its association with the mining industry in the mountains of Boulder County. As a telluride gold ore producing mine, the Rocky Mountain Mammoth contributed to a major mining revival experienced in the Magnolia Mining district and elsewhere in Boulder County in the late 1890s and early 1900s.
Built ca. 1902-1908, the wood frame church is part of a small cluster of buildings remaining from Salina’s late 19th and early 20th century mining boom. The original portion of the building has a front gabled roof, and a bell tower entry extends from the façade.
The circa 1901 building was constructed as part of Charles Caryl’s ambitious development plan for his Gold Extraction Mining and Supply Company, which he founded in 1897. The primarily stone two-story building is topped with a steeply pitched metal covered hipped roof.
Dating from 1894, the rectangular one-story, wood frame church is built into a hillside with its side walls barely visible from the street. The steeply pitched front gabled roof is topped with a bell tower.
