Constructed by the Works Progress Administration between 1938 and 1939, the courthouse represents federal New Deal relief programs at work in eastern Colorado during the Great Depression.  The county commissioners took advantage of the WPA program to match county funds toward the construction of a new courthouse to replace a 1904 facility.  The building is an excellent example of the WPA Art Deco style applied to a government building whose construction was constrained by the economic conditions of the Depression.

The circa 1890 chute is associated with the Rio Grande Southern Railway’s narrow-gauge line that operated through the mountainous regions of southwestern Colorado. 

The district encompasses most of the original town and is significant for its association with the settlement of the western frontier and the development of metal mining. 

Opened in 1907, the power plant is associated with the development of the Smuggler-Union Mining Company, one of Colorado’s most important producers during the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

The 1910 Lewis Mill is a distinctive example of engineering and high country milling technology.  At the time of its construction, the Lewis Mill was a state-of-the-art ore concentration mill.  The Lewis Mill is the only transitional mill in Colorado that retains its original milling equipment.

Constructed in 1918 with some rebuilding in 1940, the tram is important as the last remaining structure from the vanadium mining industry that operated in the Lower San Miguel Mining District.

Long associated with the history of high country ranching on Wilson Mesa, the Schmid Ranch contains three distinct ranchsteads developed on five homestead parcels.  The original 160 acre homestead dates from 1882.  Over the years, the ranch functioned as an important hay producing, cattle, and dairy operation. 

The 1920 Valley View Leasing and Mining Company Mill, commonly known as the Matterhorn Mill, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places under Criterion A in the area of industry at the local level of significance for its contribution to the 20th-century silver mining in Colorado's San Juan Mountains where it related directly to mining within San Bernardo Mountain.  When constructed the Matterhorn Mill was a state-of-the-art flotation mill that utilized new technology to produce a higher grade concentrate than could be accomplished by the old-style stamp mill with concentrati

A rare surviving example of a once common structure in Colorado’s railroad landscape, the tank provided water to countless steam locomotives on the Ridgway to Rico division of the Rio Grande Southern Railroad (RGS) from its construction in 1891 until the last RGS train ran the line in 1951. 

The Biedell Creek Archaeological District comprises a cultural landscape representing approximately 10,000 years of human occupation.