Wednesday, July 31, 2013

Vintage Thingie Thursday: A Colorado Ghost Town

Welcome everyone to Vintage Thingies Thursday

If you have a love for vintage things, well....you have come to the right place. We have a really good time each and every week!!!
If you are new to this party, please take the time to
read and follow the instructions for participating in Vintage Thingies Thursday, click HERE. I try and keep things fairly simple, so please make sure you follow the instructions. Please only ONE link per week. Lastly, if you link in, LINK back to my blog, so everyone can see all of the vintage goodies on display that day. If you don't link back here, they won't know who to visit......thanks so much.

The State of Colorado has many ghost towns and places to explore. One of my very favorite is the little Town of St. Elmo that is nestled in the heart of the Fourteener Mountains.

You will still find many original buildings standing today.


The little town is full of character and charm. Walking down these streets in the early spring or summer is a real treat. There are not a lot of tourist during the off seasons, and it is nice to walk and hear the wind rustling in the aspens.


St. Elmo was originally settled in 1878 and was made official in the 1880's when gold and silver began to bring many people to the area. Though it was first called Forest City, the smallest town's name was changed when the post office objected because there were too many towns with the same name. The new name was derived by Griffith Evans, one of the founders, who was reading a romantic nineteenth-century novel by the same name.


In 1881 Anton Stark, a cattleman brought a herd to the railroad and was so taken with the town that he and his family quickly took up residence. Anton became a section boss for one of the local mines and his wife, Anna, ran a general store and the Home Comfort Hotel, which later became home to the post office and telegraph office.



The survival of the town was largely due to the Stark family and their descendents, who remained the sole year-round residents for many years. According to local legend, perhaps at least one of them, Annabelle Stark,still keeps a ghostly watch over the town.


Today, St. Elmo is one of the most preserved ghost towns in Colorado. It is a haven for hiking enthusiast, and ATV trails. In the fall, it is breathtaking to visit here when the aspen trees turn and litter the mountain sides with gold.


Renovations such as this old school house are underway thanks the the Historical Society of Buena Vista, which is the little town that sits at the base of these mountains.


The streets of this ghost town are literally crawling with folks in the summer time. The winding roads that lead into this small town are lined with trucks, trailers, and ATV as the off road trails around St. Elmo are some of the best in the Colorado mountains. 

Hope you enjoyed a glimpse of this vintage ghost town and some of the original structures that still stand today.

Happy Vintage Thingie Thursday and hope you have a wonderful week.





16 comments:

  1. Oh wow, a Ghost town like in the old cowboy movies! Thank you for the great party Suzann and for the small tour...so fun!
    Big hugs,
    FABBY

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  2. This would be a great place to visit on a lovely fall day! I've been through Buena Vista, but have never heard of this ghost town. Maybe I can talk one of my friends into going with me! Great pictures.♥♫
    PS. Did your daughter find a teaching position? Schools around here start mid-August and my friends go back next Friday to get ready for the students! For the first time ever, I'm not in a panic about "getting everything done" in the house and yard.

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  3. What a wonderful place to visit and take lots of photos! Great tour! Thanks for the party, Suzanne :) Have a great rest of the week! Greetings from Australia♥ ~Pernilla

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  4. Thanks for taking us along, and hosting the party.
    Have a great weekend!
    Hugs,
    Patti

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  5. I love visiting the preserved old ghost towns. There are a few in British Columbia and I've enjoyed exploring and seeing the reconstructions of the past. Thanks for hosting Suzanne.
    Joy

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  6. Great pictures of the Ghost Town. A great way to see the past in authentic settings. Thanks for hosting Suzanne.
    Rob

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  7. Vintage grouping of lovely young ladies and mid century collectibles. Fun week.
    Thanks for hosting Suzanne.
    Denise

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  8. Oh, I LOVE, love St. Elmo. It is a must stop for us every time we are in Buena Vista. (about twice a yr.:)
    A yr. ago in May my Daughter-in-law & I took a quick drive there in the early evening. There was no one around & we came across a HUGE moose. We followed him around town for about an hour, then back in BV, the locals told us that there was no moose in the area, BUT we had the pics to prove it. : )
    Have you been there when the chipmunks were there to be fed? Or the humming birds were great in number??
    Thanks for sharing the history... Loved it!!

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  9. We've been in St. Elmo several times and LOVE it. My granddaughters love the chipmunks!!My Son & Family live in Buena Vista so it's close. The area is so beautiful going up there--one of our favorite places.
    Ann

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  10. I uploaded the wrong pic on my link--don't know how to get it off.
    Ann

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  11. Thanks for the tour of the awesome ghost town! That's one of the things I love about blogging, you get to see parts of the country you might not get to otherwise. Thanks for hosting, too. Take care - Dawn

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  12. Oh wow, I haven't been there in a really long time. I had no idea they were working on sprucing up the town. It's such a neat place. Thanks for sharing your great pictures!

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  13. What a great ghost town! So glad restoration is being done to the town. If I ever make it back to Colorado, I'll have to put St Elmo's on my list of must-sees. Happy Thursday! ~Michelle

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  14. One thing about it, we always have our memories.

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  15. I also love visiting the preserved old ghost towns. Thanks for the awesome tour.

    - Tailor Colorado Springs

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Sometimes someone says something really small, and it's like it fits into this empty space in your heart!

Thank you for stopping by and leaving your thoughts here, they really mean a lot to me!

Suzanne

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