Preservation of Historic Lands

In 1859 gold was discovered at the confluence of Clear Creek and the Platte River near what is now Denver.  Literally thousands of fortune-seekers headed up Clear Creek into the Rocky Mountains, seeking the veins of ore that were the source of the nuggets and dust found in the waters of the Creek. 

Although gold was the original metal sought in the Georgetown/Silver Plume area, by about 1864 mining engineers recognized that the grayish rock everyone had been kicking around and cursing was in fact silver ore, and the boom era for Silver Plume began.

Even though the boom lasted for less than 40 years. The mining operations had a profound effect on the Colorado mountains.  Most of our existing mountain towns have their foundations in the mining boom. The Georgetown-Silver Plume National Historic Landmark District was established in 1966 to preserve the rich mining history of the area.  

In 2022, with help from the Colorado State Historical Fund and significant local financial support, Silver Plume purchased 95 claims/200 acres on the lower part of Republican Mountain from a cooperative owner. The action resulted in the establishment of the North portion of the Silver Plume Mountain Park, now protected with a conservation easement held by Colorado Historical Foundation. The Taylor-Kennedy Project is the logical and necessary next step to protecting nearly all the remaining mining claims above Silver Plume. along with 6 registered archeological sites and the remaining mining artifacts.

Not least among the mining remains are the tailings piles.  Over time, they have lithified,  creating a stable  shell which keeps them in place, reduces the amount of heavy metals leached out to the watershed and prevents air pollution from toxic dust.  It is imperative that these piles remain undisturbed.

Preservation of the remnants of the mining boom allows us to marvel at the "never say never" spirit of the engineers and miners who accomplished the seemingly impossible task of extracting valuable ore from steep, inaccessible territory.  It also serves as a reminder of what dramatic change can be wrought on a landscape in a very short time.