Blanche & Lucy Visit Notorious Silverton, Colorado

After leaving Durango we drove north to Silverton - driving alongside the Animas River (which means 'lost souls') on one side and the railroad tracks on the other side.

We reached Silverton around 10am and as we meandered the streets of town the Durango to Silverton locomotive arrived around noon & all the passengers jumped off to have lunch at one of the many great little restaurants in town.

We stopped at the Silverton Museum & Mining Heritage Center to learn a little about the town before we started our self-guided tour of the town. Located over 9300ft above sea level - Silverton was dubbed the "Mining Town that Never Quit". Mining was ongoing here till 1991.

In it's heyday Silverton was once the hub of 4 railroads and several mines that yeilded over 2 million troy ounces of gold, 51,000,000 ounces of silver, 112 million pounds of copper, 760 million pounds of lead and 600 millions pound of zinc.

There are 2 main streets of shops and restored buildings where most of the action was.  Green Street - the more respectable street and Blair Street where all the gambling, saloons and bordellos were.  This building is on Green street and one of the few bordellos on this main street.   Natalia's 1912 Restaurant now but it was once home to one of the oldest standing Bordellos in town - built in 1883.

And this sign says" the food is great but the bordello's service is no longer available" (ha-ha).

Notorious Blair Street in Old Silverton was where all the 'action' was - the respectable people lived in the north part of town - but the raucous, bawdy days were enjoyed on Blair Street which was lined with bordellos, and saloons.

We decided to 'Walk on the Wild Side' and take the walking tour of Blair Street which was facinating - reading each plaque on each building as well as reading the history on the map that was provided.

The Old Arcade was once a pool hall, saloon and gambling hall.

The partying went on 24/7 back then -

This was the first substantial building built on Blair St. and housed a saloon and a boarding house for years.  In later years is was a market.

This is a long view down Blair St. The Banks built in those days looked very similar (doesn't this one look just like the one in Durango - we thought so too) It's now the Wyman Hotel.

Another hotel - during it's time as you can see - charged $1.50 per room.

This Hostel - had very interesting siding - it's the tin material that was used to make the tin ceilings of the old saloons in days of old.

The name of this business is "White Woman Trading Company" couldn't get away with that today..... next door is what used to be the Mikado Saloon and Bordello established by "Pearl Thompson" and later operated by "Big Billie" and her girls... the 2nd floor is typical of most bodellos where the 'girls' used to hang out and call to the passing men to 'come on up'....

The Hitching Post was once a livery stable, then gambling establishment, and then a brothel known as The Laundry.

Now the Hitching Post is a cute art shop that creates great pottery including these masks...

The Ore ran high in the San Juan mountains - and the  mines were at 12,000ft or higher.  Because of the steep geography, elaborate tram systems were built to transport the ore down to the mills and smelters.

A Stage Coach and horse team sits in front of the Old Town Square and waits for anyone who wants to go for a coach ride.  These are the original buildings from the town square - barely standing I might say.

A photographer now takes 'old time' photos of people here in the building that used to contain the oldest bordello on Blair St.  The siding of the building is old iron sheets welded together.

This is a classic example of the 'crib' which is what they called the rooms where the ladies of the night did their business... Likely built in the late 1890s it was occupied by "Mamie Murphy" and "Kate Starr" for many years. The best remembered madam was "Fannie" considered a good friend by the town folks. If you look closely you can see one of the gals on the 2nd floor peeking out the window through the railings.

Here the Stage Coach takes tourists around town for an informative ride.

The Silverton Jail was once a busy place - in 1883 a grand jury brought 117 indictments against 'lewd women' on Notorious Blair St.  Although fines were levied, gambling and prostitution were generally accepted as long as the practice did not migrate into the more respectable sections of town.

The influx of families into Silverton as early as 1874 provided an incentive for citizens to keep at least part of Silverton respectable.  So many churches were built for every type of religion.

The Town Hall at the end of where Green Street and Blair Street meet - is still in operation and still houses the town offices.

The town cemetary was located in the Center of town.

Not the oldest jail in the community nor the only one... it was completed in 1883 and was used at the south end of town.

This is one of the miner's cabins in town ... many of these cabins house 20 to 30 men who worked different shifts in the mines.

As we drove out of town we came upon Molas Lake where many old westerns were filmed - "Across the Wide Missouri" starring Clark Gable was filmed here.  Many townfolks still talk of what a great guy Gable was to all.

Here is the remnants of one of the mines and it's buildings on the outskirts of Silverton.

And a little miner's house on the mine property - probably one of the foremen and his crew.

As we wound our way out of town on the Scenic route we came upon Christ of the Mines Shrine which is used even today for some religious holidays.

This is the view of Silverton as we wound our way out of town.

Another view of Silverton from the Scenic Route on our way out of town.  We enjoyed our visit to Silverton and will come visit again in the fall when we take the Durango to Silverton Train Ride.