Silver Plume, Colorado

Silver Plume is at the uphill end of the Georgetown Loop Railroad. Silver Plume was founded about 1870, at the site of the Pelican Mine. Surrounded as it was by many good silver mines, Silver Plume was another central node in the network of silver mining towns that flourished in this part of Colorado until the Panic of 1893 (after the Sherman Silver Purchase Act was repealed and the value of silver plummeted).

Today, Silver Plume is part of the Federally designated Georgetown - Silver Plume National Historic District but is nearly a ghost town. The photo to the left shows the Silver Plume Post Office. I didn't come across much in the way of retail business in town, most of these old store fronts are now private homes.