St. Elmo, Colorado, located 20 miles southwest of Buena Vista, was a mining town active from the 1870's until the 1940's. The town hit its peak in 1881, with around 2,000 residents, a myriad of businesses, and the Mary Murphy Mine being the most successful mine in its district. St. Elmo is now considered one of the best-preserved ghost towns in the West.
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Play the audio to hear my dad tell you the story of our family history with "Colorado's most original ghost town".
Three old buildings on St. Elmo's Main Street.
Looking in someone's front porch.
A particularly haunting building on Main Street.
Three old buildings on St. Elmo's Main Street.
Audio Transcription:
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My great grandparents, Patrick and Sarah Mullins, came over from Ireland and settled in the Escanaba, Michigan area. They had ten children, and after the first four they moved to St. Elmo because of the mining district there, and they opened a boarding house for the miners that were there at the base of the mine. As I understand, they took care of the miners, they fed them, and then they changed their bedding. And they lived actually in St. Elmo; the mine was about two miles away, and they walked up there every day to do their boarding house, but lived in St. Elmo.
The Iron City Cemetery, looking from the entrance gate.
Gertrude and Sarah Mullins' headstone.
The Iron City Cemetery, looking from the entrance gate.
Audio Transcription:
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And they also had two young daughters that died of diphtheria. There was a local cemetery up there called Iron City Mine, and that's where their resting place is. It is marked by my aunt Hazel, and the two children there are Gertrude "Gertie" Mullins and Sarah "Sadie" Mullins. And she wrote on the headstone that they were born a year apart, died a day apart, and they're buried a hand apart.
An old mine car.
A small wooden cabin.
The back side of Main Street.
An old mine car.
Audio Transcription:
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When I was about twelve years old, thirteen, we used to go to grandma's house quite often and she would tell us stories about living in St. Elmo. And she told us a story about how the Ute Indians used to come through there twice a year, they were a migratory tribe; they lived in the mountains in the summer and down on the Arkansas Valley in the winter, so they made two transitions through Chalk Creek, which is right at St. Elmo. And she said that when they would see the Indians starting to migrate and come through town, that her mother would take the boards up on the floor of their cabin, and make all the children hide under there until the Indians passed through. And she said that happened twice a year for several years.
St. Elmo's one-room white schoolhouse.
A close-up of the detail on the front door.
The inside of the schoolhouse looking through a window.
St. Elmo's one-room white schoolhouse.
Audio Transcription:
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This is the school in St. Elmo that my grandmother went to, and her brothers and sisters, like I said earlier there were ten brothers and sisters. And when we were there, we were able to see some of the records and it indicated that Elizabeth Mullins, and Hugh Mullins, and I believe Mary Mullins were all in attendance. They were in different grade levels, but we were able to see their report card and how many days they were absent or tardy for a couple of years, and I might admit, their attendance was quite good and their grades were great.
An especially dilapidated building on Main Street.
The Miners' Exchange general store and an unknown pink building on Main Street.
A couple of old houses with a pink theme.
An especially dilapidated building on Main Street.
Audio Transcription:
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And for reasons I'm not sure, a little town called Alpine developed just a little- about a half a mile from St. Elmo, and that's where they actually had their cabin, and my grandmother, Elizabeth Mullins, was born in Alpine, Colorado in 1881. And she lived there until I believe about the late 1800's, early 1900's when the family moved to Cripple Creek, and then from there they moved to Leadville, and that's where her parents, Patrick and Sarah Mullins, are buried, in Leadville, Colorado.