Gilman, Colorado

This place is on private property. Listing for informational purposes only. Please do not visit without express permission from the land owner. Gilman is an abandoned mining town in southeastern Eagle County, Colorado, United States. The U.S. Post Office at Minturn (ZIP Code 81645) now serves Gilman postal addresses. Founded in 1886 during the Colorado Silver Boom, the town later became a center of lead and zinc mining in Colorado, centered around the now-flooded Eagle Mine. It was abandoned in 1984 by order of the Environmental Protection Agency because of toxic pollutants, including contamination of the ground water, as well as unprofitability of the mines. It is currently a ghost town on private property and is strictly off limits to the public. At the time of the abandonment, the mining operations were owned by Viacom International. As of 2007, The Ginn Company has plans to build a private ski resort with private home sites across Battle Mountain --- including development at the Gilman townsite. On February 27, 2008 the Minturn Town Council unanimously approved annexation and development plans for 4,300 acres (17 km2) of Ginn Resorts’ 1,700-unit Battle Mountain residential ski and golf resort; Ginn's Battle Mountain development includes much of the old Gilman townsite. On May 20, 2008 the town of Minturn approved the annexation in a public referendum with 87% of the vote. The town population was a few hundred in the 1960s. At one time, the town had an infirmary, grocery store, and bowling alley. The town experienced labor strife several time in the 1950s, partly inflamed by the out-of-state corporate ownership. By 1970, total production at the mines was 10 million tons of ore; 393,000 troy ounces (12,200 kg) of gold; 66,000,000 troy ounces (2,100,000 kg) of silver; 105,000 tons of copper; 148,000 tons of lead; and 858,000 tons of zinc. After the closure of the mine and the abandonment of the town, a 235-acre (0.95 km2) area, which included 8 million tons of mine waste, were designated a Superfund site by the EPA and placed on the National Priorities List in 1986. The townsite is a victim of vandalization, and the town's main street is heavily tagged. There are only a few intact windows left in town, as twenty years of vandalism have left almost every glass object in the town destroyed. However, many parts of the town are almost as they were when the mine shut down. The main shaft elevators still sit ready for ore cars, permanently locked at the top level. Several cars and trucks still sit in their garages, left behind by their owners. Because of its size, modernity and level of preservation, the town is also the subject of interest for many historians, explorers, and photographers.