Things to do / Travel Guide
Address:St. Elmo, Colorado
St. Elmo, west of Buena Vista in South-Central Colorado, is one of Colorado's best-preserved ghost towns, with 24 buildings, a courthouse, a general store, a church, schoolhouse, a unique, two-story outhouse, and a post office, many of which date back to around 1880. When the tiny town grew to a population of 2,000 (comprised mostly of single men), it gained a reputation for its saloons, dance halls, and all-around rowdy atmosphere. The lucrative million-dollar Mary Murphy gold mine, nearby, closed in 1926, leading to the town's decline. Unlike many other ghost towns, St. Elmo's buildings have been carefully preserved but not restored. Thus, visitors get a sense of the town that once was, as well as the way that weather and time have taken their tolls on the buildings. Keep your eye out for an area called Chipmunk Crossing, a little spot of land around some weedy railroad ties - visitors to the ghost town often enjoy feeding the people-savvy local chipmunks with sunflower seeds purchased at St. Elmo's general store for less than a dollar.