The Old Hundred Mine Boarding House and Tram Station

The Old Hundred Mine Boarding House and Tram Station – Seven Level, perched on the side of Galena Mountain at an altitude of nearly 12000 feet and barely visible with the naked eye from the streets of Silverton Colorado.

These structures were built in the early 1900s to service the 7th level mine portal in the mountain behind the tram station. Ore would come out on rails in ore cars and then be transferred to ore buckets and sent down the mountain suspended on cables to be processed at mills. Miners rode the buckets up to this location from below and back down to shorten the trips to and from their work.

The original access trail has eroded away over time, and I am told that these buildings can only be accessed by a 3 – 4 hour, each way, strenuous hike from above down a dangerous slope – tallus rock field from the nearest 4wd trail.

The town of Silverton has spearheaded two preservation campaigns to help stabilize these structures to ensure they remain standing for future generations to observe and enjoy. Helicopters were required to deliver the materials for those projects.

Michael Darr, an artist who has a gallery and frame shop in Silverton, was kind enough to bring his telescope out onto the sidewalk to show us the distant views of the buildings last Summer. He has visited and photographed the structures and sells art posters of the structures in his gallery.

The accompanying photos are not mine. One is a distant shot from just outside of Silverton, one is a historical shot showing Miners and some of the Boarding House Staff in aprons. The last photo is a relatively recent closeup.

I hope that these structures have survived this harsh winter season intact.

Thanks go out to those that have shared these pics on the web.

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