Valley of Ghosts ~ Lake County, Colorado
Posted by: 
brwhiz
N 39° 23.425 W 106° 11.425
13S E 397487 N 4360778
This Historical Marker is located in a turnout on the northeast side of Colorado Highway 91 about 13 miles north of Leadville, Colorado.
Waymark Code: WMGCAK
Location: Colorado, United States
Date Posted: 02/13/2013
Views: 1
Valley of Ghosts
In the late 1800s this valley bustled with the commotion of three mining towns. Fortunes were made and dreams were crushed in the ore hauled from the mountains.
By 1950 the area was virtually deserted as the mining boom busted. The valley is now filled with tailing from the Climax Mine--a fitting burial for the towns born of mining.
[Photograph of Kokomo]
Kokomo, 1879.
[Photograph of Kokomo]
Ten Mile Avenue, Kokomo, 1879.
King of the District
Kokomo was the commercial hub of the Ten Mile Mining District, where gold and silver drove the mining boom. At one time Kokomo contained:
12 hotels, 4 sawmills, 5 general stores, 4 drug stores, 24 carpenters, 4 hay/feed stores, 1 Post Office, 1 assay office, 20 saloons, 5 shingle mills, 5 bakeries, 4 dance halls, 2 shoemakers, 1 door company, 1 newspaper, several brothels
The town never recovered from the fire that destroyed all but two buildings in 1881.
[Photograph of Kokomo-Recen]
Kokomo-Recen, 1880s.
[Photograph of Kokomo-Recen]
Kokomo-Recen, 1885.
The Brothers' Dream
Established in 1879 by the three Recen brothers, Recen did not gain prominence until after Kokomo was destroyed by fire. The brothers donated land to burned-out Kokomo residents. These transplants began calling the town Kokomo-Recen, and finally Kokomo. In 1965 the town's nine registered voters approved abandoning the town. The cemetary was moved to Summit County and Climax assumed ownership of the town.
[Photograph of Robinson]
Robinson, 1926.
Boom and Bust
Robinson was founded in 1880 near the portal of the area's most important mine, the Robinson. Like many mining towns it was ravaged by fire--in 1907 and 1916. There was little left of the town when it was covered with tailing in the 1950s, completing the cycle of mining creating the valley's towns, and ultimately, burying them.