Kokomo and Recen - Colorado - Ghost Towns on Waymarking.com

"Left (straight ahead) on this road to KOKOMO, 8 m. (10, 618 alt., 44 pop.), the highest incorporated town in Colorado, formerly a gold camp. Today, it is a huddle of cabins, except for a cafe built on the hillside, down which pours a lively mountain stream. Many of the houses are collapsing under the weight of years. For the most part, the few inhabitants are prospectors whose faith in the hills has never died."

--- Colorado: A Guide to the Highest State, 1941

Kokomo was a mining camp that sat at and elevation of 10,618 feet. The gold rush had begun in the area in 1860. By 1879, some 1,500 people, mostly prospectors inhabited this small camp. By 1881, the population had swelled to 10,000!

Like many small towns, a disasterous fire swept through the small, wooden structures and destroyed the town. Though rebuilding started immediately, the mines in the area declined in production and the town never made it back to it's glory.

What remained of Kokomo in that cold winter of 1881-82, merged with the neighboring camp of Recen. This area saw a boom of prospectors up until the 1880's.

There is a marker sitting on a small pull off on the southbound side of Highway 91 north of Leadville, Colorado. It overlooks a valley with beautiful scenery...and alot of history. The memorial reads:

"In this valley the towns of Robinson, Kokomo and Recen existed. Kokomo was the site of the Highest Masonic Lodge In the U.S.A. Corinthian Lodge No. 42 A.F. & A.M. 1882-1966 Elevation 10,618 feet"

The sign also has an etching of the Masonic Lodge that once stood in Kokomo.

Each of these towns, like the numerous towns around them, built up quickly when gold was discovered in "Oro City." Gold diggers and dreamers swarmed westward in the Gold rush, and these three town saw a boom in business. Once the gold and silver had run out, people left in droves, leaving these towns in desolation.