Russell Gulch, Colorado, is a former mining town, now largely a ghost town

Ghost town

A ghost town is an abandoned town or city. A town often becomes a ghost town because the economic activity that supported it has failed, or due to natural or human-caused disasters such as floods, government actions, uncontrolled lawlessness, war, or nuclear disasters...

, in Gilpin County, Colorado

Gilpin County, Colorado

Gilpin County is the second least extensive of the 64 counties of the State of Colorado of the United States. Gilpin County was named after Colonel William Gilpin, the first Governor of the Territory of Colorado. The county population was 4,757 at U.S. Census 2000. The county seat is Central City...

, United States. Although the population was once much larger than today, and most of the larger commercial buildings stand empty, the town is not completely deserted.

History

William Greeneberry Russell

William Greeneberry Russell

William Greeneberry "Green" Russell was an American prospector and miner.Green Russell lived in Georgia and worked in the California gold fields in the 1850s. Russell was married to a Cherokee woman, and through his connections to the tribe, he heard about an 1849 discovery of gold along the...

, a miner from the gold fields of northern Georgia, had come to the vicinity of present-day Denver

Denver, Colorado

The City and County of Denver is the capital and the most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Denver is a consolidated city-county, located in the South Platte River Valley on the western edge of the High Plains just east of the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains...

, then part of western Kansas Territory

Kansas Territory

The Territory of Kansas was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from May 30, 1854, until January 29, 1861, when the eastern portion of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Kansas....

, in 1858 and with his brothers, founded Auraria on the banks of the Cherry Creek river. His discoveries led to what became the Pikes Peak Gold Rush. Another settlement on the opposite bank was founded by William Larimer in early 1859. This settlement soon merged with Auraria and was named Denver after the territorial governor. Russell discovered placer gold deposits in June 1859 in the valley that was soon named Russell Gulch in his honor. By the end of September, 891 men were mining gold in the gulch, and the eponymous town was built near the head of the gulch to serve the miners.

The placer deposits were quickly worked out, and work shifted to the vein deposits that were the source of the placer gold.

Geography

Russell Gulch is located about two miles southwest of Central City, Colorado

Central City, Colorado

Central City is a home rule municipality in Clear Creek and Gilpin counties in the U.S. state of Colorado, and the county seat of Gilpin County. The city population was 515 in the 2000 United States Census...

, at 39°46′43"N 105°32′13"W, at an altitude of 9150 feet (2789 m) above mean sea level.

See also

• Gold mining in Colorado
  Gold mining in Colorado
  On 1859-05-06, John H. Gregory found a gold-bearing vein in Gregory Gulch between Black Hawk and Central City. Within two months many other veins were discovered, including the Bates, Gunnell, Kansas, and Burroughs...
  
  
• List of ghost towns in Colorado
• Pike's Peak Gold Rush

External links

• Rocky Mountain Profiles: Russell Gulch Colorado ghost town
• Ghost Towns.com: Russell Gulch
• Gilpin County News: Mines of Russell Gulch