Sherman Hilltop Mine

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MarcusCO
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Sherman Hilltop Mine

Post by MarcusCO »

I went up Sherman on August 4 and was sad to see that the iconic Hilltop Mine is gone. A few of the low buildings are still there, but the main building is scattered across the hillside. I was just wondering if anyone knows what happened to it. I couldn't find any information online about a collapse.
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denvermikey
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Re: Sherman Hilltop Mine

Post by denvermikey »

Age + consistent high winds = fall down go boom. Happened a few seasons ago.
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Re: Sherman Hilltop Mine

Post by MarcusCO »

Thanks! I've seen quite a few pictures of it still intact in recent posts on various websites, so I was confused. I guess they're just using old pictures.
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Tory Wells
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Re: Sherman Hilltop Mine

Post by Tory Wells »

That area gets some incredibly high winds, so it's amazing it stood for as long as it did. It's certainly a credit to those old hardrock miners for building their stuff really well.
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highpilgrim
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Re: Sherman Hilltop Mine

Post by highpilgrim »

Tory Wells wrote:It's certainly a credit to those old hardrock miners for building their stuff really well.
Yep. Solid stuff they did. Although part of the reason that they stand so long is how incredibly dry they are most of the year. The same building in a wetter area would have crashed long ago.

The mining building on top of Horseshoe is another one probably not long removed from failure. The two times I've been up there you can see its days are numbered.

In less that a couple of decades, most of the old mining buildings constructed of wood will be no more. Take pictures while they last.
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jrs1965
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Re: Sherman Hilltop Mine

Post by jrs1965 »

Feeling nostalgic. Old shack at Hilltop Mine was wiped out in the winter of 2011/12...
HilltopCondo.jpg
HilltopCondo.jpg (85.85 KiB) Viewed 2997 times
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planet54
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Re: Sherman Hilltop Mine

Post by planet54 »

I came across this old Hilltop Mine photo that has been " shoeboxed " for years . A little bit of history for ya. But because I don't write things down I can't give a date. Maybe late 80's to early 90's.I haven't seen very many photos with that ramp section in place.
Hilltop Mine.jpg
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Last edited by planet54 on Tue Jan 26, 2021 8:40 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Barnold41
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Re: Sherman Hilltop Mine

Post by Barnold41 »

I read somewhere that the cable tram system was an engineering marvel at its time, running from the one side of the ridge to the other.

Always cool to see photos of what used to be.
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rijaca
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Re: Sherman Hilltop Mine

Post by rijaca »

Barnold41 wrote: Tue Jan 26, 2021 3:40 pm I read somewhere that the cable tram system was an engineering marvel at its time, running from the one side of the ridge to the other.

Always cool to see photos of what used to be.
nmhfm-210.jpg
nmhfm-210.jpg (83.17 KiB) Viewed 2217 times
Photograph showing the aerial tramway that ran from the Hilltop Mine to the mill in Leavick, Park County, Colorado. The Hilltop Mine near the top of Mount Sheridan was discovered in 1886 and sold to Felix Leavick in 1892. The mill was built in 1892 to process silver ores from the Hilltop and Last Chance mines. A 13,000 ft. long aerial tram was constructed to transport ore from Hilltop Mine to the mill. The collapse of the silver market in 1893 resulted in the closing of the mines and the mill. They reopened in 1895, and the following year the Denver, South Park and Hilltop Railroad built a twelve-mile long narrow gauge line from Hill Top Junction a mile south of Fairplay to the mill, improving transportation of the ores to the smelters. It was not until 1896 that the community that had grown up around the mill was officially named Leavick. At the peak of its boom, Leavick had a population of about 1,000 people.
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mtree
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Re: Sherman Hilltop Mine

Post by mtree »

Rijaca... now that's a pretty cool pic!
There are remnants of a narrow gauge rail below Hilltop mine. I wonder if the rails ran all the way to Leavick. Also, evidence of a tram or something from the winter trailhead heading between White and Sherman. That area also has abandoned vehicles. Not sure if they were from mining operations or just yahoos. I recall a truck, probably early 1960s, and a couple others. A pretty fascinating area if you're into that sort of thing.
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Re: Sherman Hilltop Mine

Post by highpilgrim »

mtree wrote: Wed Jan 27, 2021 11:03 am There are remnants of a narrow gauge rail below Hilltop mine.
There were rails there that were the remains of a mine car tipple as I recall. The ore was pushed in cars on those tracks into the hopper that loaded the buckets that went down the hill on the tram.

The Colorado and Southern, the successor to the Denver, South Park and Pacific, went to Leavick but not above it. https://mountainscholar.org/handle/11124/9690?show=full

Here is a picture of the Leavick tramway:

.
nmhfm-354.jpg
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mtree
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Re: Sherman Hilltop Mine

Post by mtree »

That's nuts!!! Hah.
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