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Eleven years after the photo you just viewed was taken, fortune smiled on us in the form of an email from a gentleman named Ron. His grandparents were the ones who operated the Silver Bell from 1926 to 1956 and as a child, Ron spent time with them at the mine on several occasions. Ron has generously sent the photo above, which was taken in 1941 and a second photo which you can click on to see after finishing reading this page. The second photo was taken in 1950. In addition to the photos, Ron has shared some of his memories of the details of the site and we’d like to pass those along here. Knowing the story behind a now abandoned mine can easily bring it back to life and make one’s experience there so much richer.

Ron’s grandfather was a chemist and graduate of the Colorado School of Mines. He did all of his own ore analysis in the on-site structure called The Lab. His grandparents lived in the lower house in the 1940’s to 1950’s, while the upper, larger house, whose rock foundations can still be seen, was for a family who helped work the mine. Two Chrysler auto engines generated electricity which was dispersed via utility poles all the way to the mine tunnel as well as to the houses and lab.

The mine tunnel itself extended for just over a mile into the hillside. Rails and ore carts were used to remove the ore, but these are now long gone, along with pretty much everything else, after the location was looted by vandals in the 1970’s. Inside the mine tunnel itself was also a well which provided water for the site by use of an electric pump which brought the water up and into a large tank, from where it was piped to all the facilities.

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