Note: Preview image is not the Laurium Silver Mine, but another mine in Breckenridge.
Mines and townsites from the 1800s are getting new life from Breck History.
The nonprofit is sifting through decades of pre- and post-mining era history this summer by cataloguing historic sites just beyond town limits.
“This plan really takes inventory, takes stock of what we have, and then puts forth the ones that we feel we can do some interpretation or preservation of,” executive director Larissa O’Neil told town council this week.
This historic resource management plan updates a plan from five years ago.
“These are big projects, a big lift for us,” O’Neil says. “This is not low-hanging fruit at all, but I think that’s the trend we’re on and where we want to keep going.”
Near the top of the preservation and restoration list are Minnie Mine in French Gulch and the Laurium Silver Mine at Illinois Gulch.
“It has cool mining history, but also a ski history story,” O’Neil says of the Laurium site. “It was used as a backcountry ski operation by Barney Brewer for several decades.”
Also ripe for preservation and new, interactive displays is the Preston townsite in the Gold Run area south of Breckenridge Golf Club.
“Gold Run has the same potential as French Gulch, in terms of having a bit of a cool mining history and a social history too,” O’Neil says. “Preston was a townsite, and so it’s not just the preservation piece, but that storytelling component.”
This management plan update is in early phases. Once completed, preservation and educational installments begin.