Independence
When you leave Aspen to go to Independence pass, the ghost town of Independence is located on the right at mile marker 58, elevation 10920 feet.
The legend says that gold was found on Independence day. But the town had many other names.
At first there were only tents around. By 1880, 300 people were living there and by 1881 there were more than 500. You could even find 7 restaurants, a newspaper, five saloons and many other businesses when the population reached 1500.
But Independence was no more than a short lived boom town. When the production dropped, people left the place. Daily life in a hight mountain town is not easy, Aspen was not very far and with a milder climate and abundant work.
In 1899 severe snow storms cut off the supply routes so the few remaining families made skis out of their log houses and went to Aspen.
During less than a century time and weather have erased many of the buildings that were left. In 1974 Independence was added to the National Register of Historic Sites and some cabins were restored.
The first time I saw Independence in 2012, I was fascinated by the town site : big blue sky, the roaring fork river, high mountains, the setting… I’m still today.
It might only be a shadow of what it was once but it’s still a wonderful piece of history. Walking around the remains, reading the notes in front of houses or even in front of nothing when it’s long gone, is just a wonderful experience : “A touch a History, you touching History with your pinky”.
Ashcroft
When you leave Aspen, from the roundabout on Hwy 82, you take the Castle Creek Rd turnoff and after 11 miles on that road you find Ashcroft.
In 1880, some prospectors left Leadville to search for silver in the Castle Creek Valley. When back to Leadville they promoted the place and formed a Miner’s protective Association. Buildings and streets came just after.
By 1883 the name of the town became Ashcroft, and the population was 2000. They had 2 newspapers, a school and 20 saloons. The town was at that time bigger than Aspen… and closer to the railroad.
But as always, the bigger the town is, the faster it went bust. The mines didn’t produced enough to be still in use. And Aspen grew bigger and bigger. In 1885 there were only 100 summer residents left in the place. They were spending most of their time hunting or drinking in the bar.
The development of the sky area was a good thing for Aspen but not for Ashcroft. The highland Bavarian Lodge was for sale in 2017.
When watching the video you can see that the town features 3 restored buildings and 6 buildings still in their original conditions. The big one, south of the city was a hotel.
