Rico Colorado Townsite – Ghost town
Photos courtesy of Mike Sinnwell July 2010
Rico is an interesting town. Many old structures left for all to see. Many built in the 1880’s and 1890’s. When I was there they were working on the museum.
The town started out as Carbonate City but in 1879 they changed the name to Rico. In 1881Rico became the county seat for Dolores county. Today the court house has given way to a Library. It wasn’t until 1891 and the coming of the railroad that Rico fixed its transportation problems. Rico was constantly faced with it’s remote location and the lack of roads.
One story tells of the fear of a cave in when the miners did not come home after their shift was over. The frantic wives went to the mine only to discover that the miners had found an extremely rich vein and did not want to stop working. in 1887 $400 a ton was GOOD stuff.