Ophir - Colorado Ghost Town

OPHIR

NAME: Ophir
COUNTY: San Miguel
ROADS: 2WD
GRID: 7
CLIMATE: Cold winter with snow, mild summer
BEST TIME TO VISIT: Summer

COMMENTS: Just South of Telluride and west of Silverton, take road over Ophir pass to Ouray for fun.
REMAINS: A few original buildings with some current cabins.

Appropriately named after the Arabian city so rich in gold, Ophir was born in 1875 when gold was first discovered at a site called Howard's Fork. When the population had grown to about 500, which did not take long, word of the silver strike at a nearby town called Rico caused the miners to vacate Ophir for Rico for fear that gold deposits were short lived. As it turned out, it was the silver deposits at Rico that were short lived. The miners returned to Ophir to work their claims. Silverton had the nearest smelters available to Ophir making it possible for miners to send their ore there via burrow trains. Ophir is due west of Silverton, as the crow flies, on highway 145. Submitted by Henry Chenoweth. Ophir - July 2000 Todd Underwood Ophir - July 2000 Todd Underwood Ophir - July 2000 Todd Underwood Ophir Town Hall- July 2000 Todd Underwood Ophir Pass July 2001 Todd Underwood Ophir Pass July 2001 Todd Underwood Ophir Pass July 2001 Todd Underwood Ophir Pass July 2001 Todd Underwood Ophir Pass snow at top July 2001 Todd Underwood Ophir Pass July 2001 Todd Underwood	Ophir in 1906 Courtesy Colorado State Historical Society Ophir Courtesy Dolores Steele Post Office Courtesy Dolores Steele Ophir Courtesy Dolores Steele Ophir - July 2000 Todd Underwood Ophir as seen from Ophir Pass July 2001 Todd Underwood Ophir July 2001 Todd Underwood Ophir Pass snow at top July 2001 Todd Underwood Ophir Pass snow at top July 2001 Todd Underwood Ophir Pass July 2001 Todd Underwood Ophir Pass July 2001 Todd Underwood

Appropriately named after the Arabian city so rich in gold, Ophir was born in 1875 when gold was first discovered at a site called Howard's Fork. When the population had grown to about 500, which did not take long, word of the silver strike at a nearby town called Rico caused the miners to vacate Ophir for Rico for fear that gold deposits were short lived. As it turned out, it was the silver deposits at Rico that were short lived. The miners returned to Ophir to work their claims. Silverton had the nearest smelters available to Ophir making it possible for miners to send their ore there via burrow trains. Ophir is due west of Silverton, as the crow flies, on highway 145. Submitted by Henry Chenoweth.

Ophir - July 2000
Todd Underwood