San Jaun County, Colorado 1880 Federal Census 
Transcriber's notes:

This county is on  film T9-92 . 
This Transcription only covers the people in the Census for T9-92. 
The Transcription was proof read by Alberta Saurdiff.

Gold was discovered here in 1860, and after negotiations with Chief Ouray of the Ute Indians,
the country was opened for settlement.
The Town of Silverton was platted in 1874, and by 1875, the population had doubled

The vast majority of the people on this Census film were young miners, looking for gold and
silver. Silverton was the largest city in the county and in 1880 the city had hotels, printing
shops, Doctors and Dentists, drugstore, and of course many bars, houses of ill fame and at that
time a serious epidemic of venereal diseases which infected most of the young miners as there
were very few women, and those that were in the mountains were usually married  One of the
greatest difficulties about living and working here was getting supplies over the mountains and
into Silverton.

The Stony Pass wagon road became a toll road in 1879, and supplies came in over the Continental
Divide from Del Norte. The greatest boom to the area was the construction of the Denver & Rio
Grande Railroad (now known as the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad) in 1882. By that
time there were seven towns, including Animas Forks and Howardsville, which was the first
county seat on the Western Slope.. John Clegmim Jr (page 365D) was the Enumerator. In 1880 the
County of Summit stretched from the south middle of Colorado to the south east Utah boarder. In
1883 the County was reformed into what it looks like at the present time

The mountains were filled with gold and silver, and mines with names such as the Silver Lake
the Iowa Tiger, and the Gold Prince produced millions.

Otto Mears, " Pathfinder of the San Juans," built his famous " Rainbow Route:" - one of three
railroads that carried ore to the smelters in Silverton from the high camps. Mining reached its
peak between 1900 and 1912, and the population of San Juan County peaked at 5000. Over 30 mills
and two smelters had been built by the turn the century. Hundreds of millions of dollars of
gold and silver were extracted from the mines. Silverton was the metropolis of the district,
and by 1902, had a complete water and sewer system, telephone service, and a municipally owned
electric light company.

Silverton's main business section was built in the 1800Ős. Unlike many other mining towns,
Silverton never experienced a major fire, and most buildings are still standing. The " other
side" of town was centered on Blair Street. At one time this notorious street was home to forty
saloons and brothels. Almost half of these buildings are still standing today. The decade after
the turn-of-the-century in Silverton saw the construction of not just the courthouse and jail,
but the landmark Town Hall (still in use today.) Also built during that decade were the Miner's
Union Hospital and the jewel-box Carnegie Library. Today, Silverton is the only town left in
San Juan County. Its year-round population of 500 is supported by the tourism industry rather
than mining, as people from all over the globe come to see the magnificent scenery and
experience the rich history of the area.