Argo Gold Mine & Mill

on Thursday T & I took a tour of a local tourist trap. The Argo Gold Mine, Mill & Tunnel.

some history... In 1859, George A. Jackson made the first major discovery of gold in Colorado at the confluence of what is today's Chicago Creek and Clear Creek here in Idaho Springs. The great Rocky Mountain goldrush had begun and almost overnight 50,000 men poured into Clear Creek Canyon, stretching from today's city of Golden, West to Silver Plume and North over Seaton Mountain to Central City. After the gold was taken from the creeks, hard rock mining began. As these mine tunnels all over the mountains got deeper, they found it was harder to get the ore out and equipment in, plus the deeper it went, the more water was flooding the tunnels. Well, an idea was proposed and investors found. The digging of the tunnel would begin in 1893 in Idaho Springs. Tunnel was completed in 1910 in Central City. The total distance of the tunnel was 4.16 miles and the entire length of the tunnel has a .3 downhill grade to the portal to drain the water, which also provided an easy exit for the loaded ore cars.It was on January 19, 1943 .. too many of the mine shafts were flooded. They all let loose into the Argo. the water filled the tunnel to the top and the flow out lasted several hours. In February 1976 the property was purchased by James N. Maxwell to preserve the quickly disappearing history of mining in Colorado and Clear Creek County. The five-story mill was renovated and opened to the public as a historic and educational tour. Most of the equipment used for processing the gold ore remains in place.The Argo Mill was placed on the National Historic Register by the Department of the Interior in 1977.