Welcome To St Elmo, the past awaits you

From 1850’s to the 1870’s, The chalk Creek area was home to a few settlers and miners who were drifting around looking for silver or Gold. Just after the Civil War ended , Dr Abner Wright discovered several lodes in the Chalk Creek Area, the largest being the Mary Murphy Mine. A camp had formed at Chalk Creek and became organized as Forestville, Colorado around 1878. In 1880 the town was incorporated as St, Elmo, Colorado.

In 1883 the first hotel, The Commercial Hotel was built and the town began to boom. At least 50 mines were thriving near St. Elmo in 1883. The official census in 1887 reported 400 males voted so with families it grew quickly. During the 1890's the mines were up and down so was the economy but in 1896 the town went through a boom again.

The town was at its peak in the 1890s, when it included a telegraph office, general store, town hall, 5 hotels, saloons, dancing halls, a newspaper office, and a school house. The Denver, South Park and Pacific Railroad line ran through St. Elmo. There were 150 patented mine claims within the area. 

Once the mining industry shut down, St. Elmo drastically declined in population. Miners searched elsewhere for gold and silver and the business district in St. Elmo closed down as well. Few people continued to live in the town. The railroad was abandoned in 1922. Postal service was discontinued in 1952 after the death of St. Elmo's postmaster.

The town is now privately owned but open to visitors and pioneers on their way to the continental divide. Come tour St. Elmo and discover "The past that awaits you"