Dakan, Colorado
Encyclopedia
Dakan was a short-lived mining town, now a ghost town
, in western Douglas County
, Colorado
, United States
, in the Front Range
of the Rocky Mountains
.
and gold
from his claim, and the Castle Rock Journal declared “The future of Dakan is assured.”. By Christmas 1896, there were about 300 people in Dakan, and a United States post office opened in Dakan on December 30, 1896.
In January 1897 Dakan was described as having eight buildings, including hotel, restaurant, saloon, and grocery store, and contracts for five additional buildings as soon as lumber could be delivered. But the ore did not live up to the hopes of the prospectors and promoters. By August 1898 the post office was closed, and the town disappeared.
Ghost town
A ghost town is an abandoned town or city. A town often becomes a ghost town because the economic activity that supported it has failed, or due to natural or human-caused disasters such as floods, government actions, uncontrolled lawlessness, war, or nuclear disasters...
, in western Douglas County
Douglas County, Colorado
Douglas County is the eighth most populous of the 64 counties of the state of Colorado, in the United States. The county is located midway between Colorado's two largest cities: Denver and Colorado Springs...
, Colorado
Colorado
Colorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, in the Front Range
Front Range
The Front Range is a mountain range of the Southern Rocky Mountains of North America located in the north-central portion of the U.S. State of Colorado and southeastern portion of the U.S. State of Wyoming. It is the first mountain range encountered moving west along the 40th parallel north across...
of the Rocky Mountains
Rocky Mountains
The Rocky Mountains are a major mountain range in western North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch more than from the northernmost part of British Columbia, in western Canada, to New Mexico, in the southwestern United States...
.
History
The town was founded in 1896 by prospector William Wanner, who announced that he had made a shipment of ore worth $35 per ton in silverSilver
Silver is a metallic chemical element with the chemical symbol Ag and atomic number 47. A soft, white, lustrous transition metal, it has the highest electrical conductivity of any element and the highest thermal conductivity of any metal...
and gold
Gold
Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au and an atomic number of 79. Gold is a dense, soft, shiny, malleable and ductile metal. Pure gold has a bright yellow color and luster traditionally considered attractive, which it maintains without oxidizing in air or water. Chemically, gold is a...
from his claim, and the Castle Rock Journal declared “The future of Dakan is assured.”. By Christmas 1896, there were about 300 people in Dakan, and a United States post office opened in Dakan on December 30, 1896.
In January 1897 Dakan was described as having eight buildings, including hotel, restaurant, saloon, and grocery store, and contracts for five additional buildings as soon as lumber could be delivered. But the ore did not live up to the hopes of the prospectors and promoters. By August 1898 the post office was closed, and the town disappeared.