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Silver Plume, Colorado

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The historic Town of Silver Plume is a Statutory Town located in Clear Creek County

Clear Creek County, Colorado

Clear Creek County is one of the 64 counties of the State of Colorado of the United States. The county population was 9,322 at U.S. Census 2000. The county seat is Georgetown...

, Colorado

Colorado

Colorado is a U.S. state located in the Rocky Mountain region of the United States of America. It may also be considered to be part of the Western and Southwestern regions of the United States. Colorado entered statehood in 1876 and was nicknamed the “Centennial State”...

, United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. Silver Plume is a former silver

Silver

Silver is a 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...

mining

Mining

Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the earth, usually from an ore body, vein or seam. Materials recovered by mining include base metals, precious metals, iron, uranium, coal, diamonds, limestone, oil shale, rock salt and potash...

camp along Clear Creek

Clear Creek (Colorado)

Clear Creek is a tributary of the South Platte River, approximately 40 mi long, in north central Colorado in the United States. The creek drains a canyon, called Clear Creek Canyon in the Rocky Mountains directly west of Denver, descending through a long gorge to emerge on the Colorado Eastern...

in the Front Range

Front Range

The Front Range is a mountain range of the Rocky Mountains of North America that is located in the north-central portion of the U.S. State of Colorado...

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 Canada, to New Mexico, in the United States. The range's highest peak is Mount Elbert in Colorado at above sea level...

. The federally designated Georgetown-Silver Plume National Historic District comprises Silver Plume, the neighboring Town of Georgetown

Georgetown, Colorado

The historic Town of Georgetown is a Territorial Charter Municipality that is the county seat of Clear Creek County, Colorado, United States. The former silver mining camp along Clear Creek in the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains was established in 1859 during the Pike's Peak Gold Rush...

, and the Georgetown Loop Historic Mining & Railroad Park between the two towns.

The town population was 203 at U.S. Census 2000. The Silver Plume Post Office

United States Postal Service

The United States Postal Service is an independent agency of the United States government responsible for providing postal service in the United States. It is one of the few government agencies explicitly authorized by the United States Constitution. Within the United States, it is commonly...

has the ZIP Code

ZIP Code

The ZIP code is the system of postal codes used by the United States Postal Service . The letters ZIP, a backronym for Zone Improvement Plan, are properly written in capital letters and were chosen to suggest that the mail travels more efficiently, and therefore more quickly, when senders use the...

80476.

Geography

Silver Plume is located at (39.695919, -105.726066).

According to the United States Census Bureau

United States Census Bureau

The United States Census Bureau is the government agency that is responsible for the United States Census. It also gathers other national demographic and economic data. As part of the United States Department of Commerce, the Census Bureau serves as the leading source of quality data about...

, the town has a total area of 0.2 square miles (0.6 km²), all of it land.

Demographics

As of the census

Census

A "census" is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population.In other words every 10 years...next one would be in 2010 The term is used mostly in connection with...

of 2000, there were 203 people, 93 households, and 47 families residing in the town. The population density

Population density

Population density is a measurement of population per unit area or unit volume. It is frequently applied to living organisms, and particularly to humans. It is a key term used in geography....

was 820.2 people per square mile (313.5/km²). There were 134 housing units at an average density of 541.4/sq mi (207.0/km²). The racial makeup of the town was 94.09% White, 3.45% from other races

Race (United States Census)

Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the United States Census Bureau and the Federal Office of Management and Budget , are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...

, and 2.46% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 9.36% of the population.

There were 93 households out of which 24.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 47.3% were married couples

Marriage

Marriage is a social union or legal contract between individuals that creates kinship. It is an institution in which interpersonal relationships, usually intimate and sexual, are acknowledged by a variety of ways, depending on the culture or demographic...

living together, 2.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 48.4% were non-families. 39.8% of all households were made up of individuals and 4.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.18 and the average family size was 3.02.

In the town the population was spread out with 22.2% under the age of 18, 11.8% from 18 to 24, 33.5% from 25 to 44, 30.0% from 45 to 64, and 2.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females there were 128.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 129.0 males.

The median income for a household in the town was $35,208, and the median income for a family was $41,667. Males had a median income of $33,750 versus $23,438 for females. The per capita income

Per capita income

Per capita income means how much each individual receives, in monetary terms, of the yearly income generated in the country. This is what each citizen is to receive if the yearly national income is divided equally among everyone. Per capita income is usually reported in units of currency per year...

for the town was $18,880. About 18.3% of families and 25.3% of the population were below the poverty line, including 50.0% of those under the age of eighteen and none of those sixty five or over.

External links

Town of Silver Plume website
- CDOT map of the Town of Silver Plume

The town of Silver Plume has a very rich history. That history can be viewed by the general public either at the George Rowe Museum, which is in the original school house of the town, or by walking the 7:30 mine trail, which gives the individual a grand view of the Silver Plume valley and the town nestled at its base. Many tales circulate about the town. One involves its naming:
According to records and legends, Louis Depuy (the owner of the Hotel De Paris) was also a newspaper editor for the town. When miners from Silver Plume brought him samples of the town's ore and asked him they should name the small camp, he allegedly wrote a short poem on the spot:

Knights today are miner's bold,
Who delve in deep mines' gloom,
To honor men who dig for gold,
For ladies whom their arms enfold,
We'll name the town Silver Plume!

Many other legends abound about the small "Living Ghost Town." One involves a much-beloved citizen from the mining days, Clifford Griffin. According to legend, Mr. Griffin came from the state of New York, where he was raised. Griffin became engaged in New York, but his fiance tragically, and mysteriously, died the night before their wedding. Her death was contributed to unnameable "natural causes," and to escape the painful memories of his beloved, he moved to Colorado with his brother, who eventually became the owner of the 7:30 Mine (so named because their day shift started a generous hour later than the other mines, who started at 6:30 AM). Clifford became the manager of the 7:30, and was much loved by his miners for his kindness. According to local legend, every Christmas he bought all his miners a goose for their families, and every Fourth of July, he paid off every bar between Silver Plume and current day Bakerville, so his miners could enjoy their holiday without spending their family's money. Not only did he take care of his miners, every evening he provided him with entertainment as well. Since he could not bear the daily sight of his men with their wives and families after his tragedy, he spent a great deal of time near the entrance to the 7:30, which sits about 1500 feet above the town of Silver Plume. Every evening he would sit near the edge of a nearby cliff and play his violin. Due to the incredible acoustics of the valley, the entire town could step outside and listen to his concerts. According to local legend, one evening, after a particularly beautiful recital, the residents heard a gunshot. Assuming the worst, the miners of the 7:30 raced up the trail to the entrance, and there they found Clifford Griffin, shot through the heart, in a grave he'd dug himself. A note in the nearby Manager's Office told the tale. It asked the residents of Silver Plume to leave him where he lay, because that's where he'd experienced the most happiness since his wife died. Not only did they follow his request, the town erected a 10-foot-tall Gunnison Granite monument in his honor, directly on top of his grave site. The monument can still be seen today, on the cliffs directly in front of the 7:30 Mine.

Silver Plume, Colorado

Geography

Demographics

See also

External links