Idarado Houses

Idarado Houses. . , The history of the Idarado Mine goes back to 1896 with the creation of the Treasury Tunnel. In 1934 the San Juan Metals Company purchased the old Treasury Tunnel site and by 1937 a new 300-ton per day mill was in operation. In 1939 the Idarado Mining Company took over the operation., In 1948 the mill was further expanded to increase capacity to 500-tons per day. Later that summer the Idarado Mining Company purchased ten houses from the bankrupt Sunnyside Mine in Eureka, east of Silverton. Overnight Eureka became a ghost town as houses went to Durango and Ouray as well. Idarado moved their ten houses to Red Mountain and remodeled them for employee housing. A total of twelve families eventually lived at the site., Four of the 100-year old historic houses are still perched behind the new mining history turnout across from the Idarado Mine. The first photo shows one of the houses being moved from Eureka to the Idarado Mine over Red Mountain Pass in 1948., The first house looking west from the Mining turnout can easily be identified (arrow) in the second photo of Eureka in 1929., Please respect the historic nature of these buildings. Do not remove anything from these buildings or damage them in any way. They are in the process of being stabilized by the Ouray County Historical Society and the Trust for Land Restoration.