Leadville in Lake County, Colorado — The American Mountains (Southwest)

Gravity Stamp Mill

Photographed by Cosmos Mariner, July 27, 2025

1. Gravity Stamp Mill Marker

Inscription.
This stamp mill was flown to Leadville in October of 1987 from Lackawanna Gulch north of Independence Pass by a U.S. Army helicopter and with the help of many local volunteers.

The stamp mill is one of the oldest devices for fine crushing ore prior to concentration. The ore was crushed by the stamp as it fell and struck it. The finer crushed rock passed out through a screen. The coarser portion was retained for further crushing.

Topics. This historical marker is listed in this topic list: Industry & Commerce. A significant historical month for this entry is October 1987.

Location. 39° 15.083′ N, 106° 17.541′ W. Marker is in Leadville, Colorado, in Lake County. It is at the intersection of East 9th Street (U.S. 24) and Harrison Avenue, on the right when traveling west on East 9th Street. The marker and stamp mill are on the Leadville Heritage Museum grounds. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 102 East 9th Street, Leadville CO 80461, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Regionally, this marker is in Colorado’s Arkansas River Valley,

in the Colorado High Rockies and on the Continental Divide.

It is also in the American Mountain West.

Globally, it is in North America,

the Rocky Mountains,

the Western Hemisphere,

the Western World,

and the Anglosphere.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker: Shaker Concentrating Table (here, next to this marker); Crib (here, next to this marker); Side-Dumping Ore Car (a few steps from this marker); Carnegie Library (a few steps from this marker); Headframe (a few steps from this marker);

Paid Advertisement

Click or scan to see
this page online

Healy House (within shouting distance of this marker); Leadville City Hall (about 300 feet away, measured in a direct line); Welcome to Historic Leadville — Twin Lakes / Bienvenido a la histórico Leadville — Twin Lakes (about 300 feet away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Leadville.

Also see . . . Stamp Mill (Wikipedia).

Excerpt: A stamp mill consists of a set of heavy steel (iron-shod wood in some cases) stamps, loosely held vertically in a frame, in which the stamps can slide up and down. They are lifted by cams on a horizontal rotating shaft. As the cam moves from under the stamp, the stamp falls onto the ore below, crushing the rock, and the lifting process is repeated at the next pass of the cam.
The first stamp mill in the U.S. was built in 1829 at the Capps mine near Charlotte, North Carolina. They were common in gold, silver, and copper mining regions of the US in the latter 19th and early 20th centuries, in operations where the ore was crushed as a prelude to extracting the metals. They were superseded in the second half of the 19th century in many applications by more efficient methods. However, their simplicity
Photographed by Cosmos Mariner, July 27, 2025

2. Gravity Stamp Mill Marker
meant that they were used in remote areas for ore processing well into the 20th century.

(Submitted on December 13, 2025, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida.)

Gravity Stamp Mill image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Cosmos Mariner, July 27, 2025

3. Gravity Stamp Mill

Photographed by Cosmos Mariner, July 27, 2025

4. Gravity Stamp Mill

Looking east; East 9th Street is on the right.

Credits. This page was last revised on December 14, 2025. It was originally submitted on December 12, 2025, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida. This page has been viewed 58 times since then and 18 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3, 4. submitted on December 13, 2025, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida.