Skip to content

Silverton, Colorado

Everything Silverton is known for

RoadyGoat plays music like this when you drive through Silverton. It's free on iPhone, and full songs play through Apple Music.

Music in Silverton

Songs About Silverton

The Silverton
C.W. McCall
77%
"And they called her the Silverton (Silverton train)"

Artists From Silverton

No artists from Silverton in the database yet.

Know one? Add it →

Rivers & Roads in Song near Silverton

Songs written about the waterways and highways that run near Silverton.

History of Silverton

A Speck Gives You Garlic Breath for Weeks RoadyGoat

Tellurium has one of the strangest party tricks in all of chemistry. Get even a microscopic trace into your body and you will reek of garlic, powerfully, for days or even weeks. Your body treats tellurium much like sulfur and tags it onto a small molecule called dimethyl telluride, which you then breathe out and sweat through your pores. Half a millionth of a gram is enough to produce fierce garlic breath for around thirty hours. One documented case, after a larger dose, had the person smelling of garlic for two hundred and thirty-seven days. The effect is wildly out of proportion to the amount involved, and at trace levels it is essentially harmless, just socially devastating. Chemists who work with tellurium learn to keep their distance from friends and family, because no amount of brushing or mouthwash will scrub that garlic cloud away.

11.7 mi away

Named for an Ore That Was Never Here RoadyGoat

1880

Telluride took its name around 1880 from tellurium, the element behind gold-telluride ores prized in other mining districts. There's just one twist: those telluride minerals were never actually found in the ground here. The local gold turned up in other forms entirely, so the town carries the name of an ore that wasn't beneath it. The boosters and assayers who christened the camp were betting on the kind of rich tellurium-bearing veins that had made other Colorado strikes famous, and the name stuck even as the geology refused to cooperate. You may also have heard the colorful folk tale that the name is a warning, 'to hell you ride.' That's a charming later invention. The real story is quieter and stranger: a mining town named for a chemical element that never showed up to the party.

11.9 mi away

Rarer Than the Gold They Dug For RoadyGoat

Tellurium, the element this town is named for, is staggeringly rare. In Earth's crust it sits at roughly three parts per billion, making it about eight times scarcer than gold and on par with platinum. That puts it among the rarest stable solid elements on the planet, scarcer even than the so-called rare earth metals. The reason is cosmic timing. When the young Earth was still a ball of fire, tellurium readily formed a lightweight gaseous compound that simply boiled off into space before the planet cooled and locked the rest of its ingredients in. Out in the wider universe tellurium isn't unusual at all, but here on Earth most of it escaped. So a town of gold miners ended up named for an element rarer than the very gold they spent their lives chasing through these mountains.

11.9 mi away

Telluride - Butch Cassidy's First Bank Job

1889

On June 24, 1889, a young Robert LeRoy Parker walked into the San Miguel Valley Bank in Telluride and committed his first bank robbery, stealing $21,000 and launching the career of Butch Cassidy.

11.9 mi away

Everything Near Silverton

17 stories, landmarks & places within ~20 miles — the same local lore RoadyGoat plays as you drive through.

  • Silverton, Colorado · 0.1 mi · Scraped Hmdb

    Welcome to Silverton, Colorado, a town that feels like stepping back into the Wild West! This remote mountain town exploded onto the scene after the 1873 Brunot Agreement opened the area to settlement, following the Ute…

  • Shenandoah-Dives Mill · 2.4 mi · Scraped Hmdb

    This isn't just another old building; it's a giant, silent machine that once roared to life, pulling precious metals from the earth. The Shenandoah-Dives Mill, or Mayflower Mill as it's also known, was built in 1929…

  • Lewis Mill (Telluride, Colorado) · 7.6 mi · Scraped Hmdb

    Peering up at those skeletal remains? That's the Lewis Mill, a silent giant from Telluride's mining boom days. Built in 1910, this mill processed ore pulled from the surrounding mountains. It was a 60-ton capacity mill,…

  • Smuggler-Union Hydroelectric Power Plant · 9.4 mi · Scraped Hmdb

    Get ready to witness a feat of engineering fueled by the raw power of a waterfall! The Smuggler-Union Hydroelectric Powerplant, perched dramatically beside Bridal Veil Falls, played a pivotal role in shaping Telluride's…

  • A Speck Gives You Garlic Breath for Weeks · 11.7 mi

    Tellurium has one of the strangest party tricks in all of chemistry. Get even a microscopic trace into your body and you will reek of garlic, powerfully, for days or even weeks. Your body treats tellurium much like…

  • Telluride Historic District · 11.7 mi · Scraped Hmdb

    Imagine a town carved into a box canyon, once overflowing with gold and silver, now a playground for skiers and film buffs. That's Telluride. Founded in 1878, Telluride exploded as a mining boomtown. Miners flocked…

  • Named for an Ore That Was Never Here · 11.9 mi

    Telluride took its name around 1880 from tellurium, the element behind gold-telluride ores prized in other mining districts. There's just one twist: those telluride minerals were never actually found in the ground here.…

  • Telluride - Butch Cassidy's First Bank Job · 11.9 mi · Historical Marker

    On June 24, 1889, a young Robert LeRoy Parker walked into the San Miguel Valley Bank in Telluride and committed his first bank robbery, stealing $21,000 and launching the career of Butch Cassidy.

  • Rarer Than the Gold They Dug For · 11.9 mi

    Tellurium, the element this town is named for, is staggeringly rare. In Earth's crust it sits at roughly three parts per billion, making it about eight times scarcer than gold and on par with platinum. That puts it…

  • The Element Literally Named Earth · 11.9 mi

    The name tellurium comes straight from the Latin word tellus, meaning earth. The element was first teased out of a puzzling gold ore in seventeen eighty-two by Franz-Joseph Muller von Reichenstein, a mining official…

  • The Rare Metal Powering Solar Farms · 12.0 mi

    That obscure element behind the town's name has quietly become a clean-energy workhorse. Paired with cadmium to make a compound called cadmium telluride, tellurium forms the heart of a leading kind of thin-film solar…

  • Valley View Leasing and Mining Company Mill · 12.3 mi · Scraped Hmdb

    Imagine this valley buzzing with activity – the Valley View Leasing and Mining Company Mill was a vital link in the silver and gold mining boom of the early 1900s. Built in 1920, this mill, also known as the Matterhorn…

Show all 17 nearby places
  • St. Elmo Hotel · 14.5 mi · Scraped Hmdb

    Step back in time at this beautifully preserved 1898 hotel, a reminder of Ouray's glory days as a bustling mining center. The St. Elmo Hotel was constructed in 1898 on Main Street in Ouray, Colorado. It opened its doors…

  • Beaumont Hotel (Ouray, Colorado) · 14.6 mi · Scraped Hmdb

    Prepare to be transported back in time! The Beaumont Hotel in Ouray wasn't just a place to sleep; it was a symbol of luxury and status in the late 19th century. Construction began in 1886, fueled by the booming mining…

  • Ouray Historic District · 14.7 mi · Scraped Hmdb

    Step back in time as you explore Ouray's Historic District, a perfectly preserved piece of Colorado's mining boom! This district, almost the entire original town, showcases the heart of Ouray's late 1800s prosperity.…

  • St. Joseph's Miners' Hospital · 14.7 mi · Scraped Hmdb

    Imagine risking your life daily in a dark, dangerous mine, knowing the closest medical help was often miles away. That's why St. Joseph's Miners' Hospital was so vital. Built in 1887, this hospital served the miners of…

  • Lost Trail Station · 16.8 mi · Scraped Hmdb

    Imagine bouncing along a rough trail in the 1870s, desperate for a hot meal and a soft bed. That's exactly what Lost Trail Station offered. John Barber and his wife built this place in 1877. It operated as a stagecoach…

Sign up for the free newsletter

Longer stories, research notes, photos, videos, and where the road goes next. Free, and no iPhone needed.

Subscribe free