The Complete History of: Eureka, Colorado, and The Sunnyside Mine & Mill | LOC Episode #1

[@DRGWRailfan]

Hey guys, please subscribe to my new offroad channel, where I'll continue to upload Colorado railroad and ghost town documentaries, along with hikes & 4x4 adventures all across the Western USA! I will be professionally making these videos, so please check it out! www.youtube.com/@theoffroadrailfan

[@willg54]

D&RGW Railfan My grandfather (my dad's dad) was the mine/mill engineer at the Sunnyside during the early 1900's. He and my father (his son) lived in Eureka, until my grandpa was killed in a mining accident in 1929. My father was only 12, so he packed up his belongings and moved in with one of his sisters in Silverton. My grandfather's name was William (Billy) Leon Gooch. My father (Robert Leon Gooch) passed away in 1988. Wish I had asked him more questions about the Sunnyside, but sadly I did not. Anywho, thanks for the video. It helped me to understand more about Eureka and the Sunnyside mine. PS. I live near Denver and occasionally visit my father and grandfather, who are both buried at the Hillside Cemetery in Silverton.

[@DRGWRailfan]

Wow, that's a crazy story. Thank you for sharing! I'm glad I could help, Eureka, is an incredible place and I love visiting every year!

[@DRGWRailfan]

I just wanna say, that the biggest credits in this video go out to all the men and women who founded, worked, and lived at this town and mine. They built amazing and complex structures for their time, and I am in awe of what they accomplished. I thank them for making this great town and mine/mill, that even today, even though it's a ghost town, I can still visit it and be obsorbed by their creations. Eureka is one of my all time favorite ghost towns, and it wouldn't have been possible without them. With that, I proudly dedicate this video to the town's residents. Enjoy the video.

[@DRGWRailfan]

From the bottom of my heart, thank you guys, so much, for making this beautiful project of mine successful. Eureka is my all-time favorite ghost town, and I'm really glad I could share its history with you all. Also make sure to check out my other documentaries, which cover some forgotten, yet important, ghost towns in Colorado, which are even better made then this video! Two of them are also much shorter, being about 8 minutes long. Today, the ghost town of Farnham Spur, Colorado, and the 7:40 Mine, sit abandoned along Boreas Pass, near Breckenridge. Just over a hundred years ago, the town was an important mining camp along the Denver, South Park, & Pacific Railroad, close to 3 other ghost towns. In this video we use uncover the town's and mine's history through old records, and archeological tracing methods! It is my best narrated, best edited, and produced video to date, and if you enjoyed this video about Eureka, then you'll love this video! Learn about the ghost town of Ames, Colorado, which is the home of the world's first hydroelectric generating plant! It was also a stop along the Rio Grande Southern Railroad, with mines surrounding it, and lots of businesses in the town! Another one of my best researched, and best made videos! kzbin.info/www/bejne/omLNf42Ff5Vobsk Check out my documentary covering the ghost town of Preston, Colorado, which is surrounded by some of the most beautiful scenery you will ever see. In the video, I also cover the surrounding mines & mills, such as the GIANT Jessie Mill, which still exists today! Definitely one of my all time best videos, you'll love it! kzbin.info/www/bejne/eJLJc3V6paeUZ80 Learn about the forgotten Colorado ghost towns of Alice, and Yankee Hill, two important mining towns. You also get to learn about Colorado's first black marshall, who was possibly an even better gunman then Wyatt Earp. You get to learn sooo very much, and see hundreds of beautiful, rare photos, dating back all the way to the 1800s. I promise you, you will learn lots from this video and love it. kzbin.info/www/bejne/jKuQi5h7bNN9ras

[@StormySkyRailProductions]

You are very welcome from us at StormySky Rail Production. Hard work and dedication really pays off, Thanks much for sharing all of that with the KZbin community.

[@DRGWRailfan]

@@StormySkyRailProductions Absolutely!

[@coppercreekghosttownliveso1881]

I've driven through Eureka on the way to Cinnamon Pass before and didn't think too much about it, but your documentary convinced me otherwise! What an awesome history, and even prettier area. Great work, especially for your first documentary!

[@newb6990]

Truly, truly, phenomenal documentary. You did a great job man. Thanks for helping keep these Colorado ghost towns and mines alive!

[@DRGWRailfan]

Much appreciated!

[@OleCrankyGamer]

This was an AMAZING documentary my friend!

[@DRGWRailfan]

Thanks so much! It truly makes me happy that you enjoyed, I put hours upon hours of work into this video!

[@DRGWRailfan]

Timestamp of all important events and things in this video: 0:00 Intro 0:51: Beginning of documentary/Eureka beginnings, Charles Baker's expedition in the area 1:37 Beginnings of the Sunnyside Mine 1:58 First cabin built in Eureka, and the mining camp that would become Eureka 2:32 Reuben McNutt buys Howard's share of the Sunnyside Mine and begins to develop it 2:45 Post office established and the arrival of Milton & Emma Thompson Englemen 3:15 Milton, who owns a share in the Sunnyside Mine, hires miners and offers interests in it to his in-laws, causing them to bicker 3:48 Milton hires John H. Terry to manage the mines and build a mill, changing the course of Eureka history. 4:09 Construction begins on the Midway Mill 4:58 Milton Englemen dies, causing his family to sell the Sunnyside Mine to Terry 5:34 New York investors offer to buy the Sunnyside Mine from Terry 6:01 Otto Mears creates the Silverton Northern Railroad which ran thru Eureka, and I talk a bit about his other railroads as well 7:10 Terry discovers a rich vein and starts work on the Eureka/Terry Mill 7:58 John Terry dies and his sons take over the Sunnyside Mine & the Eureka/Terry Mill 8:23 The American Smelting And Refining Company (ASARCO) buys the Sunnyside Mine and other nearby mines, and begins work on the Sunnyside Mill. Parts of the Sunnyside Mill still remain today. 8:50 Big problems arise 9:07 Sunnyside Mill is completed and the mine is expanded 9:52 National recession hits and the Sunnyside Mine has to close for 2 years 10:03 Sunnyside Mine reopens and achieves new heights 10:20 The Great Depression hits forcing the Sunnyside to close in 1930 and to stay closed until 1937 10:38 Sunnyside Mine shuts down for good (for many years) and lays off it's workforce 10:48 The effect of the Sunnyside closing on Eureka and the Silverton Northern Railroad 11:13 The Casey Jones railcar, loved by the miners 11:38 The Sunnyside Mill shuts down, and Eureka is completely abandoned 12:02 The Marcy-Shenandoah Company leases the Sunnyside Mine and drives the American Tunnel 12:18 The Standard Metals Company buys the Marcy Shenandoah Company 12:35 Washington Mining Company takes over digging the American Tunnel 12:56 A leaking fault is discovered in the mine shafts under Lake Emma 13:09 Lake Emma breaks through into the mine shafts and obliterates the tunnels. 13:58 The mine is shut down for 2 years and a court battle with the insurance company over paying for the damage ensues 14:19 The Sunnyside is no longer profitable and shuts down 14:26 A few new companies lease or buy the Sunnyside and try putting it back into production. 14:43 The Sunnyside Mine closes for the last time 14:51 The Sunnyside Mine after closing and it and Eureka today 16:11 Brief summaries of other towns that surround Eureka, which are Silverton, Howardsville, Middleton, and Animas Forks, one of them abandoned and the others not. 18:07 The abandoned Idarado mining houses on Red Mountain Pass, which used to be stationed at Eureka 18:31 My personal thoughts about how important and special abandoned ghost towns, mines, and railroads are 18:49 A photo slide that shows Eureka and the Sunnyside Mine & Mill throughout the years, starting with the oldest photo and ending with the newest. This is the best part of the video in my opinion. 19:48 Outro/final personal thoughts about mines, ghost towns, and railroads 20:21 Credits

[@junothepeasant]

This is an amazing documentary, very nice.

[@DRGWRailfan]

Thank you so much! I'm glad you enjoyed it!

[@adventureswithgoat719]

Great job my friend. Thank you for sharing the history of this area. AUesome! #treasurefam

[@DRGWRailfan]

Thank you so much I really appreciate it!!!

[@R2sAdventures]

Great work!

[@DRGWRailfan]

Thank you so much! I put a lot of time and effort into this documentary, I'm really glad you enjoyed it, hope you learned something!

[@coalsmoke7409]

Nice video. one correction as the TT shown, is on the Silverton RR and is near Ironton up Corkscrew Gulch

[@DRGWRailfan]

Thanks m8!

[@BlackCollarProject]

Great video, creepy location, keep up the wicked content, cheers 👍🏻 Black collar project 👻

[@DRGWRailfan]

Much appreciated!

[@EnclaveComsOfficer]

My brain after watching all of his video: 🧠

[@Felipethepuppet]

Why are you using Minecraft music?

[@DRGWRailfan]

Because it fits the video