Crystal Mill
National Register of Historic Places

Crystal Mill

Crystal, Gunnison County, Colorado
Listed
July 4, 1985
Type
Building
Period
Civil War
Ref No.
85001493

About this property

The Crystal Mill, or the Old Mill is an 1892 wooden powerhouse located on an outcrop above the Crystal River in Crystal, Colorado, United States. It is accessible from Marble, Colorado via four-wheel drive. Although called a Watermill, it is more correctly denoted as a compressor station, which used a water turbine to drive an air compressor, and was originally built with a horizontal wheel. The compressed air was then used to power other machinery or tools. In the 21st century, the mill is usually called the Crystal Mill or the Old Crystal Mill. Many decades ago, when the mill was still in use, it was called the Sheep Mountain Power House at the Lost Horse Millsite, or simply the Lost Horse Mill. The building is built on a mining claim named "Lost Horse". The site is referred to as a "mill" because there was a 3-stamp mill for crushing ore, in a building directly adjacent to the south of the surviving structure. The mill was constructed in 1893 by George C. Eaton and B.S. Phillips, promoters of the Sheep Mountain Tunnel and Mining Company. It was built as a power plant for the Sheep Mountain Tunnel. Originally it had a horizontal waterwheel that generated compressed air for miners in the nearby silver mines. It fell into disuse in 1917 when the Sheep Mountain Tunnel mine closed. The mill was placed on the National Register of Historic Places on July 5, 1985. National Register of Historic Places listings in Gunnison County, Colorado

Location

Crystal, Gunnison County, Colorado
39.05879, -107.10447

Categories

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Sources

Property data from the National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service (public domain).

Description adapted from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

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The Land
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Geology
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Conflict & War
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The Civil War
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The Soldiers
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Native Heritage
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Settlement
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The Community
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Nearby Historic Sites

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Marble City State Bank Building
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St. Paul's Church
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Questions about this property

When was Crystal Mill listed on the National Register?

Crystal Mill was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on July 4, 1985.

What type of historic resource is Crystal Mill?

Crystal Mill is classified as a building in the National Register of Historic Places.

What is the period of significance for Crystal Mill?

The period of significance for Crystal Mill is recorded as the civil_war era.

Can I research the history near Crystal Mill?

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