National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
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NPS Form 10-900 OMB No. 1024-0018 United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Registration Form This form is for use in nominating or requesting determinations for individual properties and districts. See instructions in National Register Bulletin, How to Complete the National Register of Historic Places Registration Form. If any item does not apply to the property being documented, enter "N/A" for "not applicable." For functions, architectural classification, materials, and areas of significance, enter only categories and subcategories from the instructions. 1. Name of Property Historic name: Ute-Ulay Mine and Mill Other names/site number: 5HN.77 Name of related multiple property listing: The Mining Industry in Colorado; Hinsdale County Metal Mining (Enter "N/A" if property is not part of a multiple property listing ____________________________________________________________________________ 2. Location Street & number: County Road 20 City or town: Lake City State: Colorado County: Hinsdale Not For Publication: n/a Vicinity: X ____________________________________________________________________________ 3. State/Federal Agency Certification As the designated authority under the National Historic Preservation Act, as amended, I hereby certify that this X nomination ___ request for determination of eligibility meets the documentation standards for registering properties in the National Register of Historic Places and meets the procedural and professional requirements set forth in 36 CFR Part 60. In my opinion, the property X meets ___ does not meet the National Register Criteria. I recommend that this property be considered significant at the following level(s) of significance: __national ___statewide _X__local Applicable National Register Criteria: _X_A ___B _X_C _X__D Signature of certifying official/Title: Deputy State Historic Preservation Officer Date _ History Colorado Office of Archaeology and Historic Preservation _________ State or Federal agency/bureau or Tribal Government In my opinion, the property meets does not meet the National Register criteria. Signature of commenting official: Date Title : State or Federal agency/bureau or Tribal Government 1 United States Department of the Interior National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form NPS Form 10-900 OMB No. 1024-0018 Ute-Ulay Mine and Mill, The Mining Industry in Colorado MPDF; Hinsdale County, Colorado Hinsdale County Metal Mining MPDF Name of Property County and State ______________________________________________________________________________ 4. National Park Service Certification I hereby certify that this property is: entered in the National Register determined eligible for the National Register determined not eligible for the National Register removed from the National Register other (explain:) _____________________ ______________________________________________________________________ Signature of the Keeper Date of Action ____________________________________________________________________________ 5. Classification Ownership of Property (Check as many boxes as apply.) Private: X Public – Local X Public – State Public – Federal X Category of Property (Check only one box.) Building(s) District X Site Structure Object United States Department of the Interior National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form NPS Form 10-900 OMB No. 1024-0018 Ute-Ulay Mine and Mill, The Mining Industry in Colorado MPDF; Hinsdale County, Colorado Hinsdale County Metal Mining MPDF Name of Property County and State Number of Resources within Property (Do not include previously listed resources in the count) Contributing Noncontributing ____24________ _____0______ buildings ____1________ _____0_______ sites ____17________ _____0_______ structures _____________ _____0________ objects ____42_______ _____0_______ Total Number of contributing resources previously listed in the National Register 0 ____________________________________________________________________________ 6. Function or Use Historic Functions (Enter categories from instructions.) DOMESTIC/single dwelling DOMESTIC/multiple dwelling INDUSTRY/manufacturing facility INDUSTRY/extractive facility INDUSTRY/waterworks INDUSTRY/energy facility Current Functions (Enter categories from instructions.) VACANT/not in use RECREATION AND CULTURE/museum (work in progress) ___________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ 7. Description Architectural Classification (Enter categories from instructions.) NO STYLE Materials: (enter categories from instructions.) Principal exterior materials of the property: WOOD – weatherboard, log, shingle; METAL - iron Section 7 page 3 United States Department of the Interior National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form NPS Form 10-900 OMB No. 1024-0018 Ute-Ulay Mine and Mill, The Mining Industry in Colorado MPDF; Hinsdale County, Colorado Hinsdale County Metal Mining MPDF Name of Property County and State Narrative Description (Describe the historic and current physical appearance and condition of the property. Describe contributing and noncontributing resources if applicable. Begin with a summary paragraph that briefly describes the general characteristics of the property, such as its location, type, style, method of construction, setting, size, and significant features. Indicate whether the property has historic integrity.) ______________________________________________________________________________ Summary Paragraph The Ute-Ulay Mine and Mill (5HN.77) is 3.6 miles west of Lake City in Hinsdale County, Colorado, on unsurveyed land that corresponds to Section 31, Township 44 North, Range 4 West and Section 36, Township 44 North, Range 5 West, New Mexico P.M.1 The district (considered one contributing site in its entirety) is a large complex of silver and lead mine and mill buildings and features, former building locations, mining waste rock, and mill tailings impoundments on the north side of Henson Creek.2 It covers 61.9 acres: 21.9 acres of Bureau of Land Management (BLM) land, 10 acres of land owned by Hinsdale County, and 30 acres of private land. Henson Creek passes sinuously in a west to east direction running through the southern boundary of the district. Ute Creek, a perennial drainage with low flow, enters Henson Creek from the northeast and passes through the central portion of the district, though it is mostly obliterated by waste rock from mining. County Road 20 parallels Henson Creek through the district, running on contour about 300’–350’ north of the drainage. The district is situated on a steep southwest-facing slope above Henson Creek with the main mine and milling complex set on manmade leveled areas of waste rock. Elevations range from 9,080’ (2,768 m) along Henson Creek to 9,800’ (2,987 m) at the top of the upper mining complexes. Vegetation is riparian along Henson Creek with open grassland and spruce/fir forest above. Vegetation is largely lacking where waste rock and tailings have been deposited at places above Henson Creek. Elsewhere, observed plant species include spruce, aspen, willow, common juniper, elderberry, currant, serviceberry, Oregon grape, stinging nettle, strawberry, and grasses. Geologically, the area is comprised of Tertiary-age igneous rock of intra-ash flow andesitic lava (Tweto 1979). Precious metals extruded into cracks in the geologic deposits are associated with a third phase of mineralization associated with the Lake City caldera and were the focus of historic mining efforts. The underground workings used to access the subsurface precious metals are very complex and interconnect with the workings of the Hidden Treasure Mine outside the nomination boundary to the north. The Ute-Ulay-Hidden Treasure vein system is considered to have been the most productive of the mined deposits in the Lake City area and was followed for a distance of 5,000’ (Sanford et al. 1991). 1 The property name is derived from the Ute and Ule mining claims by which the Ute and Ule veins were first identified in 1871. The Ule name has also been spelled Ulay, which is the most common historical spelling, though not the initial spelling; both are phonetic spellings of the name of the Ute leader Ouray. Both the Ute and Ule veins have been worked together as a single property since the 1870s. 2 Waste rock is mined parent rock that is disposed of outside of a mine opening that is devoid of valuable minerals or has insufficient quantities of valuable minerals so as to make it uneconomic to process further. Waste rock can also be mineral- bearing rock (ore) of insufficient value to process further. Mill tailings are pulverized mineral-bearing rock (ore) from which most of the valuable minerals have been extracted. Section 7 page 4 United States Department of the Interior National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form NPS Form 10-900 OMB No. 1024-0018 Ute-Ulay Mine and Mill, The Mining Industry in Colorado MPDF; Hinsdale County, Colorado Hinsdale County Metal Mining MPDF Name of Property County and State The Ute and Ule mining claims were first discovered in 1871 by trespassers on the Ute Reservation. Consequently, it was not until after the Brunot Agreement of 1873, when the Utes ceded the San Juan Mountains from their reservation, that the claims were returned to, with investigation of the Ute and Ule veins commencing in 1874. Commercial mining began in 1876,