Crystal Mill
{{Use mdy dates|date=August 2023}}
{{Infobox NRHP
| name = Crystal Mill
| nrhp_type =
| image = Crystal Mill, Colorado.jpg
| caption =
| nearest_city = Crystal, Colorado
| coordinates = {{coord|39|3|32|N|107|6|14|W|display=inline,title}}
| locmapin = Colorado#USA
| architecture =
| added = July 05, 1985
| area = less than one acre
| refnum = 85001493
}}
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.
Names
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".{{cite journal | title = Geology and Mineral Deposits of the Snowmass Mountain Area | journal = United States Geological Survey | year = 1937 | first = John | last = Vanderwilt| url = https://pubs.usgs.gov/bul/0884/report.pdf | access-date = 2021-02-06}} 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.
History
The mill was constructed in 1893 by George C. Eaton and B.S. Phillips, promoters of the Sheep Mountain Tunnel and Mining Company.{{cite journal | title = Crystal Mill | journal = United States Department of Agriculture | year = 1996 | first = Oscar | last = McCollum| url = http://www.fs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/stelprdb5187127.pdf | access-date = 2010-09-18}} 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.
See also
References
{{reflist}}
External links
{{commons and category}}
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20070928004435/http://www.coloradohistory-oahp.org/programareas/register/1503/cty/gn.htm#crystal Directory of Colorado State Register Properties]
Gallery
File:Crystal-mill 1890s.jpg|The Crystal Mill in operation, 1890s
File:Crystal Mill Power Plant.jpg|Another view of the mill
File:The Crystal Mill 2014.jpg|The Crystal Mill 2014
{{National Register of Historic Places}}
Category:Industrial buildings and structures in Colorado
Category:Buildings and structures in Gunnison County, Colorado
Category:Industrial buildings and structures on the National Register of Historic Places in Colorado
Category:Tourist attractions in Gunnison County, Colorado
Category:Watermills in the United States
Category:National Register of Historic Places in Gunnison County, Colorado
{{Colorado-NRHP-stub}}