Parkville, Summit County, Colorado

Parkville was established around 1860 in Georgia Gulch near Swan River, with cabins by 1861. The population of the site soon rose to around 1,800.{{cite news|url=https://coloradocommunitymedia.com/stories/parkville-becomes-colorado-ghost-town,126056|title=Parkville becomes Colorado ghost town|date=November 6, 2002|last=Miller|first=Ruth|work=Colorado Community Media|access-date=March 1, 2023}} When the new Territory of Colorado created its 17 original counties on November 1, 1861, Parkville was designated the Summit County seat. At its creation, Summit County covered roughly the entire northwest portion of the Colorado Territory. Parkville was the site of among the earliest Freemason lodges in Colorado, with Summit Lodge No.2 among the lodges established with the formation of the Grand Lodge of Colorado. The earliest minutes from the Summit County commissioners shows that they rented the Masonic hall for meetings and county and district court.{{cite web|url=https://longmontmasons.org/summit-lodge-no-2-a-f-a-m/|title=Summit Lodge No.2, A.F. & A.M.|publisher=Longmont Masons|date=August 14, 2009|access-date=February 27, 2023}}

The region's gold rush drove much of Parkville's 1861 growth, with its discoveries among the most valuable in Colorado history; up to $800 ({{Inflation|US|800|1861|fmt=eq}}) of gold was mined daily. This saw the production of territorial gold token mintage at Parkville during the summer of 1861. These tokens–valued at $2.50, $5, and $10–were coined by J.J. Conway & Co. out of gold dust. These tokens did not look like standard U.S. coinage and were of varying fineness and weight, thus losing the confidence of the townsfolk.{{cite web|url=https://www.money.org/money-museum/virtual-exhibits/coloradogold|title=Colorado Gold!|publisher=American Numismatic Association|location=Colorado Springs, CO|access-date=March 1, 2023|via=Money.org}}

Parkville, then the largest town in the region, was "the logical choice" to become the Summit County seat. Parkville lost a 1861 vote to become the territorial capital by eleven votes; after the county seat was moved to Breckenridge due to Parkville's lack of facilities, Parkville would become a ghost town by 1882.{{cite news|url=https://www.reporterherald.com/2018/05/12/largest-town-in-summit-county-buried/|title=Largest town in Summit County buried|first=Kenneth|last=Jessen|date=12 May 2018|access-date=7 March 2023|work=Loveland Reporter-Herald|location=Loveland, CO}}{{cite web|url=https://coloradosghosttowns.com/Parkville%20Colorado.html|title=Parkville Colorado Townsite – Ghost town|work=Colorado Ghost Towns|date=2006|first=Michael J.|last=Sinnwell|access-date=March 1, 2023}}{{cite news|url=https://www.summitdaily.com/news/summit-county-mining-history-runs-deep-after-prospectors-first-struck-gold-near-breckenridge-in-1859/|title=Summit County mining history runs deep after prospectors first struck gold near Breckenridge in 1859|work=Summit Daily|first=Deepan|last=Dutta|date=18 August 2018|access-date=7 March 2023}} The former Parkville townsite is preserved as part of the Parkville Open Space, a 44-acre lot owned and operated by Summit County.{{cite web|url=https://www.summitcountyco.gov/421/Featured-Properties|title=Featured Properties|publisher=Community Development Department, Summit County, Colorado|access-date=March 1, 2023}} By 1911, later hydraulic mining had buried much of the former townsite in waste rock and the Masonic cemetery is among the few remaining visible relics.{{cite book|title=Geology and Ore Deposits of the Breckenridge District, Colorado|first=Frederick Leslie|last=Ransome|publisher=United States Geological Survey|series=Professional Paper|volume=75|location=Washington, D.C.|url=https://pubs.usgs.gov/pp/0075/report.pdf|page=17|date=1911|access-date=7 March 2023}}

{{portal|Geography|History|United States|Colorado}}

• Bibliography of Colorado
• Geography of Colorado
• History of Colorado
• Index of Colorado-related articles
• List of Colorado-related lists
• List of county seats in Colorado
• List of ghost towns in Colorado
• List of post offices in Colorado
• Outline of Colorado

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{{Summit County, Colorado}}

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Category:1861 establishments in Colorado Territory

Category:County seats in Colorado

Category:Former populated places in Summit County, Colorado

Category:Geography of Summit County, Colorado

Category:Ghost towns in Colorado

Category:Gold mining in Colorado