Preston, Colorado
{{short description|Ghost town in Summit County, Colorado}}
{{distinguish|Preston Monument|}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2023}}
{{Use American English|date=March 2020}}
{{Infobox settlement
|name = Preston
|official_name =
|settlement_type = Mining ghost town
|nickname =
|motto =
|image_skyline = File:An abandoned cabin, in the ghost town of Preston, Colorado.jpg
|imagesize =
|image_caption = An abandoned cabin at Preston in 2020
|image_flag =
|image_seal =
|pushpin_map = USA Colorado
|pushpin_label_position =
|pushpin_map_caption = Location within the state of Colorado
|pushpin_mapsize =
|image_map =
|map_caption = Location within Summit county
|subdivision_type = Country
|subdivision_name = United States
|subdivision_type1 = State
|subdivision_name1 = Colorado
|subdivision_type2 = County
|subdivision_name2 = Summit
|government_footnotes =
|government_type =
|leader_title =
|leader_name =
|leader_title1 =
|leader_name1 =
|established_title =
|established_date =
|unit_pref = Imperial
|area_footnotes =
|area_magnitude =
|area_total_km2 =
|area_land_km2 =
|area_water_km2 =
|population_as_of = 2010
|population_footnotes =
|population_total = 0
|population_density_km2 = auto
|timezone = Mountain (MST)
|utc_offset = -7
|timezone_DST = MDT
|utc_offset_DST = -6
|elevation_footnotes =
|elevation_ft = 10371
|coordinates = {{coord|39|29|45|N|106|01|16|W|region:US_type:city|display=inline,title}}
|postal_code_type = ZIP Codes
|area_code =
|blank_name = FIPS code
|blank_info =
|blank1_name = GNIS feature ID
|blank1_info = 203917{{cite gnis|id=203917 |name=Preston, Colorado|date=1 March 1995|accessdate=10 March 2020}}
|website =
|footnotes =
}}
Preston is a ghost town in Summit County, Colorado. It is located east of modern Breckenridge, between Jessie mine in Gold Run Gulch and the Jumbo mine.
Description
Preston is situated above Gold Run Gulch along Dry Gulch Road. The townsite is now National Forest property and is managed by the Breckenridge Heritage Alliance. About {{convert|375|ft|m}} west of the townsite are the remains of the Jumbo mine–consisting of abandoned minecarts, several mounds of tailings, and a few largely collapsed wooden structures. The remaining Preston town structures are scattered along a short stretch of road. The Jessie mine is located roughly {{convert|444|ft|m}} below Preston and is connected by the road.{{cite web|url=https://trailstrekker.blogspot.com/2018/09/preston-ghost-town.html|title=Preston Ghost Town|work=Trails Trekker|date=18 September 2018|access-date=10 March 2020}} There is another, unrelated mine named "Jumbo" that operated in the 1910s–roughly 30 years after the opening of the Preston Jumbo mine–near Montezuma several miles to the northeast.{{cite web|url=https://response.epa.gov/site/site_profile.aspx?site_id=12354|title=Jumbo Mine|publisher=Environmental Protection Agency|access-date=10 March 2020}}
In the summer, the town is accessible by bike, car, and foot. In the winter can be reached by cross-country skis, snowshoes, and fatbike. There are several meadows that provide views of Breckenridge, Frisco, and the Dillon Reservoir. The residential area was part of a connected series of populated mining sites that also included the Prospect Complex to the northeast.{{cite web|url=https://matherarchives.com/wp-content/uploads/mine_sites/5ST1153_Prospect%20Complex/5ST1153_Prospect%20Complex_site%20summary.pdf|title=Prospect Complex Site 5ST1153|work=Mine Sites|publisher=Mather Archives|access-date=10 March 2020}}{{dead link|date=March 2025|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}} A sign for visitors to the Preston townsite displays historic photographs and information, as does a similar sign at the Jessie mine.
History
File:Abandoned cabin in Preston, Colorado.jpg
The town existed by at least 1875, when the first post office was moved there from the nearby Delaware Flats. The post office was briefly closed in January 1884, reopening after a month, before its 1889 move back towards Delaware Flats to the town of Braddockville, where in 1881 there had been an ore discovery.{{cite web|url=https://www.reporterherald.com/2011/07/21/summit-countys-picturesque-preston/|title=Summit County's picturesque Preston|work=Loveland Reporter-Herald|last=Jessen|first=Kenneth|date=21 July 2011|access-date=10 March 2020}}{{cite web|url=https://www.coloradohistoricnewspapers.org/?a=d&d=SCJ19010427.2.66&e=-------en-20--1--img-txIN%7ctxCO%7ctxTA--------0--|title=Twenty Years Ago.|work=Summit County Journal|publisher=Colorado Historic Newspapers Collection|date=27 April 1901|access-date=10 March 2020}}
In 1893–1894, the Jessie mine was constructed to extract gold, silver, zinc, and lead.{{cite web|url=https://www.mindat.org/loc-120276.html|title=Jessie Mine (B and B Mines Inc)|work=mindat.org|access-date=10 March 2020}} At its peak, the town was home to roughly 150 miners and their families, as well as a millinery and boarding house. It was depopulated completely by the late 1930s.