Colorado Ghost Town Books/Maps
Romley Colorado Townsite - Ghost town
The majority of these photos were taken at the Allie Belle Mine on the road near the original site of Romley. The first and last photo shows a view from above looking down at the town site. As I walked down the old grade from the Allie Belle towards the Romley site I came across a "NO TRESPASSING" sign. I turned around. I plan to go back so I can see the Mary Murphy mine located higher up the mountain, the buildings associated with the mine and then take a different road into the Romley site. In the mean time these photos will have to do.
Romley and the growth associated with the town was a result of the wealth discovered in the Mary Murphy mine. Had it not been for the mine the town, the boarding house, the smelter, the aerial trams, the turntable, the mill, and the railroad depot would never had been built. It was more of a mining operation versus a town. Romley was one of those towns with an on again - off again history caused by the opening and closing of the mine, the loss of the railroad and economic conditions affecting the price of silver and gold. The post office opened and closed at least three times and the last time was in 1924. Some experts claim the last exploration of the mine was done in the 1980's.
Photos Courtesy Joan and Mike Sinnwell August 2008
A viewer writes - Thursday may 5th, 2012 -- Hi there, I love your website. Lots of great pics of some of my favorite places. I do want to let you know that the pictures you have labeled as Romley, Colorado are not actually of Romley. It is a common mistake I see pretty often. The entire town of Romley was knocked down in the early 1980's. It was a bit farther up the mountain, near a fork in the road. It sat down in the valley on a bit of a hill. It always seemed to be an odd place for a town. The kids and I explored the town many times when it was still standing. It was actually in great shape, compared to what was left of a place like Hancock at the time. Several buildings still had tin covered sides. The last time I saw it, there was an operation that was doing some work up at the Mary Murphy. I was told that they were taking some of the higher grade tailings and processing it using more modern techniques. Some also said that they were exploring parts of the mine. We were poking around the town like we often did. There was more heavy equipment in the area. Some men with equipment told us we had to leave, so we went up to Hancock to finish our day. By the time we headed back down the mountain, bulldozers were just getting finished with knocking the buildings down. It was VERY sad.
Rocky responds - TRUE - the pictures here are of the Allie Belle Mine and surrounding area NEAR the original location of Romley. Romley is gone except for memories.
Rocky Mountain Profiles Colorado Ghost Towns and Colorado Photos – Niwot Colorado