It is located at the heart of Chaffee County, a former mining town St Elmo which is currently filled with ruins and mining wastes. Formerly called Forest City, St Elmo was established in the 1880s and thrived through the century until 1952 when it was rejected and left to decay.

Rise of S.t Elmo

S.t Elmo was first settled in the late 1870s but it became an official town in 1880 when a post office was built in the town. The little town which was majorly established to exploit its rich gold and silver mines rose into popularity like other mining towns and by 1881, a train station was built in the town. Railroad through the town elevated the development of the town leading to a rise in hotels, a town hall, and restaurants raising the population to above 2000.

Richies of S.t Elmo

The town had 150 rich mines with Mary Murphy being the richest mine that produced a large quantity of gold, silver, and copper. Mines in the area ran more gold than any other mineral making them the most profitable mines in the region. Mary Murphy mine is estimated to have made 60,000,000 million US dollars during its operational years.

The decline of St Elmo

Most mines in the town had been depleted by the New Year of 1891 leaving only principal mines like the Mary Murphy mine operating. A year before, a fire outbreak destroyed the business section of the town which was never rebuilt. A decline in the population began to be recorded at this period. The railroad station closed in 1922 and shortly afterward the principal mine Mary Murphy closed down. Miners left the town to seek employment elsewhere leaving only one family, the Stalks. The Stalks later died leaving the town's ownership to a friend.

Ghost of S.t Elmo

After the town was deserted, the Stalk family that was prominent in the area stayed behind with hopes of reviving their town. This never happened as they all died leaving the town which they now claimed as their property deserted. Annabelle, the youngest daughter who was the last caretaker of the town is believed to still roam around protecting the town from Vandals. An eye witness attests to seeing a beautiful lady in white at the balcony of the 2- Storey hotel in the town gazing at a bunch of tourists who were snowmobiling. This was weird since the owners at the time were not in town. Upon warning his fellow tourists about no snow-billing policy, the lady nodded and vanished away. Another incident occurred where workers who intended to restore the hotel would always find their cleaning tools on the floor every morning despite locking them away.

What is the current condition of the town?

In 2002, after a fire outbreak destroyed six buildings in the town, the property owner donated some sections of the property to Buena Vista Heritage Museum. The BVHM plans to preserve and protect S.t Elmo, and have currently restored some of the buildings.