Saint Elmo

Overview

The camp that stayed standing

Prospectors were working the upper Chalk Creek valley by 1878, and in 1880 a town was laid out there as Forest City. There were too many Forest Citys already, so one of the founders, Griffith Evans, renamed it Saint Elmo after a novel he was reading. About 150 patented mine claims surrounded it. The biggest producer was the Mary Murphy, high on the mountain above the railroad.

The Denver, South Park and Pacific arrived in 1881 and carried on to the Alpine Tunnel. Saint Elmo grew to five hotels, saloons, dance halls, a school, a town hall and a weekly paper, with a population put at nearly or more than 2,000. A fire in 1890 burned the business district, and the town never fully rebuilt. The tunnel closed in 1910 and the trains stopped in 1922. By 1930 seven people were left.

The Stark family stayed on, running the store and the Home Comfort Hotel, and the post office lasted until 1952. The main street went on the National Register in 1979. Today the buildings are privately owned, a few people live here year-round, and the general store opens each summer.

Timeline

Boom, fire and the last train

1. 1878Prospectors settle in the upper Chalk Creek valley. Legends of America dates the first settlement to 1878; an undated listing gives 1878 or 1879.
2. 1880The town is laid out as Forest City. Too many towns already share the name, so founder Griffith Evans renames it Saint Elmo, after a novel.
3. Aug 1880The weekly St. Elmo Mountaineer starts reporting on the mines. It runs until 1895.
4. 1881The Denver, South Park and Pacific Railroad reaches town and builds a station. The line runs on toward Romley, Hancock and the Alpine Tunnel.
5. 1881Cattleman Anton Stark settles here. His wife Anna later runs a general store and the Home Comfort Hotel.
6. 1890Fire destroys the business district at about the town's peak. It is never fully rebuilt.
7. 1910The Alpine Tunnel closes, and the long decline begins.
8. 1922Rail service ends. The tracks come up in 1926 and the grade becomes the road from Nathrop.
9. 1920sThe Mary Murphy, the district's biggest mine, shuts down. Wikipedia says it ran until 1922; Legends of America says 1925.
10. 1930Seven people are left, by Legends of America's count.
11. 1952The post office closes after the postmaster's death.
12. 1958–1960Annabelle Stark is moved to a nursing home in 1958 and dies in 1960.
13. Sep 17, 1979The Saint Elmo Historic District, about 70 acres, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
14. Apr 15, 2002Fire destroys six buildings, including the town hall and jail. Owners donate the town hall lot and the schoolhouse to Buena Vista Heritage that July.
15. 2008–2009The town hall is rebuilt as a replica. Wikipedia dates it to 2008; the county visitors bureau says 2009.

What's left

What you'll see

Main Street is the reason to come. Weathered two-story stores and smaller houses stand in a row along the dirt street, with board sidewalks in front. Buena Vista Heritage owns the schoolhouse, in use from 1882 into the 1940s, and the town hall, rebuilt as a replica after the 2002 fire. Everything else is private. In a photo on this page from about 2000–2002, the general store is in a building painted with the words Miners Exchange, and a sign beside it reads "All St. Elmo property is privately owned" and asks visitors to stay on the streets.

East of town, the Iron City campground sits on the site of a short-lived smelter town, and a road leads from it to the Iron City cemetery. Chalk Creek runs through Saint Elmo, but the creek in town is private. Wikipedia notes public fishing access at a few spots by the campground.

The 1940 USGS sheet in the historic maps below shows St. Elmo where the creek bends, with Iron City just to the northeast and roads climbing the side gulches. The 1960 sheet zooms out to show Tincup on the far side of the Continental Divide, Romley and Hancock up the canyon, and the Mount Princeton Hot Springs lodge down it.

• Main Street stores and houses
• General store (summer)
• Schoolhouse
• Town hall (replica)
• Iron City cemetery, east of town

Historic maps

Saint Elmo on USGS maps, 1940–1960

Crops from the USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection, centered on the townsite. Each sheet shows what surveyors mapped that year; compare them with today's topo and aerial on this page.

19401:62,50019601:250,000

Day trip

Plan a day trip to Saint Elmo from Buena Vista

Take it with you

Day trip itinerary

The essentials, the sample day with boxes to tick, what to photograph and the coordinates, on two printable pages. Handy where there's no signal.

Download the PDF (510 KB)

Saint Elmo is an easy half day from Buena Vista, and a summer trip if you want the store open. The town is small and easy to see on foot. Bring lunch and water: the store sells snacks, drinks and ice cream, and that's all the food we found on site.

A sample day

1. 9 a.m.Leave Buena Vista. South on US 24 and US 285, then up Chalk Creek Canyon on CR 162, about 50 minutes in all.
2. 10 a.m.The store opens. Walk Main Street from end to end. In older photos the store carries painted Miners Exchange lettering.
3. 11 a.m.Find the schoolhouse and the rebuilt town hall, then drive just east of town to the Iron City campground and its cemetery road.
4. NoonEat a packed lunch. The store sells snacks and ice cream.
5. AfternoonDrive back down the canyon to Buena Vista, or, with a four-wheel-drive and good weather in July or August, take on Tincup Pass.

What to photograph and film

• The Main Street row. Shoot the false fronts from the far side of the street with the mountains behind, as in the photo at the top of this page.
• The store front. The painted Miners Exchange lettering seen in older photos reads best in soft light.
• Board sidewalks. Get low along the boardwalk for a long view down the row.
• Drones. No source we read covers drones. The buildings and lots are private, so ask before flying.

Map & directions

Getting there

Buena Vista is the nearest town. The route runs south on US 24 and US 285, cuts across on county roads 280 and 270, and climbs Chalk Creek Canyon on County Road 162 to the end of the road at Saint Elmo. From Denver it's US 285 all the way to the same turn.

Base map: USGS The National Map (public domain). Routes: OSRM on © OpenStreetMap contributors data (ODbL), computed October 2026. Times assume dry roads.

Photos

Saint Elmo in photos

Main Street with snow on the peaks, about 2000–2002The store and post office row, July 2008The general store, lettered Miners Exchange, about 2000–2002The Stark Bros. store and post office front, June 2005Panorama of the historic district, September 2014The schoolhouse, 2012A two-story log house, 2005The original town hall and jail, before the 2002 fireThe Russell Thorp Building, named on its plaque, July 2008Main Street storefronts, June 2005A dirt street between old buildings, looking toward the mountains, June 2005

Visitor reports

Been to Saint Elmo?

Been there lately? Tell the next visitor what you found: whether you could get in, the state of the road and what's still standing. Photos are welcome. We read every report before it appears here.

Thanks. Your report reached us, and we'll read it before it goes on the page.

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Nearby

Other sites near Saint Elmo

Straight-line distance from the townsite to other mapped sites in our Colorado index.

• Tin Cup8.0 mi NW · Gunnison
• Abbeyville9.4 mi NW · Gunnison
• Monarch10.9 mi S · Chaffee
• Garfield11.2 mi S · Chaffee
• Pitkin11.3 mi SW · Gunnison
• White Pine11.6 mi S · Gunnison
• Maysville13.5 mi SE · Chaffee
• Buena Vista14.8 mi NE · Chaffee

Sources

Sources and credits

1. ghosttowns.com, "Saint Elmo": fact sheet fields (roads, climate, best time, founding dates).
2. Wikipedia, "Saint Elmo, Colorado", retrieved October 2026: Forest City and the renaming, the mines and claims, the Mountaineer, the railroad, the 1952 post office closing, the 2002 fire and rebuilt town hall, the National Register listing, creek access, coordinates and elevation.
3. Legends of America, "St. Elmo", updated October 2026: 1878 settlement, the 1881 railroad, the 1890 fire, the Alpine Tunnel, the Mary Murphy, the 1930 population, the Stark family, the April 2002 fire and donation.
4. St. Elmo General Store, the store's own site (2026): season, hours, address, phone and what it sells.
5. Chaffee County Visitors Bureau, "Museums and Historical Tours", October 2026: three full-time residents, the schoolhouse dates, the 2009 town hall replica, Iron City.
6. Colorado Tourism Office, "Colorado Ghost Towns", updated September 16, 2026: car access.
7. Ark Valley Voice, December 8, 2023: winter plowing of CR 162, the newest report we found.
8. 4x4explore, "Tincup Pass", driven July 2021: the pass road, its rating and season.
9. Elevation: USGS 3D Elevation Program point query. Routes: OSRM on OpenStreetMap data, October 2026.

Photo and map credits

• Main Street with snow on the peaks, about 2000–2002: Dariusz Kowalczyk, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0
• The store and post office row, July 2008: John S. Hirth, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0
• The general store, lettered Miners Exchange, about 2000–2002: Dariusz Kowalczyk, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0
• The Stark Bros. store and post office front, June 2005: Rolf Blauert, Wikimedia Commons, Public domain
• Panorama of the historic district, September 2014: Lookinhere, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0
• The schoolhouse, 2012: Ronzeidler, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0
• A two-story log house, 2005: Rolf Blauert, Wikimedia Commons, Public domain
• The original town hall and jail, before the 2002 fire: Dariusz Kowalczyk, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0
• The Russell Thorp Building, named on its plaque, July 2008: John S. Hirth, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0
• Main Street storefronts, June 2005: Rolf Blauert, Wikimedia Commons, Public domain
• A dirt street between old buildings, looking toward the mountains, June 2005: Rolf Blauert, Wikimedia Commons, Public domain
• St. Elmo and Iron City on the 1940 USGS Garfield sheet: U.S. Geological Survey, USGS catalog, Public domain
• Topo map, area base map and aerial imagery: USGS The National Map (public domain).
• Historic maps: USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection (public domain): Garfield 1940, 1:62,500; Montrose 1960, 1:250,000.