# Preston, Colorado

> Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Preston%2C_Colorado
> Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Preston%2C_Colorado.md
> Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Preston%2C_Colorado
> Source revision: 1350718315
> License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/)

{{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](/source/ghost_town)
|nickname                 = 
|motto                    =

<!-- Images -->
|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               =

<!-- Maps -->
|pushpin_map              = USA Colorado
|pushpin_label_position   = <!-- the position of the pushpin label: left, right, top, bottom, none -->
|pushpin_map_caption      = Location within the state of Colorado
|pushpin_mapsize          = 
|image_map                = 
|map_caption              = Location within Summit county

<!-- Location -->
|subdivision_type         = Country
|subdivision_name         = United States
|subdivision_type1        = [State](/source/U.S._state)
|subdivision_name1        = [Colorado](/source/Colorado)
|subdivision_type2        = [County](/source/List_of_counties_in_Colorado)
|subdivision_name2        = [Summit](/source/Summit_County%2C_Colorado) 
|government_footnotes     = 
|government_type          = 
|leader_title             = <!-- Mayor -->
|leader_name              = 
|leader_title1            = 
|leader_name1             = 
|established_title        = 
|established_date         =

<!-- Area -->
|unit_pref                = Imperial
|area_footnotes           = 
|area_magnitude           = 
|area_total_km2           = 
|area_land_km2            = 
|area_water_km2           =

<!-- Population -->
|population_as_of         = [2010](/source/2010_United_States_census)
|population_footnotes     = 
|population_total         = 0
|population_density_km2   = auto

<!-- General information -->
|timezone                 = [Mountain (MST)](/source/Mountain_Time_Zone)
|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}}

<!-- Area/postal codes & others -->
|postal_code_type         = [ZIP Code](/source/ZIP_Code)s
|postal_code              = 80424<ref>{{cite web|url=https://colorado.hometownlocator.com/maps/feature-map,ftc,3,fid,203917,n,preston.cfm|title=Preston (historical) in Summit County CO|publisher=CO HomeTownLocator|access-date=10 March 2020}}</ref>
|area_code                =  
|blank_name               = [FIPS code](/source/Federal_Information_Processing_Standard)
|blank_info               = 
|blank1_name              = [GNIS](/source/Geographic_Names_Information_System) feature ID
|blank1_info              = 203917<ref name="gnis">{{cite gnis|id=203917 |name=Preston, Colorado|date=1 March 1995|accessdate=10 March 2020}}</ref>
|website                  = 
|footnotes                = 
}}
'''Preston''' is a [ghost town](/source/ghost_town) in [Summit County](/source/Summit_County%2C_Colorado), Colorado. It is located east of modern [Breckenridge](/source/Breckenridge%2C_Colorado), between Jessie [mine](/source/Mining) 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](/source/United_States_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 [minecart](/source/minecart)s, several mounds of [tailings](/source/tailings), and a few largely collapsed wooden structures. The remaining Preston town structures are scattered along a short stretch of road.<ref name="gnis"/> The Jessie mine is located roughly {{convert|444|ft|m}} below Preston and is connected by the road.<ref name=Trekker>{{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}}</ref> 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](/source/Montezuma%2C_Colorado) several miles to the northeast.<ref>{{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}}</ref>

In the summer, the town is accessible by bike, car, and foot. In the winter can be reached by [cross-country skis](/source/cross-country_skiing), [snowshoes](/source/snowshoeing), and [fatbike](/source/fatbike). There are several meadows that provide views of Breckenridge, [Frisco](/source/Frisco%2C_Colorado), and the [Dillon Reservoir](/source/Dillon_Reservoir). The residential area was part of a connected series of populated mining sites that also included the Prospect Complex to the northeast.<ref>{{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}}</ref> A sign for visitors to the Preston townsite displays historic photographs and information, as does a similar sign at the Jessie mine.<ref name=Trekker/>

==History==
thumb|Abandoned cabin in Preston during the winter.|left
The town existed by at least 1875, when the first [post office](/source/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.<ref name=Herald>{{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}}</ref><ref>{{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}}</ref>

In 1893–1894, the Jessie mine was constructed to extract [gold](/source/gold), [silver](/source/silver), [zinc](/source/zinc), and [lead](/source/lead).<ref name=Trekker/><ref>{{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}}</ref> At its peak, the town was home to roughly 150 miners and their families, as well as a [millinery](/source/millinery) and boarding house. It was depopulated completely by the late 1930s.<ref name=Trekker/><ref name=Herald/>

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{Summit County, Colorado}}

Category:Ghost towns in Colorado
Category:Former populated places in Summit County, Colorado

---
Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Preston, Colorado](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Preston%2C_Colorado) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Preston%2C_Colorado?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.