St. Elmo Town Hall & Jail

Both the Town Hall and jail serve as well-preserved examples of governmental buildings erected in the Colorado mountain mining camp in 1880. The buildings and their furnishings vividly recall their civic and penal functions. Architecturally, the hall with its belfry clearly denotes its vote as center of governmental authority and civic identity, recalling similar buildings in other camps, now vanished or replaced.

Unfortunately the original structure burned along with several other buildings in 19__. The historical society immediately launched a plan to rebuild the building EXACTLY as it was. This was accomplished and the building was reopened in ____.

Every mining town had at least two notable buildings: a saloon and a jail. Many miners spent a night behind bars, recovering from their time in the saloon. The jail had no windows and no mattresses. You can still see the old ankle shakles hanging on the wall. You were not going far in these.

The town center kept records and deeds and housed the sherriffs, which there were a few of. One had to sue to get paid so the job was not a great carreer opportunity. Usually on Monday mornings, the mine foreman showed up to bail a few of his miners out of jail so they could go to work.