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William Green Russell, whose South Platte River strike launched the Colorado rush, soon moved on to more profitable diggings. He uncovered a rich lode in June 1859, and by September, men were at work in Russell Gulch, producing $35,000 a week. The miners of Russell Gulch formed one of the first major northern Colorado water projects, the Consolidated Ditch Company (1859). Once a town of around 600 residents, it is largely in ruins today, with perhaps a dozen year-round residents. Some fifty homes remain, as do a three-story brick schoolhouse (c. 1890) and a fine, blond brick Odd Fellows Hall (1895), which dominates the main street.