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Newhouse Tunnel and Argo Mill

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1893–1910. 2350 Riverside Dr. (NR)
  • (Carol M. Highsmith Archive, Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress)
  • (Carol M. Highsmith Archive, Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division)

Conceived by Samuel Newhouse (1853–1930), a New York entrepreneur, this $5 million tunnel served many mines and intersected numerous veins of ore with a 21,968-foot bore that ended in Eureka Gulch, just west of Central City in Gilpin County. The tunnel is 8 feet tall and wide and without shoring, as it is carved from solid rock. Two seven-ton Westinghouse electric locomotives moved three-ton ore cars until a serious accident closed the tunnel for good in 1943.

The Argo Mill at the Idaho Springs mouth of the Newhouse Tunnel opened in 1913. The seven-story, steel-frame mill with corrugated metal covering is terraced up the mountain-side along Clear Creek and surrounded by tailing dumps. It is open to tourists, as is the nearby Edgar Mine of the Colorado School of Mines.

Writing Credits

Author: 
Thomas J. Noel

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