- Placerville, Colorado
Infobox Settlement
official_name = Placerville, Colorado
other_name =
native_name =
nickname =
settlement_type =Town
motto =
imagesize =
image_caption =
flag_size =
image_
seal_size =
image_shield =
shield_size =
image_blank_emblem =
blank_emblem_type =
blank_emblem_size =
mapsize =
map_caption =
mapsize1 =
map_caption1 =
image_dot_
dot_mapsize =
dot_map_caption =
dot_x = |dot_y =
pushpin_
pushpin_label_position = none
pushpin_map_caption = Location in San Miguel County and the state ofColorado
pushpin_mapsize =
subdivision_type = Country
subdivision_name = USA
subdivision_type1 = State
subdivision_name1 = flag|Colorado
subdivision_type2 = County
subdivision_name2 = San MiguelGR|3
subdivision_type3 =
subdivision_name3 =
subdivision_type4 =
subdivision_name4 =
government_footnotes =
government_type =
leader_title =
leader_name =
leader_title1 =
leader_name1 =
leader_title2 =
leader_name2 =
leader_title3 =
leader_name3 =
leader_title4 =
leader_name4 =
established_title =
established_date =
established_title2 =
established_date2 =
established_title3 =
established_date3 =
area_magnitude =
unit_pref =
area_footnotes =
area_total_km2 =
area_land_km2 =
area_water_km2 =
area_total_sq_mi =
area_land_sq_mi =
area_water_sq_mi =
area_water_percent =
area_urban_km2 =
area_urban_sq_mi =
area_metro_km2 =
area_metro_sq_mi =
area_blank1_title =
area_blank1_km2 =
area_blank1_sq_mi =
population_as_of =
population_footnotes =
population_note =
population_total =
population_density_km2 =
population_density_sq_mi =
population_metro =
population_density_metro_km2 =
population_density_metro_sq_mi =
population_urban =
population_density_urban_km2 =
population_density_urban_sq_mi =
population_blank1_title =
population_blank1 =
population_density_blank1_km2 =
population_density_blank1_sq_mi =
timezone = MST
utc_offset = -7
timezone_DST = MDT
utc_offset_DST = -6
latd= 38
latm= 01
lats= 00
latNS=N
longd= 108
longm= 03
longs= 14
longEW=W
elevation_footnotes = GR|3
elevation_m = 2230
elevation_ft =
postal_code_type =ZIP code
postal_code = 81430
area_code = 970
blank_name = GNIS feature ID
blank_info = [http://geonames.usgs.gov/pls/gnispublic/f?p=gnispq:3:::NO::P3_FID:0204743 0204743]
blank1_name =
blank1_info =
website =
footnotes =Placerville is an unincorporated town and a U.S. Post Office located in San Miguel County,
Colorado ,United States . The Placerville Post Office has theZIP Code 81430.cite web | date =January 2 2007 | url = http://zip4.usps.com/zip4/citytown.jsp | title = ZIP Code Lookup| format =JavaScript /HTML | publisher = United States Postal Service | accessmonthday = January 2 | accessyear = 2007]History
Placerville was originally established as a small mining camp, named after the
placer gold mines located on theSan Miguel River andLeopard Creek . The location became known as Old Placerville after theRio Grande Southern Railroad constructed a depot and several passing sidings west of the original settlement, calling it Placerville.A. B. Frenzel discovered
vanadium -bearing sandstone near Placerville in the late 1890s. The ore was in strataform bodies in theEntrada Sandstone (Jurassic ) east of the town. The principal mineral wasroscoelite , with minormontroseite andcarnotite . By the fall of 1899, development was described as "of the most superficial character," although Frenzel had driven one tunnel 18 feet into the rock. [F. L. Ransome, "Occurrence of the uranium and vanadium ores", American Journal of Science, Aug 1900, v.10, n.56, p.121-127.] By 1901-1902, Frenzel was excavating several thousand tons intended for shipment toEurope . [Harry E. Lee (1903) "Report of the Colorado State Bureau of Mines for the Years 1901-1902", p.201.] Most of the Placerville ore was less than 3% vanadium, too low grade to pay for shipment to Europe, so in 1905 the Vanadium Alloys Co. built an ore-processing mill southeast of Placerville to recover the metal as ferro-vanadium, which it sold. [Frank L. Hess (1913) "Notes on the vanadium deposits near Placerville, Colorado", in "Contributions to Economic Geology, 1911", US Geological Survey, Bulletin 530, p.142-156.] At least five mines were active at one time, and by 1919 the two ore mills at Placerville were producing 30% of the world's vanadium. [William L. Chenowith (1980) "Uranium in Colorado", in "Colorado Geology", Denver:Rocky Mountain Association of Geologists , p.217.] Through 1940, the mines produced about 3.7 million pounds of vanadium. [R.P. Fischer and others (1947) "Vanadium deposits near Placerville, San Miguel County, Colorado", Colorado Scientific Society Proceedings, v.15 n.3, p.120.] Althoughcarnotite was recognized as a minor constituent of the ore since its discovery, the amount was small, and no assays were made of the uranium content of the ore until World War II. [A.L. Bush and others (1959) "Areal geology of the Placerville Quadrangle, San Miguel County, Colorado", US Geological Survey, Bulletin 1072-E, p.373.] Beginning about 1950, the small uranium content of the ore was also recovered from the ore. [R.P. Fischer (1968) "Vanadium deposits of the Placerville area, San Miguel County, Colorado", in "San Juan-San Miguel-La Plata Region, New Mexico and Colorado", New Mexico Geological Society, p.100-103.]Geography
Placerville is located at coor dms|38|01|00|N|108|03|14|W|city (38.016722,-108.053799).
ee also
*
List of cities and towns in Colorado
*San Juan Mountains
*San Juan Skyway National Scenic Byway References
External links
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.