Leavick - Hilltop Mine materials ropeway

Abstract

Slide showing the aerial tramway that ran between the Leavick mill and the Hilltop Mine. The Hilltop Mine near the top of Mount Sheridan was discovered in 1886 and sold to Felix Leavick in 1892. The mill was built in 1892 to process silver ores from the Hilltop and Last Chance mines. A 13,000 ft. long aerial tram was constructed to transport ore from Hilltop Mine to the mill. The collapse of the silver market in 1893 resulted in the closing of the mines and the mill. They reopened in 1895, and the following year the Denver, South Park and Hilltop Railroad built a twelve-mile long narrow gauge line from Hill Top Junction a mile south of Fairplay to the mill, improving transportation of the ores to the smelters. It was not until 1896 that the community that had grown up around the mill was officially named Leavick. At the peak of its boom, Leavick had a population of about 1,000 people. After 1899, Hilltop Mine and the other mines in the area were operated only sporadically.