Development of the Theme or Area of Significance In the late 19th century, a trend developed in Colorado of small local smelters being built within Colorado towns and cities in response to the success of smelters bringing the gold industry back to life after the decline of the initial gold rush. 8 Boyd Smelter/Mill Site was constructed and operated during this period, which corresponds with this trend, and which included development of the railroad system within Boulder. Smelters were key in treating various ores on a local level during this period. Associated Property Types Similar smelter sites in the western United States have been listed in National Register of Historic Places. The Ohio-Colorado Smelting and Refining Company Smokestack in Salida is the only smelting site listed in the National Register of Historic Places in Colorado. 9 Some listed sites consist of only smelter remnants, e.g., the Grand Encampment Mining Region: Boston Wyoming Smelter Site in Carbon, Wyoming. The integrity of many sites varies with the former being a visual landmark located just outside the periphery of the city to the latter that has become a refuse dump, largely devoid of its original visual character. 10 A multiple property resource nomination for “The Mining Industry in Colorado” was proposed in 2008, which outlines the requirements for mining property types and their eligibility for the national register. The nomination includes smelters as a property type and outlines the types of structures or archeological materials that must be extant to qualify for listing in the national register. These include extant building foundations or extant features associated with areas of non-extant building, e.g., blowers, furnaces, or coal bins. 11 Physical Characteristics and Integrity Boyd Smelter/Mill Site remains in its original location and retains above-grade features, including remnants of stone water line pylons, a concrete dam and headgate, and an earthen berm. Numerous extant small-scale features indicative of industry practices remain. They include steel elements on the banks of Boulder Creek and a boulder with iron rings drilled into it. Although many extant structures were covered by fill material in the 1960s, portions were unearthed in 2017 confirming these features remain in their original locations. The development of downtown Boulder and the removal of most of the smelting equipment has changed the setting but the extant features on site continue to illustrate the extent of a larger industrial complex. Relationship to the National Register Criteria The Colorado Historical Society, State Historic Preservation Office reviewed the Cultural Resource Inventory Form for the site in 1998 and determined the site to be eligible for the State and National Registers, meeting Criterion A and D. 12
8 James E. Fell, “The Mining Industry in Colorado,” National Register of Historic Places Multiple Property Documentation Form (Washington, DC: U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service, 2008), 209-210. 9 “Ores to Metals – The Rocky Mountain Smelting Industry,” Western Mining History Online, accessed February 24, 2021, https://westernmininghistory. com/655/ores-to-metals-the-rocky-mountain-smelting-industry/. 10 Mark Junge, “Grand Encampment Mining Region: The Boston-Wyoming Smelter Site,” National Register of Historic Places Nomination Form (Washington, DC: U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service, 1973), 3. 11 Fell, "The Mining Industry," 207. 12 "Public Hearing," 6-7.
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Boyd Smelter/Mill Site
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