Howardsville
Unincorporated community
The Pride of the West Mill in Howardsville in 2018
Howardsville Location within the state of Colorado Show map of Colorado Howardsville Location within the United States Show map of the United States
Coordinates: 37°50′08″N 107°35′39″W / 37.8356°N 107.5942°W / 37.8356; -107.5942 (Howardsville)
Country	United States
State	Colorado
County	San Juan
Elevation	9,748 ft (2,971 m)
Time zone	UTC-7 (Mountain (MST))
• Summer (DST)	UTC-6 (MDT)
GNIS feature ID	187646[1]

Howardsville is an unincorporated community in San Juan County, Colorado, United States,^[1] along the Animas River at the mouth of Cunningham Creek. Its elevation is 9,748 feet (2,971 m).^[1] It is located about two miles from the town of Silverton and 8 miles from the famous ghost town of Animas Forks, and is on the same road as the ghost towns of Middleton and Eureka.

History

Established and laid out by the Bullion City Company as Bullion City in 1874, it was renamed either for Lieutenant Howard, a once-prominent local figure, or for George Howard, who once had a cabin in the area. Howardsville was the original La Plata County seat from its creation on February 10, 1874, until the creation of San Juan County on January 31, 1876. The Howardsville post office operated from June 24, 1874, until October 31, 1939.^[2] The Silverton Northern Railroad laid tracks to reach Howardsville in 1896, with an extension getting built from Howardsville into Cunningham Gulch to reach the Old Hundred Mine, along with the Green Mountain Mine, in 1905. The town would be sustained for the remainder of its life by the Pride Of The West Mill and the Little Nation Tram House & Mill, among other mines & mills. The town effectively died in 1939 when its post office shut down, and the Silverton Northern Railroad tracks would get torn up in 1942.^[3][4]