More than 100 years old the
Hardtack Mine tunnel was made by the employees of the Hidden Treasure
Mine Co. It was supposed to be an underground transport tunnel for the
Hidden Treasure's ore production located more than a quarter mile up the
mountain. Mining accidents along with dwindling financial woes halted
the work in 1907 and the connection was never completed.
Treasure City or Treasureville as it was
to become known was a collection of shacks and buildings in and around the
Hidden Treasure and Hardtack Mines. A bustling little community from the
1890's until 1930, the mine produced more than a million and a half dollars in
silver ore. The present location had a mill, mine offices, a bank, boarding
houses, and a commissary. One mile up the road at the Ute - Ulay Lake City
Mines was a one room schoolhouse for the miners children.
With the decline of metal ore
production, especially silver in the 1930's the curtailment and existence of
the Hidden Treasure Mine and Treasureville was inevitable. Another part of the
Hinsdale County Galena Mining District was gone.
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