An excerpt from Guide to the Colorado Ghost Towns and Mining Camps, by Perry Eberhart

First some background, Perry’s sons, Dan and Pete, used to accompany him as he traversed the state of Colorado doing research for his books. Exemplifying many of their destinations were bare remnants of what once had been, or were envisioned to be boom towns.  Custer City is a good example of a town that boomed and busted until very little remained of its existence.  The town was located to the east of Westcliffe in south-central Colorado.  The photograph (circa ~ 1957) shows Dan on top of a block of marble, with Pete wandering away.

CUSTER CITY

Custer City was a modern city….although it had but a short life. In fact, one might say Custer City had but one big day.

That day was June 11, 1902.

It was long after (the towns of) Rosita and Querida got their start that the Maverick and Toledo (mines) were opened up and showed pretty good promise. It coincided with the time New England millionaires Col. Albert A. Poke, who made his money in bicycles, and envelope-maker G. Henry Whitcomb were casting about for some western enterprise in which to invest their money.  They decided upon the Maverick and the Toledo.

Col. Poke and Whitcomb could teach those Madison Avenue boys a thing or two. They gave Custer City and opening day any public relations firm would be proud of.

The ceremonies got off to a rousing start with a short speech by Governor James B. Orman, and an equally short speech by Lt. Gov. Alva Adams. The marble statue of General George A. Custer was unveiled as the general’s widow looked on.

Then the festivities started for real. Beer kegs were opened.  The athletic events, including baseball, horseracing and drilling contests, got underway.

But the most exciting part of the ceremonies was the actual erection of the town itself. The houses and building were built elsewhere, primarily in Pueblo, in sections and shipped to Custer City to be put together on the spot—the first pre-fabricated houses in Colorado.

One newspaper said hundreds of houses and buildings were built in this manner. But other newspapers were probably more correct when they said some 40 buildings went up.  The buildings included a depot (that was never used), hotel, newspaper office, and bank.  And, as one newspaper added as an afterthought, “neither have the saloons, churches and schools been overlooked.”

By nightfall all the buildings were up and occupied, the first issue of the Custer City Guidon was on the streets, and the grand ball was underway.  Here, on what was a bare hill that morning, stood a modern city.  Plans were being made to run the local railroad up the hill to make Custer City a shipping point for the “rich” mines around.

The sewage and waterworks were built. Electricity was installed.  But the railroad never went up the hill.  Custer City’s other big dreams were never realized.