When I was in 2nd or 3rd grade in the early 80's I lived in Hartville, just a short hike down the hill from Sunrise. I went to Guernsey Elementary My teacher was Mrs. Gamble who had a son named Cody who was in my same class. As well as a friend who also lived in small trailer court at the edge of Hartville, his name was Michael Graham. One day me and Michael decided to take a hike up to town and maybe see the old mines and do some exploring. We hiked up the road to find that the mine had been completely fenced over, at this point there was no way to get into the mine or see what was in it. So we ventured further into the town the growth around buildings was pretty high and looked like it hadn't been maintained in years. As we went up one street closest to the hill and the entrance to the town we spotted a 2 story house and we set up to the front door to see what we could see. Upon stepping onto the front porch it was a sound looking house with hardly any signs of wear or tear, however it was boarded up from the outside. Together we decided to see if there was a back entrance, and as we moved counter clockwise around the house from the front, we discovered something insanely strange. There in the back yard was treasure trove of kids toys strewn around the back corner of the house. The back door entered into the kitchen, but it too was boarded up from the outside. However, there was one window on the back side of the house that was broken off of the house, the window was broken out from the inside. The window entered into a basement, and Michael dared me to go in. I had the reputation of being daring at the time so doing my best to not be scared i hopped in the window down to the floor while he waited for me at the window... It was pretty dark as we didn't think to bring a flashlight or anything like that also considering it was the middle of the day. There was however enough lights coming through the boarded up windows to make upstairs a bit more lit up than the basement. From jumping down, to my right beneath the upstairs kitchen was what i would have considered to be laundry area with those old washbasins for rinsing and washing clothes by hand. The Stairs going up were in the middle of the basement and came up to close where the front door is. I stepped towards the stairs and nearly tripped over a Hot Wheels toy car that was just on the concrete floor. I picked it up and went and sat on the bottom stair so that i could use the light to see it better. It was in nearly new condition. Michael watched as I set it on the floor and pushed it away from the stairs. Just a few feet it traveled before it stopped completely did a 180 degree turn and came back towards me. Michael screamed and I ran straight up the stairs... as I reached the first floor I could hear footsteps clapping up the stairs behind me, while Michael was still outside screaming "GET OUT OF THERE!" I found no way to get out of the house on the first floor, as everything was boarded up. I noticed more toys and clothes that were just strewn around the first floor, I ran up the stairs to the top floor, not even thinking just looking for a way out. At the top floor there was what I would have thought was a kids bedroom, it was covered in toys and clothing, seriously messy. It was well boarded up and not much light actually got into that room, the master bedroom connected to the bathroom at the top of the stairs. I went into the bathroom and as i looked towards the bath, the bathroom door towards the hallway slammed shut behind me. I ran into the master bedroom through the other door and it slammed shut as well. At this time Michael is in the middle of the back yard still screaming for me to get out of there. At this time I realized the only way i was gonna get out was the same way I got in. Down the first set of stairs I sailed and I could hear footfalls trailing down the stairs behind me, continuing all the way to the basement. I ran straight for the window and jumped up and Michael grabbed my hand helping me up and out. I screamed run and we Ran up and over the hill back to Hartville as fast as we could only stopping once we were over the hill. I don't remember talking about it anymore after the incident, but we never went back up there again. Now that I am older I wish I could re-explore what I had found, But from what i have been able to find about the site is that those houses are gone now. I would be interested in hearing if any of the archeologists working there had discovered toys from 70's to 80's in any of their digs.
I was able to meet George and show him some of my finds, he was a passionate man with a wealth of knowledge and a lifetime dedication to past humans. He can not and will not ever be replaced
We should move National capital there. And bring in fema trailers if they lack housing. Its Centralized geographically. And try to maintain its historical aesthetics. PS. My great grandfather and his brother lived there. GGF worked the railroad for 20yrs an his brother was a builder. Granny went west in depression
I was about 13 or 14, my Mom took me there to look around. I don’t remember why. I’m from Pueblo born and raised. I don’t know if I had a relative that worked at Sunrise. If I remember right it was around 1993. Things were overgrown from what I remember.
The Sunrise Mine was the principal source of iron used at the Colorado Fuel and Iron plant in Pueblo, Colorado, from 1899 until 1980. I wonder if there was a connection in that regard. Yes, the previous owner had let Sunrise get overgrown and run down. John has been working hard to clean it up and restore it. He recently donated the YMCA to Sunrise Historic and Prehistoric Preservation Society (SHAPPS), which is a non-profit 501c3 organization. John also donated the past, present, and future archeological finds which will be displayed at the YMCA (now a museum).
Definition of Ghost Town by Merriam-Webster: "A once-flourishing town wholly or nearly deserted usually as a result of the exhaustion of some natural resource." Sunrise meets all those criteria. John Voight, the owner, is the only official resident of Sunrise.
This ballad was made popular in the 60's by Joe Heany ..I know I had to learn it in the 60's..Nicely sung..although I think the first line goes..."come all you loyal heroes"....also there's a great line in the song which says. .."you're sitting by the fireside with your duideen in your gob"...meaning "a clay pipe in you mouth"..