Hahns Peak is Routt County's oldest permanent town and was the county seat for 35 years. It was named for German immigrant, Joseph Hahn who spelled his name Henn but pronounced it Hahn, and the misspelling has been perpetrated in the name of both mountain and town. Hahn came to Colorado in 1860 prospecting first around Georgetown, then in Middle and North Parks, and finally finding traces of gold while working the headwaters of Willow Creek in the fall of 1862. The Civil War delayed his return to the area until 1865 when he was accompanied by Captain George Way and William A. Doyle. The trio returned in 1866 with a party of 50 to 60 men who, due to a late start, did not arrive until August. By the first of October the miners had left for the East Slope and only Hahn, Way and Doyle remained at the peak. Captain Way was selected to go for the winter supplies necessary to maintain the camp, and the tragic events that followed dimmed any hopes of a major gold rush to northwestern Colorado. Taking all the gold in the camp in order to purchase supplies, Captain Way never returned. Hahn and Doyle survived on wild game until April 22, 1867 when they abandoned the peak on snow shoes. Doyle was rescued, snow blind and near death, by three men wintering near the present site of Kremmling. Hahn collapsed and died on the banks of Muddy Creek in Middle Park on April 30, 1867 but was not found until November 1867, when he was buried. The grave site, marked by a broken snowshoe, which has long since vanished, remains unknown.

In 1868 an early explorer, Bibleback Brown stumbled upon the remains of Hahn's camp and while drunk in Wyoming confided his discovery to Bill Slater. During the spring of 1870 Brown and Slater began sluicing operations on Willow Creek at the base of Hahns Peak and by the end of the year other miners were working placer claims in the area. A second mining district, the Hans Peak Mining District, was formed. The first major operation to employ miners was launched in 1875 on "String Ridge" at the head of Ways Gulch by Chicago entrepreneur John V. Farwell and his partner B. G. Jacobs. Robert McIntosh built a 27 mile ditch from the north fork of the Elk River to the mining site at a cost of $160,000 per mile. Neither the ditch nor the Continental Mining Company paid off and Farwell sold out to a banker in Rawlins who financed and resold the operation to Robert McIntosh.

International Camp, the first gold camp in Routt County, was established by Farwell to house his miners, who called it Bug Town because of the "big bugs" - Farwell and his wealthy eastern friends who were frequent visitors. International Camp was also called National City and had a boarding house. Saloons, dancing and gambling were prohibited. The first post office in the newly created county opened at International Camp in 1877. A bar was the term used to describe an area of placer mining: Arizona Bar, Ways Bar, Poverty Bar, etc. Poverty Flats, the village, became the town of Hahns Peak.

The total yield from the Hahns Peak area is estimated at little more than $500,000 to $600,000 despite the excitement caused by placers, mines and sprouting new camps.The three major mining operations at Hahns Peak were Poverty Bar Placer Mine, Royal Flush Mine and Tom Thumb.

By 1912 when Steamboat Springs was named the county seat, after a bitter struggle, Hahns Peak was dying. Placer mining was not producing significant amounts of gold. There was no "mother lode" and transportation over mountain roads was poor and with snow, impassable. Hahns Peak never became a true ghost town though and some cabins at the original townsite have been maintained, primarily for summer use.

Special Places
Hahns Peak Cemetery
Hahns Peak Schoolhouse
Judges' House
Larson House
Mahler Cabin
Nate Hall House
Neuman Bishop House
Sandhoffer Houses
Wither Cabin

Source: The Historical Guide to Routt County, copyright 1979 by The Tread of Pioneers Museum.