St. Elmo, once known as Forest City, was settled by miners in the 1870s to fill the need for labor in the local mines. Residents of the town were employed by the hundreds, as they extracted millions of dollars worth of gold and silver. The town grew to its heights after the Alpine Tunnel west was completed, at the time the most expensive and highest altitude rail line ever constructed. The Alpine Tunnel west led directly to St. Elmo and allowed the town to reach around 2,000 residents in 1881….
