SETTLED
1882
ELEVATION
10,722 Feet
ABANDONED
Unknown
“Mining is the art of exploiting mineral deposits at a profit. An unprofitable mine is fit only for the sepulcher of a dead mule.”
Much like Adelaide Park, Bandora is another one of those small mining camps which never amounted to much and about which not much is known. Frustratingly, I can find virtually no information on its history, which is not uncommon when a site never grows beyond the mining camp stage.
Apparently decent paying ore was found along South Mineral Creek in 1882 and at some point after that, Bandora was settled to house the miners. It seems the camp never really amounted to much, although the mines were worked off and on into the early- to mid-1940s. According to Perry Eberhart's Guide to the Colorado Ghost towns and Mining Camps, in 1940, the Blanco Mining Company bought most of the claims in the area and was working them to some degree.
Today, the only buildings that remain are those of the Bandora Mine. There is also a standing structure and a foundation at the far end of the site.