The New York and San Juan Smelter

Photograph of the smelter around 1892 by Gonner & Leeka. Catalog Number: 91.34.2.14

William Jackson Palmer, president of the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad and one of his partners, Dr. William Bell recognized there were other financial opportunities for their railroad in Durango, specifically in ore reduction or smelting.
Smelting is the process of separating precious metals like gold, silver, and copper from the rock or ore taken out of a mine.
In 1880, they organized the New York Mining and Smelting Company and hired John Porter from the Silverton Smelting Works to build a smelter in Durango.
The building was ready for operation by 1881 when the first locomotives pulled into town. Durango had abundant coal and coke to run the smelter and a nearby source of limestone (near Rockwood) for flux.
When the D&RG reached Silverton in 1882, the cost of hauling a ton of crude ore dropped to $12 making it more cost effective to process medium-grade ores in the new smelter.
The smelter, like the railroad, was a major employer in Durango for many years.