Audio Excerpt

To the south you miiiiiiiiiiiight be able to see the Dillon Reservoir, which actually flooded the town of Dillon.  Kind of like the lost city of Atlantis right! Well, residents of Dillion did got some notice and managed to move the town to where it is now, on the North shore of the reservoir.  The town actually had to relocate THREE times between 1883 and 1961. Now I don’t know about you, but I HATE moving my home, let alone a whole town!!

 

Well, to be fair, Dillon was primarily a stage stop and trading post, so when the railroad extended into the area, it made sense for it to relocate closer to the rail lines. The third move on the other hand came about because the residents fell behind on their taxes!  The Denver Water Board swooped in to acquire the land for the water reservoir and in 1956 residents were told they had until 1961 to vacate...

 

The good news is that the board did set aside a 172-acre site for the new Town of Dillon. Everyone just had to move… again. And, well, many of them chose not to, instead moving to neighboring towns with the hope of never ever ever, ever… ever... having to move again...

 

Despite those who left, some residents, businesses, and structures did make the move to the new townsite though, including one business that still exists today.  Which one do you think it is? Is it,

 

A - The Old Dillon Cemetery, B - The Old Dillon Five & Dime or C - The Old Dillon Gold Trade Company?

 

If you guessed The Old Dillon Cemetery, you’re…. DEAD right!! Most historians agree however that they didn’t just want to move, they were…. dying….. to! Awkward pause….

 

No?? Not even a chuckle?? Hmmmmph… fine…. Well it’s true, 327 graves were relocated to a new 39-acre cemetery in New Dillon. After all the moves were said and done, the town shrank down to 57 residents — plus the 327 deceased ones, of course. Yikes… kind of bad when there’s more dead people in your town than living ones right!  Insert sound clip of a zombie or ghost 

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