Some mining camps get preserved, but most just fade away, or turn into a collection of cabins.
But in New Mexico, they've come up with a new use for a mining company town -- a training ground for the new U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
The town is Playas in the southwestern part of the state. It was built by Phelps-Dodge (which now owns Climax) to house workers at a copper smelter.
The smelter closed in 1999, and the company put the town up for sale with an asking price of $3.2 million. The price included 259 houses, six apartment buildings, and two churches, along with a bank, gas station, post office, and the like.
Homeland Security will use Playas as a training ground for Marines who need practice in urban warfare, as well as for simulations of pipeline bombings, chemical attacks, and similar terrorist possibilities.
So there is a use for old mining (or smelting) camps, although we have to confess that it's just fine with us that they're using one in New Mexico, rather than Colorado.