Carbonate, Colorado
The Town of Carbonate is a ghost town located in Garfield County, Colorado, United States. In 2014, property owners voted to reactivate the town government despite having no year-round residents since 1890. This ghost town is the smallest town in America—with a population of zero. How can that be? The historic mining site features only a handful of old cabins on a beautiful stretch of countryside in the mountains near Glenwood Springs and the White River National Forest. History. Carbonate was founded as a silver camp in 1879. The Town of Carbonate incorporated on April 13 , 1883. The Carbonate post office opened and Carbonate became the original Garfield county seat later that year. But Carbonate's location high in the Flat Tops mountains made access difficult. After a few months, the Garfield county seat was moved to Glenwood Hot Springs. As the silver played out, miners departed. The Carbonate post office closed in 1886, and by the 1890 United States Census, no residents remained. On November 4, 2014, Carbonate property owners voted 9 to 0 to reactivate the town's government in hopes of future development. The town has summer visitors but no permanent residents, making  it the only active incorporated municipality in Colorado with no permanent population. Geography. Carbonate is located at (39.7430376,-107.3467219), at an elevation of in the Flat Tops mountains, north of Glenwood Springs. At the 2020 United States Census, the town had a total area of including of water. Demographics. Carbonate has been continuously uninhabited since the 1890 United States Census.