A Brief History of Pitkin
Pitkin began as the Quartzville mining camp in early 1879, founded by Frank Curtiss, George P. Chiles and Wayne Scott. It incorporated on August 11 that year and took the name of Colorado governor Frederick W. Pitkin. Mining drew people and new institutions: a school opened in 1880, the Pitkin Independent began publication that July, and telegraph service followed in September. The early boom faded as promising ore veins diminished. A brief silver revival ended with the panic of 1893, while timber work and a fish hatchery later helped sustain the community.