| Holy Cross City | |
| Settlement Type: | Ghost town |
| Pushpin Map: | USA Colorado |
| Pushpin Map Caption: | Location within the state of Colorado |
| Subdivision Type: | Country |
| Subdivision Name: | United States |
| Subdivision Type1: | State |
| Subdivision Name1: | Colorado |
| Subdivision Type2: | County |
| Unit Pref: | Imperial |
| Population As Of: | 2010 |
| Population Total: | 0 |
| Population Density Km2: | auto |
| Timezone: | Mountain (MST) |
| Utc Offset: | -7 |
| Timezone Dst: | MDT |
| Utc Offset Dst: | -6 |
| Elevation Ft: | 11428 |
| Coordinates: | 39.415°N -106.4781°W |
| Postal Code Type: | ZIP codes |
| Postal Code: | 81645[1] |
| Blank Name: | FIPS code |
| Blank1 Name: | GNIS feature ID |
| Blank1 Info: | 179537[2] |
Holy Cross City (also known as Holy Cross) is an extinct town located in Eagle County, Colorado, United States. Holy Cross City got its name from Mount of the Holy Cross, located nearby. The Holy Cross post office operated from January 23, 1882, until February 8, 1899, and from December 7, 1904, until August 7, 1905.[3] Presently, the former townsite is located along Holy Cross City Trail within Holy Cross Wilderness, part of White River National Forest.[4] The Mount of the Holy Cross is not visible from the townsite.[5]
Discovery of valuable deposits of lead, manganese, and trace amounts of gold made the Holy Cross Mining District a densely mined region in the 1880s.[6] The town was populated between 1880 and 1884, with a peak population of 300, though the mines ceased being profitable in 1883. A brief repopulation of the town occurred in the 1890s as the mines were worked for a short time.[5]
At its peak, the city contained a post office, boarding houses, a hotel, as well as other amenities. Only small remnants of the town remain, with four scattered cabins comprising the largest standing structures as of 2017.
The trail–constructed in 1883–remains accessible, but by road is difficult to reach by car due to rocky conditions. The trail is rocky, provides vistas of the Mount of the Holy Cross, and terminates at two lakes.[7]