The Crystal Mill (Old Mill) or historically known as the Sheep Mountain Mill, is one of the most beautiful, picturesque and reputed to be the most photographed area in Colorado state. It’s located above the Crystal River in Crystal, Colorado, between the towns of Glenwood Springs and Aspen on Highway 82, seven miles southeast of Marble. Crystal Mill was never a working mill, it turns out, but rather a powerhouse. Built in 1892, the “Sheep Mountain Power House” contained a turbine that was driven by the powerful waters of the Crystal River below. It powered pneumatic tools and provided air ventilation to nearby mines. When the Sheep Mountain mine closed up in 1917, the mill was abandoned. Sixty-eight years later, Colorado decreed the mill a landmark, and it was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1985.
