Fur traders invaded the Ute Indian Crystal Valley in the 1840s.  During the 1850s, prospectors began searching for gold and other precious minerals.  In 1873 the Hayden Survey Party arrived in the Crystal Valley.  This survey party named most of the mountains in and around the Crystal Valley.  Most of the mountains still bear those given names, such as Treasury, Treasure, White House, Mineral Point, and Snowmass.

The Ute Indians were forced from the Crystal Valley in 1879 and eventually moved to reservations in Utah. Prospectors began populating Gunnison, Crested Butte, Gothic, Schofield and, finally Crystal.These prospectors discovered ore in beautiful quartz crystal formations.  These quartz formations provided the town with the name of Crystal.

Soon the town site of Crystal was established on approximately 157 acres.  The lots were mainly 25 feet X100 feet.  On August 24, 1881 the town was incorporated.  Some of the businesses and buildings were: The two-story Crystal Town Hall, Blacksmith Shop, General Store & Rooming House, Livery, Schoolhouse, Post Office, and Barber Shop.The highest recorded population of Crystal was 600.  This population included boarding housesand mining camps on the outskirts of Crystal. 

One of the most famous and respected pioneers of Crystal was Albert A. Johnson.Albert moved from Canada to Crystal and he was an experienced and graceful skier.  He owned a sawmill, several mining claims and operated the General Store.  Later, the Crystal Post Office openedin the General Store.  A.A. Johnson became the first post master and delivered mail from Crystal to Crested Butte.  Since a newspaper was in great demand, Albert bought a printing press and became the editor of the “Crystal River Current” newspaper. It wasfirst published on October 2, 1886.

During the winter, Albert and his brother, Fred, took turns delivering mail from Crystal to Crested Butte through the dangerous Crystal Canyon.  Notorious avalanches were always a danger, and skiing up a 27% grade was extremely difficult.  In 1886,he organized and competed in four racesin Gunnison, Crested Butte, Irwin, and Gothic.

During the 1880s, the miners had been using star drill bits and sledge hammers to make holes fordynamite charges.  In 1892, a power house (now called the Old Mill) was built.  This structure used water from the Crystal River to turn a turbine.  This turbine turned the wheel of a giant air compressor.  The air was used to operate air drills in mines and also to operate the stamping mill, which was built to the right of the power house. 

The three major tunnels in the Crystal area were the Crystal Mountain Tunnel, the Bear Mountain Tunnel, and the Sheep Mountain Tunnel.  None of these ventures operated with a profit.  There were about 100 mines in the Crystal valley.  Some of the more profitable mines were: the Black Queen, Lead King, Whopper, Inez, Catalpa, and Eureka.  In 1893, President Cleveland oversaw the repeal of the Sherman Act.  This caused the price of silver to fall, which led to the closing of the silver mines in Crystal.  Although some of the lead mines lingered on, by 1920, Crystal became a ghost town.