History of Black Hawk, Colorado
Black Hawk, "The City of Mills," is one of Colorado's oldest cities. It is one of a number of towns that grew up in "Gregory's Gulch," the narrow ravine where Georgia prospector John H. Gregory first discovered lode gold in the western part of Kansas Territory in 1859.
Within months, thousands of would-be miners poured into the gulch, hoping for more big strikes like Gregory's. A few found bonanzas, many found paying claims, but the great majority either moved elsewhere to try their luck or, proclaiming the whole "Pike's Peak Gold Rush" a hoax, went back to their settled lives in the States.
Mountain City was the first name given to the ragged string of camp- like settlements, but as the boom subsided and the hard work of extracting the gold began, the remaining
population began to coalesce into more organized town sites. Up the gulch to the west was Nevada, also known as Nevadaville or Bald Mountain. Below it lay Central City, and further down, where the gulch flowed into the North Branch of Clear Creek, was established Black Hawk Pointe. Most accounts insist the name came from an early "stamp" mill brought in from Illinois and named for the famous Indian chief.
Driving water wheels and flowing through sluices with its abundant supply of water, something in short supply elsewhere in the gulch, Black Hawk quickly became the milling center for the gold ore mined throughout what became known as Gilpin County. First by ore wagon, and later by train, tons of precious rock were sent to Black Hawk for various processes designed to extract the maximum amount of gold from the quartz ores.
At first, primitive crushers of Mexican heritage called arrastras were used, much as peasant women used stones to grind grain. But soon these gave way to the stamp mills that were to dominate Black Hawk's industry for a generation. These buildings ran the gold ore through a number of different levels, on which cam-driven hammers pounded the ore into finer and finer particles before it was chemically separated by the use of mercury amalgam.
Black Hawk was incorporated by an act of the territorial legislature on March 11, 1864. The future seemed assured, but trouble lay on the horizon. As the rich surface ores began to play out, deeper hard-rock mines began to yield complex sulfide ores called sulphurets--rocks that prevented the simple stamp mills from recovering but a fraction of the gold locked inside.
Smelting at high temperatures seemed to provide a solution to the recalcitrant sulphurets, but Black Hawk's first smelter, built in 1865 by James E. Lyon and Henry Pullman (of sleeping car fame), proved unsuccessful. Three years later, the Boston & Colorado smelter, operated by a former Brown University chemistry professor named Nathaniel P. Hill, opened and the industry was revitalized. Years later, after Hill had relocated his plant to Denver, a grateful state elected him to the U.S. Senate (following earlier Gilpin County Senators Henry M. Teller and Jerome Chaffee).
Within a few years, the Colorado Central railroad line had reached Black Hawk, making it possible for coal to be shipped to the smelters and mills and supplies to be shipped up to the growing mining towns. The town's skyline also boasted a new school and Presbyterian Church. Fine brick business blocks spread along the gulch from the intersection of Main and Gregory Streets
But the economic boom was an environmental disaster. Noise levels were intolerable, with the roar from crashing stamps mills and screaming steam locomotives echoing from the canyon walls. Human, animal and industrial wastes polluted the creek's waters. The trees had long since been cut down for miles around for timbering mills and powering mine engines, leaving the narrow gulch subject to periodic flooding that eventually raised the level of Gregory Street by a full story in some places. And the toxic fumes produced by the coal dust and the sulfur refining were both dangerous and unsightly. Periodically, a new "strike" would empty the towns of the more restless miners--Leadville and silver in 1880, Cripple Creek gold a dozen years later.
Through it all, the towns continued to grow and prosper. From the outset, many of the miners and mill workers were immigrants, originally from Sweden, England and Ireland. Cornish miners experienced in hard-rock mining arrived in the 1870's, battling with their British brethren until all were united by the threat of Tyrolean miners willing to work for lower wages near the turn of the century.
Beneath them all socially was a small band of Chinese miners organized by Chin Lin Sou. These "Celestials" specialized in placer mining the dumps and tailings piles left behind from previous hard-rock operations and pulling the last few dollars of gold from the previously worthless slag.
After peaking with a population of more than 2,000 in the late 1800's, Black Hawk began to decline in numbers in the early 20th century. A tramway--a tiny railway even smaller than the narrow-gauge Colorado Central (later Colorado & Southern) line that went from Denver to Black Hawk (and, in 1878, was extended to Central City)-- was established in the last years of the century to make it easier and cheaper for the mines in the surrounding hills to get their ore to the mills along Clear Creek. But by World War I, business had declined to the point where it too proved unprofitable and the tracks were dismantled. By that time, the town had just one mill left in operation, and by 1925 the population had fallen to only 200.
A revival of placer miners greeting the rise in the price of gold to $35 an ounce in the 1930's and the re-opening of the Central City Opera House in 1932 sparked a similar increase in tourism. The business district gradually reflected this change with gift shops and restaurants replacing hardware stores and milliners.
Though Black Hawk was spared the devastating fires that destroyed many early mining camps, the very longevity of its structures also contributed to their continuing decay. Floods continued to be a problem, as the town lacked funds to attempt any sort of water or sewer improvements. With cars replacing trains as the primary means of tourist travel, rail transportation was discontinued in 1941. But the new mobility proved a mixed blessing, and more and more local residents began commuting to jobs outside the county, while tourists began to bypass the quaint old mining towns for more distant destinations.
Even the formation of the Central City-Black Hawk National Historic Landmark District could do nothing to stem the tide of decay. Faced with declining population, deteriorating infrastructure and disintegrating architecture, city leaders banded together with their peers in Central City and Cripple Creek to offer an initiative on the 1990 Colorado ballot that would allow limited stakes gambling in the commercial districts of the towns, with much of the proceeds earmarked for historic preservation efforts statewide.
The measure passed overwhelmingly, and speculators began renovating historic structures for use as casinos. Beginning with opening day on October 1, 1991, gaming proved spectacularly successful in attracting new investment to the gulch in amounts unheard of since the gold boom more than a century before.
Moreover, the same easy access and level land that had made Black Hawk suitable for the mills and smelters of the gold rush days now made it attractive for larger casino, hotel, and parking projects. By the fifth year of gambling, Black Hawk was accounting for more than 50% of the total wagering in the three towns, with still larger projects in the works. The unexpected pace and scale of the the development led inevitably to some disillusionment with existing institutions trying hard to cope with the flood of changes.
No one could argue, however, with the influx of fees, tax monies and preservation funds that enabled businesses and homeowners alike to renovate structures suffering from a century of neglect. City government led the way, remodeling the historic church and school on the skyline for office space, building a new fire station just north of the central business district, and finally completely restoring the 1877 City Hall.
Entering yet another century, Black Hawk faces the prospect of trying to sustain and survive yet another boom period. The opportunities and challenges are there for those who will respect its rich heritage while at the same time welcoming its unlimited future with the spirit of adventure that brought forth those ambitious miners and merchants of the 1800's. And if the past is but prologue, Black Hawk's full story, yet to be told, will be a fascinating one indeed.
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Mining Boom
The town is located along the north fork of Clear Creek and Gregory Gulch. In May 1859 the discovery of gold in Gregory Gulch by its namesake, John H. Gregory, brought thousands of prospectors and miners into the area, combing the hills for more gold veins. The Bobtail lode was discovered the following month. Hardrock mining boomed for a few years, but then declined in the mid-1860s as the miners exhausted the shallow parts of the veins that contained free gold, and found that their amalgamation mills could not recover gold from the deeper sulfide ores.
Nathaniel P. Hill built Colorado's first successful ore smelter in Black Hawk in 1868. Hill's smelter could recover gold from the sulfide ores, an achievement that saved hardrock mining in Black Hawk, Central City, and Idaho Springs from ruin. Other smelters were built nearby. Black Hawk's advantageous location on North Clear Creek made it the center of ore processing for the area, and it became known as the City of Mills.
The Colorado Central Railroad extended its line to the town in 1872. A restored depot and locomotive are on display on the east side of downtown. Black Hawk was also serviced by the two-foot gauge Gilpin Tramway which climbed from Black Hawk to the mines above Central City. Many historic buildings in the town have been restored following the opening of the casinos in 1991.
Gambling Boom
The town has been in heated competition for gambling revenue with the nearby town of Central City since casinos opened in both towns in 1991. Development of the area down Clear Creek from the historic Black Hawk townsite lining State Highway 119 has flourished. Gamblers from Denver pass the Blackhawk casinos before they arrive at Central City, and, as a result, Black Hawk has realized much more revenue from gambling than Central City. Gambling in Black Hawk also benefits from less restrictive building codes; while Central City until recently limited building heights to 53 feet to preserve the historic character of the town, Black Hawk has no such limits, and a 33-story Ameristar Hotel & Casino has been built in Black Hawk. In an attempt to close the competitive gap, Central City built the Central City Parkway from I-70 near Idaho Springs as an alternative route, leading guests first to Central City, and then to Black Hawk. The Parkway opened November 19, 2004. However, Black Hawk continues to have three times the number of casinos, and generates more than seven times the gambling revenue that Central City does.
Although the 1990 statewide referendum allowing casino gambling in Black Hawk was promoted as a way to promote historic preservation in Black Hawk, critics have charged that it has had the opposite effect, and that the historic appearance of Black Hawk has been sacrificed to allow construction of the large casinos.
Tax from the gambling revenue provides funding for the State Historical Fund, administered by the Colorado Office of Archaeology and Historic Preservation.
Bicycling ban
As of January 24, 2010, the city of Black Hawk banned bicycle use on most of the streets in the city, with the city manager claiming there isn't enough room on the roads for cars, buses, trucks and bicycles. Bicycle advocacy groups are planning a challenge of the new law. Bicycle legal experts suggest that the Black Hawk law is in violation of Colorado law, and therefore illegal and not enforceable. Area bicyclists use the main road in Black Hawk to connect to the Peak to Peak Scenic Byway route. Opponents of the law have suggested a boycott of the town and its businesses. The ban was prompted by a surge in traffic following the change in maximum casino betting limits from $5 to $100. Black Hawk City Manager Michael Copp said that the city council, which passed the new law, believes it is best for the casinos and their patrons. The penalty for riding a bicycle through Black Hawk is a $68 fine.
History of Gilpin County
OUR HISTORY - FOUNDING AND EARLY YEARS
On May 6, 1859, John H. Gregory located, staked, and pre-empted the first mining claims in what was to become known as the "Richest Square Mile on Earth."
This spot, marked by the Gregory Monument, is near the city limits of Central City and Black Hawk. The area was originally called Gregory's Diggings, but very soon became known as Mountain City.
News of the strike reached Denver by May 17th. First publication of this was in the May 28, 1859 issue of the Rocky Mountain News. As of May 23rd, there were a total of 14 claims in the gulch.
In the June 11, 1859 issue of the Rocky Mountain News the following item appeared:
"When we entered the diggings on the 20th of May, there were about twenty men in that vicinity, only two quartz leads had been opened and but three claims on one of those and two on the other. In two weeks from that time more than 3,000 men were at work, at least thirty leads satisfactorily prospected, and several hundred claims opened and profitably worked."
Living conditions were atrocious. In the Daily Central City Register of December 3, 1874, an article regarding the history of Gilpin County described the area as follows:
"By the first of June 1859, Gregory Gulch from North Clear Creek to the confluence of Eureka, Nevada and Spring Gulches was literally crowded with human beings huddled together in tents, wagons, log cabins, dugouts, houses made of brush, and of every conceivable material that promised shelter."
Other gold deposits were found in surrounding gulches. Quickly, mining camps grew in those areas too. Some of those camps were Springfield, Bortonsburg, Missouri City, Nevada City, Dog Town, Eureka, Russell Gulch, Lake Gulch, Black Hawk Point, Chase's Gulch and Enterprise City.
By the middle of July 1859, between 20,000 and 30,000 people were living in and around Gregory Gulch.
From 1859 through 1866, Central City was the most important town in Colorado Territory. Central City became the county seat when Gilpin County was organized in 1861. The Territorial legislature granted a City Charter to the City of Central in March 1864. This was 12 years before Colorado achieved statehood in 1876.
There are two popular stories about how Central City was named. One story involves William N. Byers, founder of the Rocky Mountain News. In June 1859, he camped where the Golden Rose Inn is now located. He suggested that a town be laid out in that vicinity. Since it was about half way between Nevada City (Nevadaville) and Mountain City he said it should be called "Central City."
Another story is that a miner's supply store was in the same area and the sign over the entrance was "Central City Store." The surrounding area then became known as Central City. One way or another, Central City, the cradle of Colorado, was born. It's official name: The City of Central.
The first newspaper published in the mountains was the Rocky Mountain Gold Reporter and Mountain City Herald. In its first issue, dated August 13, 1859, it contained the following article regarding Mountain City:
"Although not three months old, it contains already some 300 buildings substantially erected, with a population of between 2,800 and 3,000, nearly all of whom are miners. Yet the arts and trades are well represented, we have about 25 stores, 2 jewelry shops, 3 tailor shops, blacksmiths, shoemakers, painters, etc."
On September 29, the first snow fell and most of the miners returned to lower elevations. However, a census taken in late October revealed that nearly 2,300 men were still in the mountain areas of Black Hawk, Central City, Nevadaville, and Russell Gulch.
The December 21, 1859 issue of The Rocky Mountain News estimated:
"From a million and a half to two millions of dollars in dust has been taken out, which has found its way to all parts of the Atlantic States and Territories..."
From the mid-1830s to the 1930s gold's price was fixed by the US government at $20.67 per troy oz. One and one-half to two million dollars worth of gold at that price would weigh between 90,000 and 125,000 ounces.
In February 1860 there was "a report of the discovery of a six pound nugget near Gregory's." The discoverer was offered $16 per ounce for it, but refused to sell.
Also in February 1860, the first steam engine was assembled in Mountain City. It was used to produce shingles and was ready to crush quartz as soon as the mines would begin delivering ore. This engine cost $1,500 when it was purchased at the foundry in Chicago in late 1859. In March 1860, it was sold at Mountain City for $15,000.
February 1860 also saw many miners returning to the mountains. A letter from Mountain City dated February 12, 1860 stated in part:
"The immigration for the past week has been perfectly surprising. Not less than two hundred of last summer's miners have returned and reoccupied their old cabins..."
During the winter of 1859 - 60, many new gold discoveries had been made through out the mountains. When the immigrants began to arrive in the spring of 1860, they spread through the Territory, relieving the pressure on the area around Gregory's Diggings.
On April 25, 1860 the Rocky Mountain News reported the following about the Gold Rush:
"The emigration is coming in at the rate of over one hundred men each day, and constantly increasing."
Just a little over a month later on May 30th, the News reported that emigrants were coming in at the rate of a thousand a day.
In June 1860, The Western Stage Company began running daily stage coaches from Denver to Mountain City. The ride took seven to eight hours. One year earlier it was a three or four day journey.
During the summer of 1860, the population around Gregory's Diggings began to stabilize. Immigrants came and looked, some stayed, but many moved on to other mining districts or returned to the "States" where they had come from.
The 1860 United States census, listed Central City at 598, Mountain City 840 and Nevada City 879. About 5,000 people were in the immediate area, and 34,000 in the mining region.
By August 1860, the easy pickings were over and mining for gold became more difficult. As the depth of the mines increased, extracting gold from the ore became more complex. As little as 1/3 of the assayed amount of the ore was being recovered. This was due to the primitive technology available at that time.
Other problems also contributed to an economic slow-down in the area. Some of these were: the Civil War; Indian attacks on wagon trains crossing the Plains with supplies; and a decrease in the number of people coming to the gold fields.
Nathaniel P. Hill, a Professor at Brown University, began studying the problem of extracting gold from the sulfide ore in 1865. He developed a smelting process that rid the ore of most of its impurities. This process produced a concentrate of copper, gold and silver. The concentrate then had to be separated and refined.
In 1867, Hill began operating the Boston & Colorado Smelting Company in Black Hawk. Mines began shipping ore to the smelter for processing. The concentrate of copper, gold and silver was then shipped to Swansea, Wales (over 7,000 miles away). There the metals were separated and refined.
As a result of this smelting and concentrating process, the district was "booming" again by early 1868. This "boom" resulted in extensive construction in Central City during the summer of 1868.
An article in the Daily Miner's Register of June 16, 1868 noted that:
"No less than eleven brick store houses will be put up on Main street this summer. Hurrah for Central City."
Two of those brick storehouses built in 1868 survived the fire of 1874 and are still standing. They are the north half of the "Roworth Block" on Main street and the "Seavey Block" on Spring Street.
1870 to 1880
The 1870s provided many events of significance to the City of Central. Central was the most important city in the territory. In 1871, the City had 13 blacksmiths, 5 boarding houses, 10 butchers, 1 dentist, 4 drugstores, 12 grocery stores, 18 lawyers, 7 physicians, 11 shoemakers and 5 tailors.
In 1873, the City applied for a government patent, which would give the City title to 578 acres. The following year, the Federal Government issued a patent to the Mayor of Central City. The patent granted surface rights to all land within the city limits.
The Mayor, in turn, issued individual deeds to applicants who were entitled to possession by:
"virtue of the local laws and customs of miners, in said City of Central, the laws of Colorado Territory, and the act of Congress..."
These deeds are called "Mayor's Deeds." The surface rights to most property within Central City can be traced to these deeds.
Before 1873, most buildings were constructed of wood. In January 1873, a fire destroyed sixteen buildings on Lawrence Street, below Raynolds' Court, before it was brought under control.
Finally, aware of the potential danger from fire, the city began to prepare for such occurrences. An 1873 resolution of City Council prohibited any new construction of wood buildings in the business district. However, their efforts were too little and to late.
On May 21, 1874, a fire started in Dostal Alley, behind Main Street. The fire destroyed about 150 buildings in the downtown area.
The fire proof Teller House and Register Block on Eureka Street stopped the fire in that direction. The Continental Fireproof and Raynolds' Court on Lawrence Street blocked the fire to the East. Toward the South, the fire burned as far as the Seavey Building on Spring street. The fire proof Roworth Block was the only building on Main street that survived the fire.
The loss was estimated to be about $500,000. Fire insurance policies paid $114,533 toward the loss.
As a result of the fire's destruction of the business district, the city was able to widen and straighten the streets. The community also planned for a more substantial city than the one that burned.
Rebuilding began immediately. The first brick building (Morse Block) was completed just nine days after the fire.
This rebuilding of the city resulted in the downtown business district that exists today.
1880 to 1900
By 1880, Central City began a period of relative stability that lasted about twenty years.
However, Colorado was also growing and the Little Kingdom of Gilpin was no longer as influential as it had been. For example, in 1876, Gilpin County produced almost one-half of the total mineral production of the State. During the 1880s Gilpin county's share dropped to 1/10th and by the 1890s it was only 1/20th of Colorado's total production.
In 1870, the population of Central City, Black Hawk and Nevadaville was about 4,000 - the same as Denver. Ten years later, the three cities were 1/7th the size of Denver. Central City's population was 2,547 - ninth largest city in the State.
From the early 1880s until the early 1900s Central City was merely a good mining town. Central's "boom" days were over.
The first evidence of Central's decline was in 1881, when the Tabor Grand Opera House opened in Denver. This immediately displaced the Opera House in Central City as the leading show house in the state.
Population shifts were also occurring. Many entrepreneurs and business men were moving their offices and homes from Central City to Denver. Many prominent citizens of Central also began moving to Denver in 1878. The spotlight was shifting from Central City to other parts of Colorado.
1900 TO 1930
In 1900, the population of Central City was 3,114. That of Central City, Black Hawk, and Nevadaville combined was 5,137 and Gilpin County, 6,690.
From the mid 1880s to the beginning of World War I, the relationship between the price of gold and the price of other commodities was favorable to gold. In the early 1900s, gold production began to decline. There were two reasons for this.
First, the mines were getting so deep that it was too expensive to continue mining except under the most favorable conditions. Second, inflation caused the price of other commodities to rise while the value of gold stayed constant at about $20.00 per ounce.
The following, from the Weekly Register-Call of April 30, 1920 illustrates the problem:
"... the man with $2,000 in 1913 found on October 31, 1919 that this income had automatically been reduced in purchasing power to $870 ..."
Inflation during World War I also caused prices to increase drastically. However, the price of gold remained at $20.67 per ounce, the same price that it had been since the 1880s.
By September 1918, it cost $30.00 per ounce to produce gold that could be sold for $20.67 per ounce. By December 1918, gold was worth half of what its value was in 1914.
By 1920, the value of gold had changed to at least a 10 to 1 ratio in favor of other commodities. As a result, most mines in this area suspended operations, and many businesses closed. This caused the population of Central City to drop from 3,114 in 1900 to 553 in 1920.
During the 1910s and 1920s, many frame houses in Central City, Black Hawk and Nevadaville were torn down. The lumber was taken to other parts of the state for construction of new residences.
The following advertisement appeared in The Weekly Register-Call every week from January 1 through May 24, 1918.
"FOR $60.00 CASH The two story frame dwelling house and four lots, on Nevada street, opposite the ball park. Inquire of H. J. Hawley."
Lamenting this condition, the following appeared in The Weekly Register-Call on May 31, 1918.
"Iron junk is passing through this city everyday for the railroad yards in Black Hawk, where the stuff is shipped to Denver. The same can be said of lumber from old houses that have been purchased by wrecking parties of Golden and Denver, in this city and Nevadaville. Mr. Hawley's old house on Nevada street, opposite the ball park is the latest building to be torn down and there are many more in this city to follow."
Other houses were boarded up, their owners hoping for better days ahead. The primary example of "boarding up" this activity is the Thomas - Billings House. All of its contents are still intact to this day.
Many other houses were abandoned to the elements, tax roles, and vandals. This can be seen by the many vacant lots within the city.
1930 TO 1945
During the 1930s there was some recovery in mining due to:
Cheap labor from men who had been put out of work by the depression;
Consolidation of claims and glory hole mining on Quartz Hill which put over 200 men to work. The Glory Hole annually took out more ore than all local companies produced in the boom years of the previous century;
An increase in the price of gold from $20 to $35 per ounce; and
A more favorable relationship between gold and other commodities due to the Depression of the 1930s.
In 1932, the Central City Opera House Association (CCOHA) began producing summer festivals. This activity also stimulated interest in Central City. Many people began buying old residences for summer and week-end retreats. This brought a small economic revival to the area.
At the beginning of World War II the government prohibited commercial mining of gold. This was done in order to direct labor into the war effort. This act sent gold mining into a tail spin from which it has never recovered. The summer opera festival was also suspended during the war years.
1945 to 1990
After the war, some mines occasionally reopened, sputtered for a while, and reminded everyone of Central's former grandeur. Then, like old soldiers, they would fade away.
There are still vast quantities of gold ore beneath the surface of Central and the surrounding area. However, it is not economically feasible, in most cases, to produce it.
Current environmental concerns and constraints, coupled with Government regulatory activities, makes mining an activity that can coexist with a tourism based economy in a very limited way.
After World War II, the summer opera festival was renewed and expanded. It now runs six weeks each summer during July and August.
The Opera Festival, the increased mobility of vacationers and creation of other tourist attractions helped Central City to remain a viable community into the 1980s.
By the mid 1980s, many Centralites recognized that other attractions were diverting tourists from Central City. Major ski resorts began enticing tourists to their areas during the summer and autumn. Economic downturns, and especially the energy bust of the early 1980s also contributed to the decline in tourism.
It was also recognized that the City of Central did not have the tax base to adequately maintain its infrastructure. New sources of revenue had to be found.
Something had to be done to extend the tourist season beyond its traditional Memorial Day to Labor Day time frame.
In 1989, a group of Centralites formed Central City Preservation Incorporated (CCPI) and its political action arm, Preservation Initiative Committee (PIC). They began working toward the legalization of limited gambling as a way of attracting tourists back to Central City.
On November 6, 1990, the voters of Colorado approved amending the State Constitution to legalize limited gambling in the historic mining towns of Central City, Black Hawk and Cripple Creek.
TOMORROW - A NEW GOLD RUSH
As this second edition was being prepared in the winter of 1990, the year-round population of Central was between three and four hundred people. One hundred twenty-five people voted in the election for Mayor and four Aldermen for the City. The 1990 Census indicated a county-wide population of 3,070.
It is expected that the increase in tourists resulting from the approval of limited gambling will create a "boom" as significant as John Gregory's original discovery of gold.
Everyone involved in the day-to-day life of Central realizes there will be many changes, some good and some bad. However, we also believe it will be better to deal with problems of economic recovery and improvement, than it would be to watch Central continue to disintegrate and eventually become a true ghost town.
YESTERDAY AND TODAY
Central City's appearance today is very similar to how it looked over 100 years ago. After the fire of 1874, the business district was constructed to last. Only buildings of brick and stone would be built. There would be no more wooden buildings with their ever-present potential for destruction by fire.
On Eureka Street, from the Court House to Main street, only one building that existed in 1874 is not there today. That was the white wood Presbyterian Church that stood between the Teller House and the Opera House. Even Henry Teller's Law Office, built about 1860, still survives.
On Lawrence Street, from Main street East to Raynolds' Court, most of the existing buildings were erected in the 1870s.
On Main Street, only the buildings on the South side of the Gold Coin were built after 1900. The Roworth Block even survived the fire of 1874, and dates to the 1860s.
As money becomes available for historic preservation activities - from the proceeds of limited gambling - more of Central City's rich heritage of 19th century architecture will be preserved for the enjoyment and enrichment of future generations.
Governor William Gilpin
(October 4, 1813–January 20, 1893)
Was a 19th century U.S. explorer, politician, land speculator, philanthropist, and futurist writer about the American West. He served as military officer in the United States Army during several wars, accompanied John C. Frémont on his second expedition through the West, and was instrumental in the formation of the government of the Oregon Territory. As a politician and writer, he was an inveterate believer in Manifest Destiny and was a visionary booster of new settlement to the West, helping lay the groundwork in his writings for a modern theory of the succession of civilizations. He served as the first governor of the Colorado Territory, where his administration was consumed largely with the defense of the new territory in the early days of the American Civil War and was brought down after only one year by scandalous financial dealings. After the demise of his political career, he made a large fortune as a land speculator in New Mexico. Gilpin County, Colorado is named for him.
Early Life
Gilpin was born near Wilmington, Delaware to a wealthy family of Quakers. He was educated by private tutors and studied abroad in England before attending the University of Pennsylvania, from which he graduated in 1833. He later attended West Point but dropped out after eight months. Despite this, he received a commission as second lieutenant in the United States Army and served in the Seminole Wars. He also served as a recruiter in Missouri. While in Missouri, he became attracted to opportunities on the frontier and to the idea of westward expansion of the nation. After leaving the Army in 1838, he moved to St. Louis where he became a newspaper editor and opened a law practice. After three years in St. Louis, he moved across the state to Independence, where he interacted with emigrants about to embark on the Oregon Trail.
Pacific Northwest
In 1843 he encountered John C. Frémont along the Santa Fe Trail and embarked westward with Frémont on his expedition to find a route over the continental divide. While passing through the region of present-day Colorado, he encountered evidence of placer gold in the region, but the information would go unused for at least another decade. When the party reached Walla Walla in the Oregon County, Gilpin continue westward on his own while Frémont continued on to California. At the time, the Oregon Country was under joint administration by the United States and the United Kingdom, but in practical terms it was controlled by the Hudson's Bay Company at Fort Vancouver. Gilpin settled among the growing community of U.S. settlers in the Willamette Valley and became active in the organization a provisional government. At the landmark convention at Champoeg, he helped draft a petition requesting support for the provisional government from the United States Congress Gilpin himself was charged with carrying the Willamette petition back east. On his way back through Missouri, he helped publicize the Pacific Northwest and stir up "Oregon fever". He delivered the petition to Congress in 1845, then wrote memoirs of his travels in the Pacific Northwest to emphasize its potential for trade and settlement.
The Central Gold Region
During the Mexican-American War, he received a commission as Major and marched to Chihuahua City in the successful bloodless campaign to capture New Mexico. He was considered to have served with distinction in the campaign and was later given command of a volunteer force to protect the Santa Fe Trail against attacks by Native Americans.
After the end of the war in 1848, he returned to Missouri and resumed his law practice. He made an unsuccessful attempt at a political career while in Missouri as well. In 1859, Gilpin's early intuition about gold in Colorado proved correct, and the region suddenly became the target for thousands of eager and hopeful prospectors in the ensuing Colorado Gold Rush. That year, Gilpin published a futurist history of the region, called The Central Gold Region, in which he wrote, "The destiny of the American people is to subdue the continent". In the book he predicted that the Mississippi River valley would become the center of western civilization with the new settlement of Denver as its capital, based partly on its location near the 40th parallel north. In the book, Gilpin envisioned that all the great cities of the world along that latitude would eventually be linked by railroad lines, and proposed a rail line over the Bering Strait connecting North America and Asia. Throughout his career in politics, Gilpin was a strong believer that the American West would not only be settled, but that it would eventually hold an enormous population. He was a particularly strong advocate of the now-debunked climatological theory of "Rain follows the plow", which held that settlement in the arid lands of the West would actually increase rainfall in the region, making it as fertile and green as the Eastern United States.
Governor of Colorado
In the early 1860s the crisis in Kansas prompted Gilpin to join the Republican Party, putting him at odds with many citizens of Missouri. His political alignment with the new administration of U.S. President Abraham Lincoln was rewarded in 1861 when Lincoln appointed him governor of the newly-formed Territory of Colorado. His selection was motivated in part by the fact the Gilpin was backed by the Governor of Missouri, a slave state that Lincoln was eager to keep in the Union.
American Civil War
Gilpin left Missouri and arrived in Colorado in May 1861 to cheering crowds. Despite his warm reception, his administration and governor was plagued with difficulties from the outset. The territory had been organized at the start of the Civil War and faced a complex set of possible threats, including Confederate sympathizers within the territory, the possibility of a Confederate invasion from outside the territory, and the looming tensions with Native Americans (in particular the Arapaho and Cheyenne) in the wake of the withdraw of U.S. Army troops in the region for other duties.
The imminent threats facing the territory prompted Gilpin to act quickly without receiving authorization from the federal government. He appointed a territorial military staff and, despite having no funds for military purposes, he began to solicit volunteers for a military regiment. Without funds, he took the daring step of issuing $375,000 in drafts on the federal treasury, with the expectation that the federal government would honor them later. He later claimed that he had received verbal authorization from Lincoln before leaving for Colorado.
At first, most of the merchants and citizens of the territory were willing to follow Gilpin's campaign, but doubt began to spread through the territory after rumors from Washington, DC confirmed that the federal government did not intend to validate the drafts. By the summer of 1861, many of the citizens of the territory were in an uproar, a petitions were circulated calling for Gilpin's removal from office. The campaign against him was fostered by the anger of William N. Byers, the powerful editor of the Rocky Mountain News, whose newspaper had been bypassed in favor of rival in the awarding of the territorial printing contract. Under attack in his own state, Gilpin went to Washington to plead his case for the validation of the drafts. Despite the controversy, the funds already raised from the drafts allowed the creation of the 1st Colorado Volunteers. The regiment trained in the summer and fall of 1861 at Camp Weld near Denver.
The mustering and training of the regiment proved to be highly useful when the Confederates launched an invasion northward through the New Mexico Territory in the spring of 1862. The invasion (now called the New Mexico Campaign to reflect its abortive nature) had as its aim the seizure of the mineral-rich Colorado Territory and eventually California. The volunteer regiment raised by Gilpin's efforts played a critical role in the campaign, routing the Texans at the Battle of Glorieta Pass, which became known as the "Gettysburg of the West".
Despite the enormous success of the regiment, the territory was mired in financial problems caused by the fact that Gilpin's drafts had tied up most of the circulating currency without any resolution regarding their validation. Eventually the federal treasury settled the drafts after being presented with itemized statements by the holders of the drafts. The resolution came too late for Gilpin, however, who was removed from the governorship of the territory by Lincoln in April 1862 and replaced by John Evans.
St. Joseph Hospital, Denver, Colorado Real Estate Donation Governor William Gilpin and his wife Julia, a devout Catholic donated the land for the current site at the corner of Humboldt Street and 18th Avenue, for a $40,000.00, 80-bed hospital.
Governor William Gilpin passed away on January 20, 1893 from injuries sustained from a carriage accident in Denver, Colorado.