A brief history of 5 iconic Colorado mining towns
Colorado was built on gold and silver, as showcased by towns all around the state more than a century after the mines went silent. The prospector spirits are particularly felt at a few destinations:
Breckenridge
Among the ski shops and designer names, Breckenridge still maintains its mining heritage. Just look at the Pollock House, Chinese Laundry house or Iowa Hill boarding house — symbols of former life here. People rushed after gold was found in 1859. In 1887, a 13 1/2-pound nugget was unearthed, considered the largest of its kind in Colorado. Up from town, Boreas Pass offers a scenic glimpse into what was a perilous railroading era.
Creede
The town in southwest Colorado is named for Nicholas Creede, who struck silver in 1889 in East Willow Creek Canyon. A tent city popped up around him, and another wave came with word of him selling his mine for $70,000. The Denver and Rio Grande Railroad further spurred what became known as Colorado’s last silver boom town. Now you can drive through East Willow Creek Canyon on the Bachelor Loop, a dive into the past. Dive deeper at Last Chance Mine.
Cripple Creek
It’s been called the scene of Colorado’s last and greatest gold rush. “Pikes Peak or bust” was the phrase of the day, written across wagons that braved the plains en route to the fields where Bob Womack filed a claim in 1890. Millionaires such as Winfield Scott Stratton would be made, and a city to the east would rise to world renown: Colorado Springs. Like prospectors before, visitors today still test their luck in Cripple Creek — only now at the town’s casinos.
Idaho Springs
On Interstate 70, you know exactly where you are when you see the shafts and old mine headquarters preserved on the hillsides. Ragged travelers knew where they were too, after 1859. The gold rush started that year upon George Andrew Jackson’s discovery along the banks of Clear Creek. It was the start of Colorado’s gold rush as a whole, the local historic society maintains, pointing to what’s considered the first organization of a mining district.
Leadville
Before Creede, silver was the craze of Leadville. The town had several other names — including Cloud City for its place above 10,000 feet — but Horace Tabor declared it Leadville in 1878 for another rich resource in the area: lead ore. Tabor became one of Colorado’s mightiest mine kings before the silver bust of 1893. Afterward, Leadville enjoyed another brief boom from gold, and later molybdenum kept the town afloat.
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A mining complex north of Creede.
The historic Main Street in Creede comes to life on a summer morning. The brick buildings replaced the original wooden structures that burned down June 5, 1892, in a fire that destroyed much of the business district.