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Capitol City is an extinct silver mining town located in Hinsdale County,
Capitol City was founded in 1877 by George Lee and was originally named Galena City. At its peak, the city boasted around 800 citizens and its founders wished it had become the capital of Colorado. In order to try and garner interest, Lee would later change the name to Capitol City as he had also dreamed of becoming the state's governor. Today only the
State of Colorado
History Colorado
{{authority control 1877 establishments in Colorado Former populated places in Hinsdale County, Colorado Geography of Hinsdale County, Colorado Ghost towns in Colorado History of Colorado Mining communities in Colorado Populated places established in 1877
Colorado
Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the wes ...
, United States. Founded as Galena City in 1877, the townsite is located on the Alpine Loop National Scenic Back Country Byway at at an elevation of . The Capitol City post office operated from May 18, 1877, until October 30, 1920.
History
Capitol City was founded in 1877 by George Lee and was originally named Galena City. At its peak, the city boasted around 800 citizens and its founders wished it had become the capital of Colorado. In order to try and garner interest, Lee would later change the name to Capitol City as he had also dreamed of becoming the state's governor. Today only the post office
A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letters and parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post offices may offer additional ser ...
, a structure called "Lee's Smelter Stack", some rubble buildings, and a few brick kiln
A kiln is a thermally insulated chamber, a type of oven, that produces temperatures sufficient to complete some process, such as hardening, drying, or chemical changes. Kilns have been used for millennia to turn objects made from clay int ...
s remain. There are private homes and private land surrounding the site.
Lee built a beautiful home here with brick hauled from Pueblo at $1 per brick. It reportedly had a generous living room, theater with an orchestral pit and a few guest ballrooms. In addition to his house, he built the Henson Creek smelter and sawmill. The original 200-acre town site had everything needed, including a few hotels, restaurants, bars, a post office, schoolhouse, cabins, a sawmill and mining smelters. The richest year was in 1877, when the town boasted a population of 800. When the cost of silver dropped, so did the residents. Lawsuits and difficult transportation also sped up the town's downfall.
Geography
The city is located on Engineer Pass, a part of the Alpine 4×4 Loop, a national scenic byway. The town can be accessed via Lake City, which is situated 9 mi (14.5 km) to the East on CO-20. The site can be easily accessed by 2WD automobiles between June and November.See also
*Bibliography of Colorado
The location of the State of Colorado in the United States of America
This is a bibliography of the U.S. State of Colorado.
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*Sibley, George. ''Water Wranglers - The 75- ...
*Geography of Colorado
The geography of the U.S. State of Colorado is diverse, encompassing both rugged mountainous terrain, vast plains, desert lands, desert canyons, and mesas. Colorado is a landlocked U.S. state. In 1861, the United States Congress defined the ...
*History of Colorado
The region that is today the U.S. State of Colorado has been inhabited by Native Americans and their Paleoamerican ancestors for at least 13,500 years and possibly more than 37,000 years. The eastern edge of the Rocky Mountains was a major ...
*Index of Colorado-related articles
This is an alphabetical list of articles related to the U.S. State of Colorado.
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* .co.us – Internet second-level domain for the State of Colorado
* 4 Corners
** 4 Corners Monument
* 6th Principal Meridian
* 10-mile Range
* 10th ...
*List of Colorado-related lists
The following lists include links to lists related to the U.S. State of Colorado.
# Colorado-related lists by topic
# Alphabetical list of Colorado-related lists
Colorado-related lists by topic General lists
*Bibliography of Colorado
*Index of ...
**List of ghost towns in Colorado
This is a list of some ghost towns in the U.S. State of Colorado. Colorado has over 1,500 ghost towns, although visible remains of only about 640 still exist. Due to incomplete records and legends that are now accepted as fact, no exhaustive l ...
**List of post offices in Colorado
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References
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* Outline of Colorado
References
External links
State of Colorado
History Colorado
{{authority control 1877 establishments in Colorado Former populated places in Hinsdale County, Colorado Geography of Hinsdale County, Colorado Ghost towns in Colorado History of Colorado Mining communities in Colorado Populated places established in 1877