The Central City/Black Hawk Historic District (formerly just the Central City Historic District) is a

National Historic Landmark District National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, c ...

that encompasses the developed areas of

Central City In urban planning, a core city, principal city metropolitan core, or central city, is the largest or most important city or cities of a metropolitan area. A core city is surrounded by smaller satellite cities, towns, and suburbs. A central city ...

and Black Hawk, Colorado. They are adjacent former

gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile me ...

mining Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the Earth, usually from an ore body, lode, vein, seam, reef, or placer deposit. The exploitation of these deposits for raw material is based on the economic ...

camps in the

Front Range The Front Range is a mountain range of the Southern Rocky Mountains of North America located in the central portion of the U.S. State of Colorado, and southeastern portion of the U.S. State of Wyoming. It is the first mountain range encountered ...

of the

Rocky Mountains The Rocky Mountains, also known as the Rockies, are a major mountain range and the largest mountain system in North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch in straight-line distance from the northernmost part of western Canada, to New Mexico ...

Gilpin County Gilpin County is a county located in the U.S. state of Colorado, smallest in land area behind only the City and County of Broomfield. As of the 2020 census, the population was 5,808. The county seat is Central City. The county was formed in 18 ...

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 The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

. For a time, the area was known as the ''Richest Square Mile on Earth'',History of Central City
and was the largest urban area of the

Colorado Territory The Territory of Colorado was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from February 28, 1861, until August 1, 1876, when it was admitted to the Union as the State of Colorado. The territory was organized in the ...

in the 1870s. The district was designated a

National Historic Landmark A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the United States government for its outstanding historical significance. Only some 2,500 (~3%) of over 90,000 places listed ...

on July 4, 1961, for its well-preserved early mining community architecture and history.

History

On May 5, 1859, John H. Gregory discovered a rich deposit of gold in hard rock, the first such discovery in the Rocky Mountain region. Thousands of miners flooded into Gregory Gulch in the next few months in the

Pike's Peak Gold Rush The Pike's Peak Gold Rush (later known as the Colorado Gold Rush) was the boom in gold prospecting and mining in the Pike's Peak Country of western Kansas Territory and southwestern Nebraska Territory of the United States that began in July 1858 ...

. Several mining camps were thrown up near the Gregory Lode, and these camps eventually coalesced into Central City and Black Hawk. The area around the Gregory Lode quickly came to be known as the ''Richest Square Mile on Earth''. By the time the

Territory of Colorado The Territory of Colorado was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from February 28, 1861, until August 1, 1876, when it was admitted to the Union as the State of Colorado. The territory was organized in the ...

was formed on February 28, 1861, Central City was already the largest city in the entire territory, though Denver was made the state capital. The Central City/Black Hawk area was a basically continuous arc of mining camps and urban development, with a population of more than 3,000 at its height in 1870. Development extended all the way up to Nevadaville, now a

ghost town Ghost Town(s) or Ghosttown may refer to: * Ghost town, a town that has been abandoned Film and television * ''Ghost Town'' (1936 film), an American Western film by Harry L. Fraser * ''Ghost Town'' (1956 film), an American Western film by All ...

within the Central City limits. Although the area was settled on the basis of placer mining claims, these played out quickly, and underground mining came to dominate. Between 1859 and 1893, Gilpin County produced more gold than any other area in the American West. The mines were largely played out by the end of the 19th century, and the population of the area crashed in the years before

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, during which mining was completely suspended. The area's population has never returned to the level of its heyday. In the 1990s, casinos were developed in both Central City and Black Hawk, and they have seen a resurgence in attention and funds as a result.

District boundaries

Central City's built-up area was designated a

in 1961 (as the Central City Historic District), and was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1966. In the 1990s, the district was renamed and expanded, to include the built-up parts of Black Hawk, the ghost town of Nevadaville, and the cemetery area of Central City, located up Eureka Gulch from downtown Central City. The landmarked area, covering more than , excludes much of the former mining infrastructure visible in the hills above the communities.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Central City Black Hawk Historic District Black Hawk, Colorado Central City, Colorado Geography of Gilpin County, Colorado National Historic Landmarks in Colorado National Historic Landmark Districts Buildings and structures in Gilpin County, Colorado Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Colorado National Register of Historic Places in Gilpin County, Colorado

History

District boundaries

See also

References