| Early Saturday morning drive into the
mountains. |
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| And through some too. There are lots of
ski areas along this stretch of road, like Vail and Breckenridge.
They are less busy in the summer months. |
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| So I was on my way to another ghost
town when I saw that there was an old historic town nearby. |
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| This is Central City, elevation 8,498
ft. |
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| Central City was known as the "Richest
Square Mile on Earth". Between 1859 and 1942, nearby mines produced
4.2 million ounces of gold in addition to silver, lead and uranium. |
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| Through historic preservation efforts,
Central City looks a lot like it did a century and a half ago. |
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| I always seem to be able to find an old
Odd Fellows lodge. This one is now a sweet shop. |
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| There were a few plaques on a building
telling some history of the town. Among some famous residents were
John B. Stetson, the hat guy, George Pullman, the railroad car guy,
and other people I have never heard of. |
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| Earlier we saw the warehouse for the
Hawley Merchandise Company. Just down the road is the Sauer-McShane
Mercantile Company warehouse. Must be the warehouse district. |
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| It seems that most of the
attraction of the town now is casinos, of which there are many. The
money from gambling has helped preserve the historic buildings. |
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| This Masonic temple was the cradle of
Masonry in the Rocky Mountains. |
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| The Central City Opera is the
fifth-oldest professional opera company in the country. After the
Opera House's opening in 1878, early performers such as Edwin Booth
(John Wilkes Booth's brother), Buffalo Bill, Oscar Wilde and Madame
Fanny Janauschek, whoever she was, graced the stage. Later
performers included Helen Hayes, Shirley Booth (TV's Hazel), Don
Ameche, Walter Huston, Beverly Sills, Gig Young, George Goebels,
Hugh O'Brian and Mae West. |
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| The first telephone in Central City was
installed here on September 24, 1879 in the rear of the building. It
connected to telephones in Blackhawk, Golden and Denver. It must
have been a big deal. They put up a plaque about it. |
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| Preservation of historic buildings is
so important. It helps us understand the past. Besides, modern
architecture generally sucks ass. |
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| Another great old building now housing
a casino. |
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| The Ignatz Meyer Building. There was a
plaque on the front of it explaining a bit about it, but it's not
that interesting. |
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| Just a mile or so west of Central City
is Nevadaville, the ghost town I intended to see, |
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| Nevadaville had its own Masonic temple,
which is still used to this day. |
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| City Hall looks like a small house. |
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| Ruins of some stone buildings I assume. |
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| The population of Nevadaville in 1880
was over a thousand residents. It dropped off quite a bit after the
turn of the 20th century. |
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| That happens mining towns when the
mines run out or if economic conditions change. |
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