DSCN5094
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. 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 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 within the Central City limits.
DSCN5094
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. 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 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 within the Central City limits.