By Helen Serras-Herman - 7/14/2023










Central City – From Mining Boom Town to Casino Haven!

By Helen Serras-Herman

Beautiful historic Victorian-era buildings, museums, casinos and shops, line- up the Central City streets.

Central City is a mid 19th century Old West gold mining town turned into a casino haven in the early 1990’s. Visitors are now promised to strike gold in dark casino rooms rather than in them thar hills! The town is located a mere 35 miles west of Denver, Colorado, at 8,498 feet elevation. Beautiful historic Victorian-era buildings line up the Central City streets; some are museums, while many are converted into casinos and shops.

The scenic “Oh-My-God-Road” passes by the old Glory Hole Mine.

When my husband and I first visited the area in the mid 1990s, we drove on the “Oh-My-God-Road”, the 7.6 miles mostly unpaved road that connects Idaho Springs and Central City. The scenic but often dangerous road with turns and switchbacks, offers great views, and passes several closed gold mines with lots of cabin remnants and mining equipment. Today, reaching Central City is an easy drive from metropolitan Denver via the new 8.4-mile Parkway from Interstate 70.

Central City is a mid-19th century Old West gold mining town.

The town’s current 779 residents in Gilpin County populate the historic mining settlement founded in 1859 during the Pike’s Peak Gold Rush. Central City became known as the “Richest Square Mile on Earth” along with the adjacent city of Black Hawk; together they form the Central City/Black Hawk Historic District.

Sad remnants of closed gold mines and shafts, cabin remnants, and mining equipment along the “Oh-My-God-Road”.

The surrounding area is brimming with remnants of gold mines, some historic and closed, while others still operate by offering guided tours and panning gold experiences to visitors. Tailing piles, crumbling mine portals, and dilapidated cabins stand sad witnesses of a great era. At its peak, over 10,000 miners prospected the area’s gulches and streams for placer gold.

 

Over 10,000 miners prospected Central City’s gulches and streams for placer gold. Mine tailing piles still visible in the hills.


The Gold Discovery

The gold rush in this area started with the discovery of a gold vein by John H. Gregory of Georgia on May 6, 1859, known as the Gregory Lode, or Gregory Diggings. A bronze plaque placed at Black Hawk in 1932 by the State Historical Society of Colorado reminds visitors of this major gold discovery date in 1859. The plaque states that “the district produced over 85,000.000 in gold” (Colorado Gold, by Stephen M. Voynick, 1992). Several other veins were discovered soon thereafter and the mines prospered. But, as the gold veins were being exhausted, mining decreased by 1920. A short revival during the 1930s took place taking advantage of the higher price of gold (from $20 to $35 an ounce), but WWII brought it to a halt as gold mining was deemed nonessential to the war effort.

Rich gold ore specimen from the Phoenix Mine in Idaho Springs, 12 miles south of Central City, is representative pyritic gold ore from this area.


Gilpin History Museum

The Gilpin History Museum is operated by the Gilpin Historical Society. The museum is located at 228 East First High Street in Central City. It is housed in the 1869 school building. The Gilpin Historical Society took ownership and opened the museum in 1971. Wonderful displays include a recreated Main Street, the Mining Room, the Mountain Submarine, and the Gilpin County: Mining Camp to Home.

The Gilpin Historical Society offers various tours, including the Central City Opera House and the Teller House tour, depending on the Opera’s schedule. All tours begin at Washington Hall, at 117 Eureka Street, Tuesdays through Fridays 10am to 4pm. For details visit www.gilpinhistory.org  


The Central City Opera House

The Central City Opera House is a National Historic Landmark, built in 1878 by Welsh and Cornish miners. After the mines played out the Opera House fell in disrepair, until it was revived and restored in 1932, launching a summer festival tradition which continues to this day. In 1956 it staged the American classic The Ballad of Baby Doe, and in 1978 The Face of the Barroom Floor.

Take a wonderful tour of the historic Teller House and Opera House with the Gilpin Historical Society.

 

The Teller House and the haunting “Face”

The Teller House is a historic hotel built in 1872. It operated as a casino from 1991 until 2000, later opened and closed again. Currently serves as a restaurant only when the Opera House has an event.

This infamous painting of a woman’s face on the Teller House bar’s wooden floor is known as the “Face on the Barroom Floor”.

At the Teller House bar there is an infamous painting of a woman’s face on the wooden floor, known as the “Face on the Barroom Floor”. The mural was created in 1936 by local artist Herndon Davis supposedly on a whim, depicting his wife Edna Juanita (Cotter) Davis. Davis (1901-1962) was an American artist who had also worked as a newspaper illustrator, and created paintings and murals. He moved to Denver in 1936 and created a series of paintings for the Central City Opera House and the Teller House. According to one version of the story he was told to quit the painting project at the Opera House, and decided to “leave” something behind on the floor — a similar floor as the one referenced in the poem “The Face on the Barroom Floor” by the French born poet Hugh Antoine D’Arcy. The poem later became the basis for movies, and the painting inspired the one-act chamber opera The Face of the Barroom Floor created in 1978 by Henry Mollicone (1946-1922) for the Central City Opera.

I loved the exhibit with the two-seat fancy couch of Elizabeth Court Tabor better known as Baby Doe.

I also loved the exhibit with the two-seat fancy couch for Elizabeth Court Tabor better known as Baby Doe. She was the second wife of mining millionaire Horace Tabor and owner of the Matchless Mine in Leadville.

 

The Hidee Gold Mine

For an authentic gold mine visit head to the Hidee Gold Mine located in Russell Gulch near the Glory Hole area, considered to be the heart of the “richest square mile on earth”. This 1896 mine produced high quality pyritic gold ore with values as high as 7.90 ounces of gold and 14.60 ounces of per ton. The mine was originally accessed by a shaft on top of the ridge, but in the 1980’s mine owner Charles “Choppo” Fetterhoff created a walk-in adit to give educational tours.

The Hidee Mine owners offer visitors a guided underground tour of their original 1896 mine.

Photo courtesy Hidee Mine

The mine owners today offer visitors a guided underground tour. It is an easy walking tour, 600-feet deep straight into the mountain in a dry, flat tunnel, where guides explain the mining methods and tools. Tour lasts approximately one hour. They even invite visitors to try their hand at hard rock mining by using a hammer and chisel to carve out a gold ore specimen from the main ore vein. Closed-toe shoes are required and a light jacket recommended. Gold panning is also offered. Visit www.hideegoldmine.com or call at 720.548.0343

For more information about Central City, please visit the Central City Visitor Center at 103 Eureka Street, online at www.centralcity.colorado.gov/visitors2, or call at 303.582.3345. I am very thankful to Ms. Suzanne for the updated information she shared with me.

 Helen Serras-Herman, a 2003 National Lapidary Hall of Fame inductee, is an acclaimed gem sculptor and gemologist with 40 years of experience in unique gem sculpture and jewelry art. See her work at www.gemartcenter.com and her business Facebook page at Gem Art Center/Helen Serras-Herman

Cover photo: This welcome sign to the Historic Colorado Mining Country just outside Central City shares the area’s rich mining history.

All photos by Andrew Herman and Helen Serras-Herman, unless otherwise noted.