Leadville, Colorado "Leadville"
For book by Edward Platt, see Leadville (book).
City of Leadville, Colorado Downtown Leadville Downtown Leadville Location in Lake County and the State of Colorado Location in Lake County and the State of Colorado Crystalline gold specimen from the Little Johnny Mine, Breece Hill, Leadville quarrying precinct Leadville is the statutory town/city that is the governmental center of county and only incorporated municipality in Lake County, Colorado, United States. The town/city population was 2,602 at the 2010 United States Census.
Situated at an altitude of 10,152 feet (3,094 m), Leadville is the highest incorporated town/city and the second highest incorporated municipality in the United States.
A former silver quarrying town that lies near the headwaters of the Arkansas River in the heart of the Rocky Mountains, the Leadville Historic District contains many historic structures and sites from its dynamic quarrying era.
In the late 19th century, Leadville was the second most crowded city in Colorado, after Denver.
1.2 Founding of Leadville 1.4 Leadville's colorful past The Leadville region was first settled in 1859 when placer gold was identified in California Gulch amid the Pikes Peak Gold Rush. By 1860, a town, Oro City ("oro" is the Spanish word for gold) had sprung up and a year later its populace had reached more than 5,000.
Prospectors traced the cerussite to its source, present day Leadville, and by 1876 had identified a several silver-lead lode deposits. Horace Tabor, who became known as the "Leadville Silver King" and his wife Augusta were among the first prospectors to arrive in Oro City.
Leadville was established in 1877 by mine owners Horace Tabor and August Meyer at the start of the Colorado Silver Boom.
The first miners lived in a rough tented camp near the silver deposits in California Gulch. Initially the settlement was called Slabtown but when the inhabitants petitioned for a postal service the name Leadville was chosen.
In early 1878, Meyer, Harrison, Tabor established a postal service in Leadville, with Henderson as postmaster.
Ben Wood who appeared in Leadville in 1878, opened the first legitimate theatre,Wood's Opera House with a thousand seats.
Horace Tabor's Opera House was the most costly structure in Colorado at the time.
Tabor, one of the wealthiest men in Colorado, lost his fortune when the repeal of the Sherman Silver Purchase Act caused the Panic of 1893.
She returned to Leadville with her daughters, Silver Dollar and Lily, where she spent the rest of her life believing Tabor's prediction.
By 1880, three years after the town was founded, Leadville was one of the world's biggest and richest silver camps, with a populace of more than 15,000.
Hall, "The outpouring of the precious metal from Leadville transformed the struggling Centennial State into a veritable autocrat in the colony of states.
A bitter strike by Leadville's difficult modern miners in 1896 97 led to bloodshed, at least five deaths, and the burning of the Coronado Mine. Taxes paid by the mine provided Leadville with good schools, libraries, and provided employment for many residents.
When the market dropped in 1981, Leadville's economy suffered and many citizens lost their jobs.
Leadville's colorful past As the populace boomed, by 1878 Leadville had the reputation as one of the most lawless suburbs in the West.
Using strong-arm and lawless tactics, amid his two stints as marshal Duggan brought order to Leadville by 1880 when he stepped down.
He was shot and killed in 1889 by an unknown assailant, most likely an enemy he had made when he was a Leadville marshal.
Historian Robert Dearment writes: "Mart Duggan was a quick-shooting, hard-drinking, brawling tough Irish man, but he was exactly the kind of man a tough, hard-drinking, quick-shooting camp like Leadville needed in its earliest days.
Alice Ivers, better known as Poker Alice, was a card player and dealer of the Old West who learned her trade in Leadville.
When she was a teenager her family moved to Leadville when the silver boom drew hundreds of new inhabitants to the area.
At the age of twenty she married a quarrying engineer who, like many of the men at that time, incessanted the various gambling halls in Leadville.
Eventually Alice left Leadville to travel the gambling circuit, as was common of the male gamblers of that time.
Texas Jack Omohundro, Confederate scout, cowboy and stage actor with "Buffalo Bill" Cody's travelling revue, died of pneumonia a month before his 34th birthday in summer 1880 in Leadville where he was living on a small estate with his wife, ballerina Giuseppina Morlacchi.
Corral, outlaw Doc Holliday moved to Leadville.
Margaret "Molly" Brown, who became known as "The Unsinkable Molly Brown", moved to Leadville when she was 15.
June Mathis, a pioneer screenwriter and first female executive for the MGM film studio, credited for discovering matinee idol Rudolph Valentino, was born in Leadville.
Oscar Wilde's visit to Leadville excited a great deal of interest and curiosity.
Leadville in the 1950s The town's altitude and rugged terrain contributes to a number of challenging racing affairs, such as the Leadville Trail 100 series of competitions.
Mount Massive and Leadville from 6th Street Although a several higher unincorporated settlements exist, Leadville is the highest incorporated town/city in the United States.
Leadville lies in a valley at the head waters of the Arkansas River which flows through the southern Rocky Mountains and eventually empties into the Mississippi River.
Mount Elbert, about 16 miles southwest of Leadville, is the highest summit of the Rocky Mountains of North America and the highest point in the Colorado and the entire Mississippi River drainage basin.
Mount Massive, 10.6 miles (17.1 km) west-southwest of Leadville, at 14,428-foot (4,398 m) is the second highest summit in the Rocky Mountains and state of Colorado, and the third highest in the adjoining United States.
Turquoise Lake lies on the northern outskirts of Leadville.
Leadville has an alpine subarctic climate with cold winters and mild summers, bordering on a cold semi-arid climate.
Climate data for Leadville, Colorado Old Queen Anne Victorian style home, Leadville.
Main articles: Leadville Historic District, National Mining Hall of Fame and Museum, and Matchless Mine Ice Palace, Leadville, Colorado, 1896 Leadville Historic District was designated a National Historic Landmark District in 1961.
The principal historic buildings are: Tabor Grand Hotel, St George's Church, Temple Israel, the Annunciation Church, Tabor Opera House, City Hall, Healy House, Dexter Cabin, Engelbach House, and Tabor House, as well as quarrying structures and small homes.
Some historic sites are linked by Mineral Belt National Recreation Trail, an 11.6 mile all-season biking/walking trail that loops around Leadville and through its historic quarrying district.
Camp Hale is positioned north of Leadville in the Eagle River valley near Tennessee Pass .
As the only origin of recreation for the trainees, Leadville was persuaded to change its moral character, perceived "to be on a rather low plane" at the time.
Ten miles north of Leadville the old downhill training slope, Cooper Hill, positioned up on Tennessee Pass which traverses the continental divide, now operates as the ski region known as Ski Cooper. Much of the region is above the tree line, providing a panoramic view of the peaks of the Sawatch Range to visitors.
"Yachting at Leadville, Col" Stereoscopic view, around 1880 The Leadville Trail 100, an ultramarathon, takes place each August on an out-and-back course on trails around Turquoise Lake, over Hagerman Pass, the Colorado Trail, through Twin Lakes, athwart the Arkansas River, up and over Hope Pass, to the ghost town of Winfield.
View of Mount Massive looking west from Harrison Street in downtown Leadville Situated inside the San Isabel National Forest and surrounded by three wilderness areas, Leadville is prominent with hikers and campers.
Turquoise Lake lies on the northern outskirts of Leadville.
The Top of the Rockies Byway, designated a National Scenic Byway in 1998, is a highway that travels 75 miles starting in Aspen and traveling through Leadville to either Minturn or Copper Mountain.
Aerial view of Lake County Airport and Leadville, December 2006 Leadville Historic Colorado and Southern Railroad Station ~ photo taken in 2007 Leadville, Colorado & Southern Railroad excursion line Leadville is served by Lake County Airport.
Its end is positioned just 32 miles (51 km) north of Leadville.
Colorado 91.svg State Highway 91 is a 22.5-mile (36.2 km) stretch that joins Leadville to the intersection with Interstate 70, near Copper Mountain.
It is the fastest route to get from Leadville to Denver.
Third rail was added in 1888 and from 1940 it was only standard gauge. The last 1.8 miles was abandoned by Union Pacific in 1998. This severed the connection between Leadville, Colorado & Southern Railroad and the rest of the barns system.
In the past, D&RG directed branch lines from Leadville to Oro City (1883-1941), Ibex/Chrysolite (1898-1944), Graham Park (1898-1941) and Fryer Hill (1881-1944).
The former Colorado & Southern Railway line from Leadville to Climax is now directed as a tourist line by Leadville, Colorado & Southern Railroad.
In 2010, rail and coach commuter service was proposed between Minturn and Dotsero, in 2012 from Leadville to Vail and Dotsero with intermediate stations at Minturn, Avon, Eagle and Gypsum. "The Hat", a Leadville bar of "rather dubious reputation." Under Siege 2: Dark Territory: the Leadville Airport in the first several minutes was dressed as the National Guard Leadville Airbase.
Silver City: The downtown strip of Leadville, plus locations around the county were featured.
Pepsi's Super Bowl XXX ad, "Northern Exposure" dressed Leadville as an Alaskan logging town.
Buffett mentions Leadville in the lyrics of this song.
In this novel, Leadville is the new U.S.
Leadville becomes the scene of global espionage and betrayal as world war consumes the planet.
"Wilde West", a 1991 novel by Walter Satterthwait assembled around Oscar Wilde's visit to Leadville on a tour of the American West.
"The Golden Fury", a 1949 novel by Marian Castle (published by Morrow) with the setting in Leadville and Denver at the turn of the 20th century.
Colorado metros/cities and suburbs Lake County, Colorado Leadville Historic District Leadville Mining District a b "Active Colorado Municipalities".
"Colorado Municipal Incorporations".
State of Colorado, Department of Personnel & Administration, Colorado State Archives.
"Leadville - Cloud City USA".
"Leadville District History".
Mining Swindles: Leadville Ogden Tweto (1968) Leadville district, Colorado, in Ore Deposits in the United States 1933/1967, New York: American Institute of Mining Engineers, p.683.
William Philpott, The Lessons of Leadville, Colorado Historical Society, 1995, pages 3 4.
National Mining Hall of Fame and Museum - Leadville, Colorado, minerals, gems, history National Mining Hall of Fame and Museum - Leadville, Colorado, minerals, gems, history National Mining Hall of Fame and Museum - Leadville, Colorado, minerals, gems, history National Mining Hall of Fame and Museum - Leadville, Colorado, minerals, gems, history "Camp Hale National Historic Site".
Leadville Community Calendar Leadville Chronicle "A History of Leadville, Colorado." "A History of Leadville Theatre: Opera Houses, Variety Acts and Burlesque Shows." "Leadville: The City.
Leadville Daily Herald.
Includes a chapter on quarrying in early Leadville.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Leadville, Colorado.
Wikisource has the text of the 1911 Encyclop dia Britannica article Leadville.
CDOT map of Leadville "Leadville Today" "Leadville Lifestyle Community Portal" Today in Literature remembers Leadville's introduction to Aestheticism Leadville photos and knowledge at Western Mining History Information for Visiting Leadville Municipalities and communities of Lake County, Colorado, United States
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Cities in Colorado - County seats in Colorado - Mining communities in Colorado - Populated places established in 1877 - Cities in Lake County, Colorado - Populated places on the Arkansas River - 1877 establishments in Colorado
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