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History

Gilpin County History

Articles, survey projects and research help from the Gilpin Historical Society.

Articles

  • History of Central City

    From Gregory’s 1859 strike to “The Richest Square Mile On Earth,” the Teller House, the 1874 fire and today’s boom.

  • History of Black Hawk

    The “City of Mills” at the bottom of Gregory Gulch, from stamp mills and smelters to casinos.

  • Governor William Gilpin

    Explorer, booster and the first governor of Colorado Territory, for whom the county is named.

  • The stone-walled jail cell inside Washington Hall, with a wooden bunk

    The Story of Washington Hall

    A log jail, a singing congregation, an escape and the night the floor came tumblin’ down.

  • The submarine being hoisted by a crane truck from frozen Missouri Lake in 1944

    The Central City Submarine

    More than a thousand miles from any ocean, Rufus Owen’s mountain sub spent almost 46 years under Missouri Lake.

Survey projects

James Peak Assessment Project

A State Historical Fund grant with Metcalf Archaeological Consultants to investigate a game run near James Peak. A 30 minute video.

Title card: The Russell Gulch Cemetery Archaeological Assessment Project, over surveyors among the headstones

Russell Gulch Cemetery Survey

A State Historical Fund grant with Metcalf and Alpine Archaeological Consultants to investigate the Russell Gulch Cemetery. A 35 minute video.

Research

Genealogy and research

Census indexes, naturalization records, cemetery and newspaper indexes and name files at the Gilpin History Museum, and how to ask us to check a name.

Additional resources

Links to History Colorado, the state archives, historic newspapers and museums around Colorado.

A Gilpin County timeline

  1. 1859

    John Gregory discovers lode gold in the gulch between what would become Black Hawk and Central City.

  2. 1861

    Governor William Gilpin approves the creation of Gilpin County, with Central City as its county seat.

  3. 1862

    Washington Hall, the county courthouse and jail, is built of hand-hewn square logs.

  4. 1864

    Black Hawk is incorporated by an act of the territorial legislature.

  5. 1867

    The Thomas House, a Greek Revival frame house, is built on Eureka Street.

  6. 1870

    The first classes are held in Central City’s new two-story school.

  7. 1871

    The Washington Hall courtroom floor collapses under a Republican meeting. No one is seriously injured.

  8. 1872

    The Teller House hotel is built, and the Colorado Central Railroad reaches Black Hawk.

  9. 1874

    Fire destroys all but one building on Central City’s Main Street. Most of the brick and stone buildings that replaced them still stand today.

  10. 1878

    The Central City Opera House holds its grand opening.

  11. 1898

    Rufus Owen and a few friends take his submarine up to Missouri Lake.

  12. 1932

    The Opera House reopens, and tourism begins to grow.

  13. 1944

    The submarine is raised from Missouri Lake after almost 46 years underwater.

  14. 1971

    The Gilpin History Museum opens in the old school building.

  15. 1987

    The Thomas House, kept intact by the family as a summer home, becomes a museum.

  16. 1991

    Limited stakes gaming opens in Central City and Black Hawk on October 1.

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