Near the Arkansas River headwaters, at a very high elevation (about
10,152 feet), you can find a real gem... Leadville was the second
most populated city after Denver in the XIX century (sic!). And there were
about 67 mines located around the place. And these mines produced 2.9 million troy ounces of
gold, 240 million troy ounces of silver, 1 million short tons of lead,
785 thousand short tons of zinc, and 53 thousand short tons of copper.
The population was about 15,000 people (some sources even say almost
40,000 but it's, probably, exaggeration) and it was a nice, rich and
well crowded place...
As the population boomed, by 1878, Leadville had the reputation as one of the most lawless towns in the West. The first city marshal was run out of town a few days after he was appointed, and his replacement was shot dead within a month by one of his deputies. Fearing the town would be lost to the lawless element, Mayor Horace Tabor sent for Mart Duggan, who was living in Denver, as a replacement. Duggan is little-known today, but was well known at the time as a fearless gunfighter. Using strong-arm and lawless tactics, during his two stints as marshal, Duggan brought order to Leadville by 1880 when he stepped down. He was shot and killed in 1888 by an unknown assailant, most likely an enemy he had made when he was a Leadville marshal.
But now only about 2700 people live in Leadville. It is a nice looking city in the heart of the Rocky Mountains. The last mine (Climax mine, it was the largest molybdenum mine in the world) was closed in 1980 and the city was turned to the tourist industry. Leadville is still the highest incorporated city and the second highest incorporated municipality in the United States.
And now you can walk along the streets, enjoy old buildings and
buy nice souvenirs in the street stores. It is a real pleasure to
spend time in this town. If you get hungry, you absolutely have to have lunch in the Silver
Dollar Saloon, which has been operating since 1879... And this Saloon still
remembers everyone who had been in here - the mine workers, the
commissioners, the killers and other outlaws of the Wild West... It really has such a good memory :-) The burger was just OK, to be honest, but the interior and history made it definitely worth dining there ;)
Once you refuel yourself - keep exploring... walking and looking around...
If you are looking for some souvenirs with history - visit the
Western HDW Antique Mall. Just be careful, we spent almost two hours
there and I had a really hard time getting myself out... So... don't
tell me that I didn't warn you ;)
But don't hesitate leaving the
Main Street and going sideways... you can find something really nice
like these small Victorian style houses...
While exploring the small streets we found something unexpected and
really cool... Look at this intersection - see these two white
buildings?
One on the right is Episcopal Church (it was closed that day so we didn't have a chance to come inside)...
But one just across the street
is the real gem - it's Temple Israel, the highest synagogue in America!
Now this is a nice museum, but many years ago that was a home
for Jews, living among the miners in Leadville. There were only 300 Jews in the 1880th and they had this nice white Temple that opened doors for them.
Carpenter Gothic structure was designed by George E. King and
constructed by Robert Murdock for $4,000 on land donated by the silver
baron Horace A. W. Tabor.
Next time you drive through Leadville you know what you can find there... And... The mountain peaks are always here too!
Pictures were taken on October 16, 2011 and September 04, 2016.
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