I was always a fan of Central City and the surrounding area. It is
close to Denver, cooler than downhills and a nice place to hike,
recharge and relax. So last Saturday I drove there in the morning and
started to walk up the hill.
As usual, the views from the top of the hill were just outstanding...
Walking there you need to keep in mind someone is watching you. The
eyes are everywhere and the aspens are spying on you... or are they
looking to the far away ridges where they would like to go? I have no
idea but I always feel like being watched while hiking there ;)
In fact the aspens bark is very special there. It always amazes me
with its look. Especially in the Fall time when the foliage doesn't get most of your attention anymore and you can see more of the trunks than in the Summer.
Just look at it! It is very artistic, isn't it? Who was the artist to create such a piece? ;)
The Fall is not as colorful and interesting as the Summer, but I
really like the aspens silhouettes with deep blue sky background.
There are endless varieties of shapes and appearance. I don't recall if I spotted these two crossed trees before ;)
Surprisingly I found the snow was already covering most of the
ground in the woods and the hiking wasn't as pleasant as before. So I
decided to go somewhere else and drove the dirty road around the
mountain and soon found myself in Nevadaville, a small town once
blooming.
Whereas Blackhwak was the smelting and industrial center of the district, and Central City was the economic and social center, Nevadaville was the working class town where many of the district's miners lived. The town thrived into the 1890s but declined dramatically after 1900.
By the way, the City Hall was also the Fire Department and the Jail downstairs. Isn't it a good example of multipurpose building? I believe today we call it a "business center".
Surviving a devastating fire in 1861 they abandoned the wood houses and
started to build from the stone. Not many of them survived 150 years and
now you can find just a few buildings still standing along the Main St.
For example The old BonTon Saloon that looks just like it was built yesterday ;)
It is hard to believe this ghost town looked like that just over a hundred years ago...
The mines still can be seen on the other side of the creek. First
(or the last, depending on the direction) you can observe the old copper
mine with the tower still intact.
And some other structures down the road too. With so many mines dug
there it's hard to say which is which unless you know the area better
than your palm.
I was even granted permission to go behind the gates and see some mine buildings closely. Half of the town vouched for me! Such an accomplishment ;)
While I was climbing on the pile of mine's dump to have a better view, something caught
my attention. The rock was shiny and sent sparks in all directions
reflecting the sun rays. Pyrite? Probably, but it looked like real gold
and silver. I guess that was what they called fool's gold, so I left it
there for some other fool to collect...
I slowly walked back to Nevadaville, looked across the creek to the
old mine's equipment still there and... returned back to Denver. It was
an amazing day. Mild and sunny, full of impressions and history. I
think I need to come there again and explore the surroundings to learn
more about the times when the area was filled with thousands of people
and looked quite different.
Pictures were taken on November 26, 2022.
Thank for the pictures . Nevadaville Wes, I was looking through my emails and found this one you sent last Sunday. Great pictures and comments. Nothing new is being created or Destroyed it’s simply changing form. Our God gives us a look at the passed, the present and the future in his word. Come and see us again in nevadaville.
ReplyDeleteI loved the tour of this old mining town - super cool
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