Nevadaville, Colorado
Encyclopedia
Gold mining
Gold mining is the removal of gold from the ground. There are several techniques and processes by which gold may be extracted from the earth.-History:...
town in Gilpin County
Gilpin County, Colorado
Gilpin County is the second least extensive of the 64 counties of the State of Colorado of the United States. Gilpin County was named after Colonel William Gilpin, the first Governor of the Territory of Colorado. The county population was 4,757 at U.S. Census 2000. The county seat is Central City...
, Colorado
Colorado
Colorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. It was also known in the 1860s and 1870s as Nevada City. The post office at Nevadaville was called the Bald Mountain post office, to avoid confusion with other Nevadas and Nevadavilles. The community is now largely a ghost town
Ghost town
A ghost town is an abandoned town or city. A town often becomes a ghost town because the economic activity that supported it has failed, or due to natural or human-caused disasters such as floods, government actions, uncontrolled lawlessness, war, or nuclear disasters...
, although not completely deserted. The Masonic Lodge that started in 1861 still holds regular meetings.
History
Nevadaville started in 1859, soon after John H. Gregory found the first lode gold in what is now Colorado. At the time, the townsite was in western Kansas TerritoryKansas Territory
The Territory of Kansas was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from May 30, 1854, until January 29, 1861, when the eastern portion of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Kansas....
. The town grew to house the miners working the Burroughs lode and the Kansas lode. The population was predominantly Irish.
The town was one of the most important mining settlements in the area. A Masonic lodge was organized in 1859 from the Kansas Grand Lodge, becoming Nevadaville Number 36. After only one regular meeting, the lodge relinquished their charter and came under the jurisdiction of the new Grand Lodge of Colorado who had taken over the territory. The new charter was granted and the lodge became Nevadaville Number 4. The lodge still holds meetings as the only Ghost town lodge in Colorado.
In 1861 a large fire destroyed 50+ buildings, and residents made effective use of TNT to save the remaining parts of the city from the fire. Nevadaville rebuilt after fire destroyed a large piece of the town. A more serious threat to the town was the fact that the near-surface oxidized portions of the veins were worked out in the early 1860s. The rudimentary ore mills had trouble recovering gold from the deeper sulfide ores. The continued prosperity of Nevadaville was assured by the construction of successful ore smelters in nearby Black Hawk
Black Hawk, Colorado
The historic City of Black Hawk is a Home Rule Municipality located in Gilpin County, Colorado, United States. The city population was 118 at U.S. Census 2000, making Black Hawk the least populous city in Colorado...
.
Nevadaville prospered until about 1900, after which the population declined sharply.
Geography
Nevadaville is south of Central CityCentral City, Colorado
Central City is a home rule municipality in Clear Creek and Gilpin counties in the U.S. state of Colorado, and the county seat of Gilpin County. The city population was 515 in the 2000 United States Census...
at 39°47′45"N 105°32′04"W, at an altitude of 9050 feet (2760 m) above mean sea level.