Central City/Black Hawk Historic District

Infobox_nrhp2 | name =Central City/Black Hawk Historic District
nhld=yes

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caption = Restored historic buildings in downtown Black Hawk
location= Central City and Black Hawk, Colorado
lat_degrees = 39
lat_minutes = 48
lat_seconds = 4
lat_direction = N
long_degrees = 105
long_minutes = 30
long_seconds = 27
long_direction = W
locmapin = Colorado
area =
built =1859
architect=
architecture=
designated_nhl= July 4, 1961cite web|url=http://tps.cr.nps.gov/nhl/detail.cfm?ResourceId=150&ResourceType=District
title=Central City/Black Hawk Historic District|date=2007-09-11|work=National Historic Landmark summary listing|publisher=National Park Service]
added = October 15, 1966cite web|url=http://www.nr.nps.gov/|title=National Register Information System|date=2007-01-23|work=National Register of Historic Places|publisher=National Park Service]
governing_body = U.S. Bureau of Land Management
refnum=66000246The Central City/Black Hawk Historic District is a National Historic Landmark District that covers Central City and Black Hawk. They are adjacent former gold mining camps in the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains in Gilpin County, Colorado, United States. For a time, the area was known as the "Richest Square Mile on Earth". [ [http://www.coloradovacation.com/history/centralcity.html History of Central City] ]

The district was designated a National Historic Landmark on July 4, 1961.cite web|url=PDFlink| [http://pdfhost.focus.nps.gov/docs/NHLS/Text/66000246.pdf "Central City-Black Hawk Historic District", July 1990, by Rickey L. Hendricks and Julie A. Corona] |1.36 MB|title=National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination|date=1990-07|publisher=National Park Service] cite web|url=PDFlink| [http://pdfhost.focus.nps.gov/docs/NHLS/Photos/66000246.pdf Central City-Black Hawk Historic District--Accompanying 40 photos, 7 from late 1800s and 33 from 1986-1987.] |8.22 MB|title=National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination|date=1990-07|publisher=National Park Service]

History

On May 5, 1859, John H. Gregory discovered a rich deposit of gold in hard rock, the first such discovery in the Rocky Mountain region. Thousands of miners flooded into Gregory Gulch in the next few months in the Pike's Peak Gold Rush. Several mining camps were thrown up near the Gregory Lode, and these camps eventually coalesced into Central City and Black Hawk. The area around the Gregory Lode quickly came to be known as the "Richest Square Mile on Earth". By the time the Territory of Colorado was formed on February 28, 1861, Central City was already the largest city in the entire territory, though it lost out to Denver for State Capitol.

Recently, the area has approved casinos and has seen a resurgence in attention and funds as a result.

ee also

*Black Hawk, Colorado
*Central City, Colorado
*Front Range
*Gilpin County, Colorado
*Pike's Peak Gold Rush
*State of Colorado

References

External links

* [http://www.gilpinhistory.org/our_history.html Gilpin County History]
* [http://freepages.history.rootsweb.com/~cescott/jhgregory.html The John H. Gregory Legend]