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Survey of Historic Sites and Buildings

	CRIPPLE CREEK Colorado
Location: Teller County.

Ownership and Administration. Various private owners, except for the railroad depot, which is municipally owned.

Significance. In the declining years of the Colorado silver boom, prospectors discovered one of the world's largest goldfields along Cripple Creek near Pike's Peak. This strike, made in 1891, was one of the greatest of all time in the amount mined and the number of people involved. The district yielded about $400 million, and the population at one time probably numbered 50,000. Other towns in the district besides Cripple Creek included Victor, Goldfield, Gillett, Anaconda, Independence, Cameron, and Altman. Development of the placer deposits was comparatively slow until the miners discovered that the deeper they went the richer the veins became. Unlike most mining districts, Cripple Creek prospered over the years. The treasure continued to pour forth for almost two decades; declines were checked by new strikes. A long period of stagnation followed World War I, but in the 1930's production once again rose to more than $5 million yearly. Some mining is still done in the district today.

Present Appearance. Because of a fire in 1906 that destroyed most of the original town, few buildings from the early boom period have survived. The five railroads that served the town at its height have abandoned it, and the old depot serves as a municipal museum. At the Imperial Hotel, plays of the 1890's are produced each summer. [12]

NHL Designation: 07/04/61