Tucked deep in the heart of Colorado’s Rocky Mountains, Leadville is a place where people find symbols in snow peaks instead of in the clouds. Where businesses are called “Hitchin’ Post Motel,” “Silver Dollar Saloon” or “Moonshine Liquors.” Where you see the same byline on nearly every story in the local paper. Where families are still laid down to rest together in one of the few tiny hillside historic cemeteries. And where you are greeted at the town’s entrance with a small sign that sums up the local mood: “We Love Leadville — Great Living.”

This humble mountain community of around 3,000 is located in the clouds at 10,200 feet (3,109 m) above sea level and is one of Colorado’s richest areas of visible history. Its mountain resources have provided for everthing from war weaponry to wedding bands. And whether you venture through its wood-shingled saloons and tall steeples, its gold-dusted streams or the ghostly mineshafts, there is much to see in this town.

During the 19th century, Leadville was likely the second most popular stop along the wagon trails from St. Louis to San Francisco — aside from Southern Colorado’s Bent’s Fort, which was America’s leading trade post at the time. Leadville was also the only major permanent white settlement on the Santa Fe Trail between Missouri and the Mexican settlements.

A cowboy rides down Harrison Avenue in the annual July 4th town parade.

But Leadville goers of that time were not stopping to gaze at the changing golden aspens, as they may today, but to wager how much gold they could dig out from beneath those trees.

Prospectors found some of the first gold in Colorado in this remote location. But it was another specimen that truly made Leadville shine: silver. After its finding in 1875, the Silver Rush was on. Within a decade, Leadville exploded into a city of 30,000 residents, accumulating US$ 136 billion from silver mining.

Evidence of those times can be found all over the town in antique photos — in the courthouse, restaurants and, of course, in museums such as the Healy House or Mining Hall of Fame.

The photographs reveal gentlemen meandering down the streets, horses parked in front of cabin saloons, sawmills, Victorian hotels and bustling brothels. And in one image, you can see the town’s one and only “street,” a rocky, dugout road — so dipping and rugged that no modern Colorado 4-wheel drive car could ever climb it.

It's easy to imagine the rowdy workers drinking whiskey after a long day’s work in the mine, or maybe even wild, western cowboy shoot-outs in the streets, alongside proper ladies or persuasive prostitutes distracting men in their fanciest dresses. You can almost hear the piano tunes humming, silver coins clinking or cries from the Tabor Opera House, which was high Victorian society at its best, at least here in Colorado.

But as fast as Leadville boomed, it collapsed. The value in silver dropped drastically after WWI, and many of the prospectors fled, including famous silver millionaire Horace Tabor, who went broke. But the miners who stayed found that a mineral called molybdenum hardened into steel, making for thousands of uses nationwide. This mining took Leadville into the next century. The last mines here closed in 1999.

Leadville is in a new era now. It is now a calm bed and breakfast community, thriving on tourism and the preservation of its past. And like many American towns that, in the surge of capitalism, go from rags to riches and then back down to a compromise in between, Leadville has had to rediscover itself.

Three generations of women at a Leadville antique store.

Jobs are not always easy to come by, but the locals have found innovative ways to work, from caring for the historic cemeteries to giving mining tours, hosting horse-back rides or working at the nearby ski resorts.

By the looks of the town and the talk of its people, Leadville will most likely stay comfortable with what it has — local shops and interests — not huge commercial enterprises or broken promises.

And many local businesses and landmarks still like to boast, “We’re the tallest … in North America!”

Due to its small size, some might think that a visit to Leadville would be a visit through Leadville. Indeed, many do seem to stumble upon this town by accident. However, the town guestbook at the Visitor’s Center proves that many of these visitors are so charmed that they stay, at least for a few days. This thick book records many of those visitors’ thoughts.

A traveler from Sweden felt “Leadville has a nice and good future.” A Denver man was here for a revisit, calling Leadville “Best in state, lived here 57 years!” A couple from North Carolina came for their “interest in mining.” And a family from Australia actually came to “search for family history.”

The town holds annual events such as drilling contests for their summer “Boom Days” to remember the miners, including their infamous “Ski Joring” which is held in late winter in March. This heart-racing event consists of spectators watching in suspense as a horse and rider runs down the blocked-off main street, Harrison Avenue, with another person holding on, skiing fast behind. The skier then flies off of a man-made snow mound. The whole town comes and lines the street for this fun-filled event.

Whether you visit Leadville to get a taste of the Wild West or to enjoy the slow rhythms of outdoor mountain life, Leadville offers an enriching experience. Yet its best treasure of all is its people — those hearty folks who call this region home. It is in them that the true essence of this rugged mountain town can be found.

A sign captures the local spirit.

If You Go

Leadville/Lake County Chamber of Commerce www.leadvilleusa.com
Learn more of Leadville’s history and get an online walking tour of the town, including a detailed survey of local events.

www.leadville.com – Check out the calendar of events, including holiday gatherings, such as an “Old Fashioned Christmas. Lists good places to lodge or camp.

Ice Palace Inn
www.icepalaceinn.com – A unique Bed and Breakfast inn.