Central City Colorado - Boom and Bust Days

Central City, Colorado

Central City, 1870, courtesy Denver Public Library

Before 1873, most buildings were constructed of wood. In January 1873, a fire destroyed sixteen buildings on Lawrence street, below Raynolds' Court, before it was brought under control. Finally, aware of the potential danger from fire, the city began to prepare for such occurrences. An 1873 resolution of City Council prohibited any new construction of wood buildings in the business district. However, their efforts were a little too late.

On May 21, 1874, a fire started in Dostal Alley, behind Main Street. The fire destroyed about 150 buildings in the downtown area. The fire proof Teller House and Register Block on Eureka Street stopped the fire in that direction.

The Continental Fireproof and Raynolds' Court on Lawrence Street blocked the fire to the East. Toward the South, the fire burned as far as the Seavey Building on Spring street. The fire proof Roworth Block was the only building on Main street that survived the fire. The loss was estimated to be about $500,000. Fire insurance policies paid $114,533 toward the loss. The town was rebuilt, this time of brick and stone; most of these stand today.

As a result of the fire's destruction of the business district, the city was able to widen and straighten the streets. The community also planned for a more substantial city than the one that burned. Rebuilding began immediately. The first brick building (Morse Block) was completed just nine days after the fire. This rebuilding of the city resulted in the downtown business district that exists today.

In 1877, Elizabeth Bonduel McCourt Harvey, later to become known as Baby Doe Tabor, moved to Central City with her first husband Harvey Doe. It was in Central City that she gained the name “Baby Doe”, a nickname given to her by the area miners, who longingly looked upon her beauty. Baby Doe soon found that Harvey was a poor provider, being both lazy and a procrastinator. Their three year began to seriously falter when Harvey began to drift from camp to camp. Baby Doe stayed in Central City until 1880, when she moved to Leadville and met the legendary Horace Tabor.

Baby Doe Tabor, courtesy Colorado Historical Society

The grand opening of the Opera House in 1878 started a tradition of community theatre, ranging from opera to vaudeville. Buffalo Bill performed there as well at P. T. Barnum’s circus. At about the same time population shifts began to occur with many entrepreneurs and businesses moving to Denver or Leadville.

During this time, there was an area of town known by the locals as the Red Light District, a place where children were told to avoid. The area was at the end of Central City's Pine Street, past the Catholic Church, and below the Methodist Church perched upon the hill. Madam Wright was operating a “crib” in the vicinity and the newspaper believed she should relocate her business to a place less conspicuous.

Central City Opera House, courtesy Denver Public Library

In 1880, it was reported by the Census that four women resided at the address and were listed as “house keepers.” The 1900 Census showed a widow running a boarding house with two female boarders living there. However, by 1910, the Census showed the two girls who were “boarding” with Lou Bunch as being prostitutes. Lou Bunch was the last operating madam in town.

Nevertheless, Madam Lou Bunch and her girls became renowned when, during an epidemic, they provided much needed nursing care to miners that were sick and dying. This generous behavior has left Madam Lou Bunch and her Shady Ladies alive forever in the history books and in the annual tribute to their good deeds. Every third Saturday in June the city of Central City honors Madam Lou Bunch as well as the town's entire heritage, drawing visitors to the unique gambling town in the mountains of Gilpin County.

By 1880, Central City, with a population of 2,547, began a period of relative stability that lasted about twenty years. However, Colorado was also growing and the Little Kingdom of Gilpin was no longer as influential as it had been. From the early 1880s until the early 1900s, Central City was merely a good mining town. Central's "boom" days were over.

The first evidence of Central's decline was in 1881, when the Tabor Grand Opera House opened in Denver. This immediately displaced the Opera House in Central City as the leading show house in the state.

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Great American Bars and Saloons

Great American Bars and Saloons by Kathy Weiser By Kathy Weiser

Owner/Editor of Legends of America

Kathy Weiser's first venture into the publishing world takes you into the many watering holes of America's past, particularly the numerous saloons that sprouted up during our nation's Wild West days. This great photographic review displays hundreds of vintage photographs from California to Arizona, the mining camps of Colorado, all the way to New York and its turbulent days of Prohibition.

Hardcover, 2006, 224 Pages. Signed by the author!!

New - $17.95 - Item #kw001