Central City's appearance today is very similar to how it looked over 100 years ago. After the fire of 1874, the business district was constructed to last – with only buildings of brick and stone being built. There would be no more wooden buildings with their ever-present potential for destruction by fire.

On Eureka Street, from the Court House to Main Street, only one building that existed in 1874 is not there today. That was the white wood Presbyterian Church which stood between the Teller House and the Opera House. Even Henry Teller's Law Office, built about 1860, still survives.

On Lawrence Street, from Main street East to Raynolds' Court, most of the existing buildings were erected in the 1870s. On Main Street, only the buildings on the South side of the Gold Coin were built after 1900. The Roworth Block even survived the fire of 1874, and dates to the 1860s.

Outside of Central City lie four cemeteries with hundreds of ornate stone markers and intricate grillwork, with headstones dating back to the 1860’s.

Just outside of town, remnants from the mining days are abundant. One mine is on a hill just above the Central City Cemetery. According to geologists and experienced miners, there are over 17,000 mining claims in the southern end of Gilpin County. For safety reasons, most of the mines have been ‘capped" with concrete slabs or have been filled in.

Many people seem to think that gold mines run horizontally into the side of a hill and that it is safe to enter them. However, this is not true. Gold and other precious metals were forced up through weak spots in the earth’s crust. In order to follow the "vein", shafts were often dug straight down for hundreds of feet. The deepest shaft mine in the area is reported to be over 2,000 feet.

Central City is on Highway 160 35 miles west of Denver.

Central City is also said to be haunted by several restless spirits. Click HERE to read about the hauntings.