Elizabethtown in the 1890's

By the end of July, 1868 there were about 400 people living in Elizabethtown. A sawmill and several other stores followed Moore's, as did the inevitable saloons and gambling houses. Like most Old West towns, dancing, dining and drinking were popular, as well as a burgeoning red-light district, comprised of several cabins. Other women of the "profession" worked their trade in second floor rooms connected to the saloons where dumb waiters carried drinks to their guests.

Lucien Maxwell envied the quick success of Elizabethtown, and not wanting to be outdone, he began to plan another town site just six miles away.

Partnering with several business associates, including Territorial Governor R.B. Mitchell, they laid out the new town site and named it after Maxwell's eldest daughter, Virginia. But Virginia City was too far from the "action" and never really got off the ground.

The mines attracted many new residents including settlers from Texas who brought herds of cattle and made livestock raising another principal industry in the County. E-town kept growing and the first crude structures were replaced by 5 well-built stores, a drug store, 7 saloons, 3 dancehalls, 2 hotels, a brewery, and a flour depot. The saloons boasted dance floors, gaming tables, and bars that were 100-200 feet long.

The sawmill was kept busy providing lumber for commercial buildings and private homes. By 1869, E-town had about 100 buildings and by late in the same year enough families had joined the miners to require a schoolhouse and a Protestant church. A Catholic parish soon followed.

In 1869, Scranton and Aken started the first newspaper, the Elizabethtown Lantern, selling it later to William D. Dawson who renamed it the Railway Press and Telegraph. Dawson had strong views which he expressed freely, and it was noted in the Colorado Miner that he had whipped up townspeople into "a furious rage" so displeased were they with his newspaper.
 
During the harsh winters, mining in the area was shut down and E-town's population would rise and fall with the weather. Even when weather was good, the mining was erratic -- when new gold was found, the town would grow as word spread and then fall again as interest dwindled. Those hardy settlers who stayed often had to deal with drunks, outlaws, and Indian raids, as well as the harsh winter weather.

As the mining boom continued, the creeks of the area were found to be inadequate to supply the mining operations and the citizens of the bustling boom town. Again, the entrepreneurs -- Maxwell, Moore and others made a plan to rectify the situation by conceiving the idea for a water project known as the "Big Ditch," an engineering marvel for the time.