IMAGES OF THE AMERICAN WEST

Leadville, Colorado Vintage Photographs

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Leadville, Colorado Business Buildings, 1941

Photo by Marion Post Wolcott, 1941

Leadville thrived in the 1870's after gold and silver were discovered in the area. Hundreds of businesses sprouted up to support a population that would eventually equal almost 60,000 people.

Like other mining camps, violence and prosperity co-existed in the booming city and in 1879 the local newspaper observed: "Leadville never sleeps. The theaters close at three in the morning. The dance houses and liquoring shops are never shut. The highwayman patrols the street in quest of drunken prey. The policeman treads his beat to and fro. The music at the beer halls in grinding low. A mail coach has just arrived. There is a merry party opposite the public school. A sick man is groaning in the agonies of death. Carbonate Hill with her scores of briefly blazing fires is Argus-eyed. Three shots are heard down below the old courthouse. There is a fight in a State Street casino. A woman screams. The sky is cloudless. Amman stands dreaming in front of the Windsor looking at the stars - he is away from home."

The journal continued, "A barouche holding two men and two women comes rushing up Chestnut Street. Another shot is heard down near the city jail. A big forest fire lights up the mountains at the head of Iowa Gulch. 'Give you the price of a bed, did you say?' 'Yes, I've not seen a bed for a week. Believe me, kind sir, I'm sick and in need of a friend. Help me, stranger, and as true as I live I'll repay your kindness.' The clock on the Grand Hotel points to one. Shots are heard from Carbonate Hill. The roar of revelry is on the increase. The streets are full of drunken carousers taking in the town."

Photo by Marion Post Wolcott, 1941

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