Central City, Colorado - Page 3

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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 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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