Leadville, Colorado, often called "The Two Mile High City" and "Cloud City," was the highest incorporated city in the world at 10,430 feet. However, that title has now been replaced first by Alma, Colorado and then by Winter Park, Colorado. Located at the foot of two of Colorado's highest peaks - Mt. Elbert and Mt. Massive, Leadville is one of America's last remaining authentic mining towns.

Self-described as quaint and absolutely original, Leadville has been designated as a National Historic Landmark District. The small city is comprised of seventy square blocks of Victorian architecture and is adjoined by the twenty square mile Leadville mining district, where many old mines and cabins dot the landscape.

The settlement began in 1859, when gold was discovered in California Gulch. In 1860, Horace and Augusta Tabor arrived in the Gulch, where Horace tried his luck at placer mining, and Augusta became the camp provisioner, acting as cook, laundress, banker and postmistress. By 1861, over 5,000 prospectors were swarming the area and the settlement of Oro City was established. The Tabors followed in the miners wake for several years, moving from one mining camp to another, but finally returned to Oro City in 1868 and reopened their store.

However, the placer deposits quickly played out and even though the Printer Boy Mine successfully opened in 1868, the area was almost deserted by the 1870's. Most of the miners quickly left to follow gold discoveries in Buckskin Joe, Payne's Bar (which is now Idaho Springs) and other mining camps on the eastern slopes of the Continental Divide.

However, in 1875 a metallurgist named Alvinius Woods and his partner William Stevens discovered that the local sands which had made sluicing gold so difficult were composed of carbonate of lead with an extremely high silver content. They were able to keep their secret for and quietly began to buy up many of the abandoned gold claims in the area. Nevertheless, when Woods sold his interest in the partnership for $40,000, the word was out, leading to a second boom in the area.

Thousands of prospectors again flooded the gulch which, eventually led to the founding of Leadville. In January 1878, the city of Leadville was incorporated and by 1879, the population had reached 18,000. In the summer of 1878, Horace Tabor struck it rich after grubstaking two miners on a small claim. Quickly he became the alleged Silver King of Leadville.