Author: Patrick Henry Sweeney

  • Top-notch art in Central City

    Top-notch art in Central City

    2019 Gilpin Arts Members Show

    By David Josselyn

    Tucked away in the upper room of the oldest, continuously used public building in Colorado, usually referred to as Washington Hall, is a spectacular art gallery produced by the Gilpin County Arts Association and lovingly managed by Michele Roussel. Inside you will find masterpieces painstakingly created by local artists displayed in each unique room of the gallery creating a cultural experience like none other in the county. (more…)

  • 2019 Central City Plein Air Festival

    2019 Central City Plein Air Festival

    Featuring 22 artists painting in Central City Sept 27-29

    By Erin Osovets

    Central City Opera, in partnership with the Gilpin County Arts Association, announces the second annual Central City Plein Air Festival from September 27 through September 29. Twenty-two handpicked artists from around the country will travel to Central City for three days to paint fall landscapes and the architecture of this historic Colorado mountain town. (more…)

  • Gilpin Commissioners approve $60,000 for software contracts

    Gilpin Commissioners approve $60,000 for software contracts

    To allow online building permits, and for internal document management

    By Randy Beaudette

    Two software contract approvals, an Xcel Wildfire Mitigation presentation, and the 2018 Financial Audit were the highlights of the Gilpin County Commissioners (BOCC) meeting held at 9 a.m. on Tuesday August 20, 2019, at the Gilpin County Courthouse. (more…)

  • Black Hawk welcomes new employees

    Black Hawk welcomes new employees

    Council approves demolition of two non-historic structures

    By Randy Beaudette

    Newly hired Black Hawk Communications Officer Kylie Vigil and New Police Officer Kevin Sagar rang the bell promptly at 3:00 p.m. to announce the Black Hawk City Council regular meeting August 14, 2019 edition.  Mayor Spellman called the Black Hawk City Council to order followed by Roll Call, then led in the Pledge of Allegiance. (more…)

  • Central City receives donation of Scarlett’s Casino

    Central City receives donation of Scarlett’s Casino

    Regular Council Meeting

    By David Josselyn

    Work Session

    Council met with Staff for a Work Session immediately prior to the regular meeting on Tuesday, August 20, 2019. The topics covered were Belvidere Theatre cost estimates and Spruce Street vehicle access. Representatives from FormWorks Design Group LLC, Jessica and Natalie, reviewed the final projected costs from the chosen design for the Belvidere Theatre. The total cost for complete renovation is $6.5 million; almost $4 million of that would go toward the (more…)

  • The “Gilpin County Miner” newspaper

    The “Gilpin County Miner” newspaper

    Nevadaville Notes in the early 1900’s

    By Mary Peery

    News from the Gilpin County Miner, December 7, 1939 by William C. Russell, Jr.: “The Methodist Church in Nevadaville was recently been purchased by Mrs. Mildred Zook of Hinsdale, Illinois, and she plans to make an Art Studio of it. Wm. C. Russell, Jr., is boarding it up for the winter. Gordon Starbuck has purchased the old Meyhew residence and has started fixing it up. Someone has purchased the brick Odd Fellows building and is tearing it down and hauling the brick away. It is said this is one of the oldest brick buildings in Colorado and that the brick were hauled here with ox teams. (more…)

  • An old fashioned Victorian Ice Cream Social

    An old fashioned Victorian Ice Cream Social

    Presented by the Gilpin Historical Society

    By Jaclyn Schrock

    Gilpin Historical Society (GHS) held a Victorian Ice Cream Social at the Stroehle House at 231 Chase Street, Sunday, August 18, from 1-4 p.m. Thanks to the notifications in the community section of the Weekly Register-Call residents from the community enjoyed the refreshing homemade, organic ice cream. The serene setting on Chase Street invited folks up the street from Hwy 119 as children played on bikes and scooters in the street, (more…)

  • Local job opportunities available at the Seniors’ Resource Center

    Local job opportunities available at the Seniors’ Resource Center

    Experienced Personal Care Providers McLaughlin and Freeman Retire

    By John Peretz

    Seniors’ Resource Center, the Denver area’s largest nonprofit dedicated to senior services, will soon bid farewell to two very experienced personal care providers as they move on to their next adventures in life.

    Kelly McLaughlin has been in caregiving since 1972, but is leaving the chilly winters of Central City to move to warmer weather for the winters. He’ll be back in the summers to work with his wife Teri on their jewelry-making business. (more…)

  • Pack Burro Racing Triple Crown 2019

    Pack Burro Racing Triple Crown 2019

    Stiff competition from the burro racing teams

    By Jaclyn Schrock

    2012 Colorado’s Legislators declared Burro Racing their Summer Heritage Sport. Western Pack Burro Ass-ociation (WPBA) spoke clearly to Colorado’s governing body (more…)

  • Wild Bunch shoot-out at the Last Shot

    Wild Bunch shoot-out at the Last Shot

    “Age of the Gunfighter” trip to Wichita fundraiser

    By Jaclyn Schrock

    The Gilpin Historical Society (GHS) and Central City’s Wild Bunch are blessed by the show of support demonstrated Saturday, August 10th at Roy’s Last Shot Restaurant in mid-Gilpin County. The generosity of Roy to prepare his restaurant with a tasty buffet and salad bar was commendable. The game room, pool tables and full service bar kept many locals happy. (more…)

  • 4th Annual Gilpin Neighbors BBQ Get-together

    4th Annual Gilpin Neighbors BBQ Get-together

    You know you’re from Gilpin County…

    By Jaclyn Schrock

    The JKQ BBQ Restaurant was the site August 10th from 1-4 p.m. for the annual Gilpin Neighbors get-together. The gathering is good for revealing the ways we all indirectly know each other says current organizer Stephen Buck. (more…)

  • Buffalo Bill Days in Golden

    Buffalo Bill Days in Golden

    Experience the Wild West firsthand

    Take a step back in the past and experience the Wild West firsthand at Golden’s very own Buffalo Bill Days! This event dates back to the 1940s as a trail ride up Lookout Mountain to Buffalo Bill’s grave. The Buffalo Bill Days Committee has expanded the activities through the years and it is now the largest community festival held in Golden. (more…)

  • One lone booster left in Town of Nevadaville

    One lone booster left in Town of Nevadaville

    Sole inhabitant upholds civic pride of once booming mining center

    By Mary Peery

    Rocky Mountain News, June 3, 1930: “Nevadaville, one-time boom mining camp of the Central City district, is not dead—not by a long shot and the civic pride of its one inhabitant. Merely suggest that it is a ghost city, and Leonard Nichols, aged hermit, will resent the imputation. New distinction has come to Nichols, distinction given to few men in the United States. He is the sole inhabitant of the entire settlement. Uncle Sam sent a census enumerator to Nevadaville the other day. The enumerator looked high and low, then recorded “One Resident.” (more…)

  • Construction and recreation in Central City

    Construction and recreation in Central City

    Council to hatch new businesses in the Visitor’s Center

    By David Josselyn

    Regular Council Meeting

    Mayor Fey convened the regular meeting of the Central City Council at 7:10 p.m. in City Hall Council Chambers. Council members; Mayor Jeremy Fey, Mayor pro-Tempore Judy Laratta, Jeff Aiken, and Jack Hidahl were present. Alderwoman Jackie Johnson was not in attendance. (more…)

  • Leadville Boom Days

    Leadville Boom Days

    Some Characters on the Streets

    By Raj Manickam

    Leadville Boom Days is a Colorado Mountain Festival and historical celebration of the Old West, with gunslingers, burro races, contests of mining skill, and a street fair with over 100 food and craft booths. It is always the first full weekend in August, so this year it ran from August 2nd through the 4th. Three days of fun, food, arts and crafts, and activities for the whole family! Leadville is located in the heart of the central Colorado Rockies, at an elevation (more…)

  • A burro walked into a bar…

    A burro walked into a bar…

    Leadville Boom Day Burro Racing

    By Dave TenEyck

    We used to have a burro race in Central City many years ago. I participated several times there. One year a racer was kicked in the chest by his burro, rupturing one lung. (more…)