Georgetown and Idaho Springs Burro Races 2021
By Jaclyn Schrock
Why run a race leading a burro packed for prospecting? How did we get to the place where burro racing became Colorado’s Summer Heritage Sport? For eons of time on earth, the only way to sustain bread of life and shelter is to just do it. Living at all, took great effort and wisdom, and was most effective when working together with others in your home, (more…)
Happy 50th Gilpin Historical Society
By Randy Beaudette
Gilpin County Board of County Commissioners (BoCC) faced another long agenda for a hybrid online/in-person Regular Meeting on June 1, 2021. Highlights included an extension of the County’s Emergency Declaration, a proclamation honoring Gilpin County Historical Society’s 50th Anniversary, and a Memorandum of Understanding for Gilpin County Human Services. (more…)
Street theater reenactments in Central City this summer
By Jaclyn Schrock
The Wild Bunch of Central City replays historic tales of Gilpin County coming to be, from noon to 4, when St. Mary’s Church (more…)
City Council losing a member
By David Josselyn
Regular Council Meeting
Just prior to the start of the meeting, at 6:58 pm, an impromptu conversation was had between Mayor Fey, Alderman Aiken, and Commissioner Web Sill (Alderwoman Johnson was also in the room) which constituted a quorum. However, the Zoom (more…)
With Gilpin County School Board
By Curt Halsted
To start the second Gilpin County School Board meeting in the month of May, Dr. David MacKenzie gave praise for the 2021 Gilpin Grads. The senior class graduated with a 100% graduation rate, and together earned over $463,000 in scholarships. (more…)
My life at elevation 9,640 in Gilpin County
By Brian Gibbins
When I went to Clark School in Central City, we had a huge gymnasium across the street in front of the school. This is not a story about that gymnasium. Outside the gymnasium on the uphill side was a huge gulch, or ravine depending on where you are from. In this gulch two creeks converged after they exited from large pipes. Both pipes, or culverts as my dad called them, were about six feet in diameter and the water dropped (more…)
Age of Drones
By Don Ireland
Attending college and working with drones is a reality for students enrolled at Colorado State University in Fort Collins. As the evolving, emerging field of drone technology continues to surge internationally, the CSU Drone Center offers students a flight plan into the future for the rapidly-growing, multi-billion-dollar drone industry. (more…)
From the Gilpin Historical Society
By David Forsyth, PhD
In 1909 the Gilpin Observer referred to Russell Gulch resident Fred W. Dolley as a “gentleman of varied experience” and “one of the most versatile fellows in this section.” By then he had already been a roller-skating rink owner, farmer, miner, and railroad builder after having been in the county only a few years. (more…)
November 30, 1936 – May 18, 2021
Warren Robert Smith passed away after a short illness on May 18, 2021 at the age of 84. A Colorado native, he was born in Denver in 1936 and graduated from West High School in 1954. He then followed his older brother Jerry and enlisted in the U.S. Navy, where he served from January 1955 to November 1957. He then served in the Naval Reserve until he was honorably discharged in 1962. Even from a young age, Warren was interested in technology. His first job in high school was repairing radios at a small shop. After (more…)
Outdoor graduation ceremony
By Curt Halsted
Friends and family shared in a joyous celebration of the accomplishments of Gilpin Seniors. The event was staged outdoors with a majestic expanse of mountains cradled in rolling clouds, and for Gilpin County a warm day. An air of freedom and yet caution filled the atmosphere for what was the first public gathering for many in a long time. (more…)
The life and times leading up to Dostal Alley
By Don Ireland
Phil and Ruth Schmalz took a risk in 1958 when they opened a rock shop along Main Street in Central City. At the time, Central City – once a booming gold mining town a century earlier – was mostly a summer tourist attraction and nothing much (more…)
Three year $13.75 million Gregory Street Project nearing completion
By Randy Beaudette
The Black Hawk City Council held their first in person meeting in over a year on May 12, 2021 to discuss officially adopting the State’s 2020 Model Traffic Code, to consider a motion for cost sharing of the Miner’s Mesa sewer line, and to finalize a contract for the Green Lake intake project. (more…)
Council approves Opera’s Yellow Rose Ball, and Madam Lou Bunch Day events
By David Josselyn
Regular Council Meeting – Mayor Fey convened the regular meeting at 7:07 pm on Tuesday, May 18, 2021, in City Hall Council Chambers. Council members Jeff Aiken, Jackie Johnson, Judy Laratta, Kara Tinucci, and Mayor Jeremy Fey were present. (more…)
Adding new upgrades while keeping traditions intact
By Don Ireland
After a frantic week of changes and remodeling, Central City’s Dostal Alley is open again for business. The regular patrons of the casino, brewpub and restaurant were literally knocking at the doors, asking how soon they could get in. When the doors opened again for business last week after being closed for nearly a week, the customers were smiling. (more…)
School Board Meeting May 4th
By Curt Halsted
Teacher Appreciation Week
The week of May 3rd was teacher appreciation week. At the Gilpin County School Board Meeting on May 4th, Superintendent Dr. David MacKenzie (Dr. Dave) shared that the teachers were provided individual packaged Bundt cakes, along with cupcakes made by local baker and school staff alum Ardetta Robinson. Teachers were also given gift buckets. (more…)
Starting May 9th through October
By David Josselyn
A new, misspelled open-air market has come to Central City – the Levit Street Market; organized by business partners Jeremy Fey and Jack van Son and backed by the Bates-Hunter Gold Mine. Jeremy Fey originally brought the idea to City Council as Mayor in a Work Session, but at the time, the (more…)