Central City Main Street

Belvidere Theater

Central City had a tradition of theater and arts since its founding. The Belvidere was completed in 1875 as part of a wave of “fireproof” buildings. The theater on the second floor was used for professional and amateur performances, while over the years the first floor housed a feed and supply store, boarding stable, the Central Bottling Works, and the Central City Fire Department. Around the turn of the century, the property hosted many militia and guard activities, leading to the moniker “Armory Hall.”

AOUW Building

One of the brick “fire proof” buildings destroyed in the fire of 1874 was Abraham Jacob’s O.K. Store, located on this site. The store was immediately rebuilt and in business for another 20 years. The building’s cast iron storefront was purchased from the Mesker and Co Ironworks of Indiana. In 1898, the local lodge of the Ancient Order of United Workmen purchased the building, adding on a second floor for their meeting room.

Ignatz Meyer Building

This building was completed just after the 1874 fire, home to B.F. Pease’s dry goods store. Later the property housed an undertaking parlor, the publisher of the Gilpin County Observer newspaper, and Ignatz Meyer’s saloon. After prohibition, the property was home to Emmy Wilson’s infamous Glory Hole Tavern.

Gold Coin Saloon

Bart Parteli and Gus Bensel opened the “Gold Coin Bar” here in 1897. Little has changed over the years – the interior has been maintained since the early 1900s. During Prohibition, the “Coin” converted into a pool hall and grocery store. The building’s sagged look is due to a talc formation upon which it sits, along with the soft Hooper brick of which it is constructed. Today, the Gold Coin Saloon is part of Easy Street Casino.

Roworth Block

Mayor from 1868 to 1871, William Roworth was one of the earliest pioneers in the area. He opened the Central City Bakery, which also served as a miners’ supply store, in this 1862 masonry structure. Upstairs was a candy manufacturer. The Roworth Block was the only structure on Main Street to survive the 1874 fire. From 1882 to 1919 the Sauer-McShane Mercantile Company, a grocery and general supply store, occupied the building.

IOOF Building

After the 1874 fire, Henry Teller built this structure to house a bookstore and shoe store. The cast iron storefront was manufactured by the Colorado Ironworks Company of Denver. The Independent Order of Odd Fellows purchased the building in 1878 and held their meetings on the upper floor.

Dostal and Shaffnit Blocks

Dostal Block, built by Joseph O. Dostal, was originally opened in 1874 as a meat market. It also housed a billiard parlor, bakery, and jeweler. Later, a museum occupied the site offering “free admission.” But the proprietors didn’t let guests know that they would be required to make a “contribution” before they would be permitted to leave. Shaffnit Block was constructed in 1878 with stores at street level and offices/residential upstairs. It is now home to Dostal Alley

Hawley Block

Henry Hawley started his supply business here in 1868, only to lose everything in the fire of 1874. On the day after the fire, Hawley purchased William Roworth’s entire inventory, and the Hawley Merchandise Company stayed in operation until 1936. The current structure was built in December 1874, also housing a millinery and dressmaking shop, tailor, shoe store, hardware store, and jeweler.

Mullen Building

Local builder Thomas Mullen completed this two-story building in December 1874, and a drug store and clothing store moved into the storefronts. More recently, a meat market, photographic gallery, and furniture store have occupied the retail space. In 1902, Elks Lodge #557 bought the building and added a third story for their lodge.

Van Deren Building

This structure was completed by Archibald Van Deren in October 1874. Van Deren was one of the three original County Commissioners when Gilpin County was formed in 1861, and was a Grand Master Mason at age 33. Sessler and Sauer’s dry goods store operated on the first floor of the building. The second floor held offices for Western Union, a physician, and a dentist.

Harris Block

Built in 1875, this is the oldest of the three buildings on Main Street built by Robert Harris. The building has a simple cast iron front. It was home to the New York Mercantile Company which offered “dry goods, millinery, cloaks, carpets, clothing, gents’ furnishings, hats, caps, trucks, etc.” It is currently the Famous Bonanza Casino.

First National Bank and Schonecker & Mack

First National Bank was founded in 1863 at another location. Completed in November 1874, this building originally housed a tobacco store and Post Office in addition to the bank on the first floor, and offices for doctors, lawyers, Clerk of the District Court, and Judge Belford on the second floor. The smaller attached Schonecker & Mack building was a saloon and billiard hall.

Teller House

Dominating the cityscape from virtually every vantage point, the Teller House opened in 1872. It was considered to be the most elegant hotel between Chicago and San Francisco. President Grant’s visit in 1873 prompted silver promoters to temporarily pave the entrance walks with silver bricks. The Rocky Mountain National Bank was on street level from 1874 to 1915. Herndon Davis’ famous “Face on the Barroom Floor” graces the Elevator Bar.

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Bacharach, Hense, and Miller Blocks

The Bacharach Block was built in 1875, home to a liquor store, restaurant, and gambling hall, with the second floor as a residence. Next is the Hense Block, built in 1874. Hense, a jeweler, had a store here along with a grocery and bakery. The second floor was a billiard hall. The Miller Block, also known as Goldman’s Corner, was completed in 1874. Elias Goldman operated a liquor store, fruit stand, and card room here from 1878 to 1911. The three buildings were joined in 1929 to become the Chain O’Mines Hotel, and are now home to Century Casino. 

Wells Fargo & Co.

Wells Fargo was a successor to a number of express companies operating in Central City in the early days. The brick two-story triangular building was completed in 1874 with a cast iron front added in 1878. Wells Fargo operated on the first floor and prominent physician Dr. R.G. Aduddell rented the second floor. It is currently home to the Central City Visitor Center.

Mellor Block

The block was built in 1875 to replace the Concert Hall and Bellaire Rooms and William Hussey’s bank (forerunner of the First National Bank) which all burned in the 1874 fire. First the home of the Hannington & Mellor Bank and the Kansas Pacific Express Company, the block has been occupied by a number of businesses over the years.

Edmundson Blocks I-III

Dr. William Edmundson came to Central City from Iowa in 1868, opened a medical practice, and eventually became President of the State Board of Health in 1877. Edmundson built these three buildings in the 1870s as investment properties. They housed an array of businesses, including a bookstore, meat market, candy store, Western Union Telegraph office, saloons, pool hall, harness shop, shoe repair, tea and coffee shop, furniture store, and city offices.

Hardware Store

Ladd & Schuyler constructed this building, completed in December 1874, as a “fireproof store and copper and tin factory.” In 1887, it became the Jenkins-McKay Hardware Store. They not only sold hardware but also manufactured a number of mining and household items in the adjacent building including stamp mill screens used in mining camps around the world and kidney-shaped lunch buckets that held Cornish pasties.

Raynold's Beehive

One of the most unusual buildings in Central City due to its New England commercial architectural style and atypical brick, Raynold’s Beehive was constructed during the mid-1860s to house the Hazard Powder Company. J.O. Raynolds was its agent. Because it was built of brick to safeguard explosives, the structure not only survived the fires of 1873 and 1874 but also stopped both fires’ paths of destruction down Lawrence Street. The building became a temporary home for so many burned out businesses that it was said to be a “beehive of activity.”

Clark Grade School

The first school in Central City was a private school conducted by Ellen Kendall in her father’s log cabin in 1862. Townspeople raised enough money to organize a public school, which opened in December 1862 in Lawrence Hall. A purpose-built stone school was completed in 1870, and by the turn of the century, demand increased for an additional school building. This red brick school building was completed in 1900 and served as the grade school for the district from 1901-1969. The red brick, Italian Villa-style structure shares many architectural features with the Gilpin County Courthouse constructed in the same year. This building currently houses the Colorado Division of Gaming.

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St. Paul's Episcopal Church

St. Paul’s Episcopal Church was the second Episcopal congregation organized in Colorado. The first purpose-built wooden church burned down in 1873, and was replaced that year by this Gothic Revival-style, native granite building. The fine stonework is an example of the Cornish craftsmanship in Central City.

Old High School

By 1868, with school being held on the first floor of a gambling hall and saloon, townspeople started to raise money to build a new schoolhouse. A bond issue passed in 1869, and the town completed the 240-student building in 1870. This granite schoolhouse was only the second permanent school in Colorado. Once the school opened, enrollment increased dramatically and by 1871, the primary school was so large that it was transferred to the school room at the Episcopal Church. In 1901, when Clark Grade School opened, the old school became the high school and remained in use until 1966. The school is now home to the Gilpin History Museum.

St. James Methodist Church

St. James is both the oldest Protestant church organization (founded in 1859) and oldest Protestant church building still in use in Colorado. The building was constructed in stages from 1863 and completed in 1872. Because of the terrain, the church is built into the hillside. The interior features a pipe organ installed in 1899, which was operated by water power until 1932.

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Gilpin County Courthouse

Built in 1900, this still serves as a county building today. Designed by Denver architectural firm Baerresen Bros & Son, the building’s architecture is reminiscent of the Italian Villa style. The stone came from a quarry in Fort Collins and brick from kilns in Golden.

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Thomas House

Thomas House is located in the historic downtown of Central City at 209 Eureka Street. Archibald J. Van Deren built it in a mix of Greek Revival and Gabled Ill styles. Constructed in 1867, Thomas House, now a museum, is uniquely frozen in time.

Marcia and Benjamin Thomas owned the house from 1897 to 1944 and passed it down through the family until 1987, when the family sold it and converted it into a museum. Luckily, the family honored history, so the home and most of its contents are original. Walking through Thomas House is truly like walking through a time capsule.

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Central City Opera House

The oldest opera house in Colorado, this building was designed by Colorado’s first licensed architect, Robert S. Roeschlaub. Ceiling murals by San Francisco artist John Massman decorate the interior. The opera house opened in March 1878 with performances by the Amateur Dramatic Company. Between 1878 and 1927, innumerable operas, plays, and celebrity acts graced the stage. With the decline of mining, the opera house closed, but was restored and reopened in 1932 with a production of “Camille” starring Lillian Gish. Since then, it has been famous for its summer series of operas and theater festivals.

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Washington Hall

This is the oldest continuously used public building in the state of Colorado. Sheriff William Z. Cozens built it at the insistence of his wife, Mary York, who was tired of having “inmates” handcuffed to furniture in their home. Cozens used hand-hewn logs to construct a jail (1862) and a courtroom (1864). Washington Hall has served as courthouse, jail, recorder’s and clerk’s offices, public meeting house, city council chamber, and Fire Department headquarters. Currently, Gilpin Arts and Gilpin Historical Society occupy the building.

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Teller Law Office

Henry Teller, one of Central City’s most illustrious residents, built this office in 1862 for his law practice. Originally located across the street where the Teller House now stands, the structure was moved just before hotel construction in 1871. Teller became the first president of the Colorado Central Railroad, owner of the Teller House and several other buildings in town, president of the Rocky Mountain National Bank, and president of the Rocky Mountain Telegraph Company. He was elected to the United States Senate in 1877 and served until 1906 except for a brief term as Secretary of the Interior under President Chester A. Arthur.

Williams Stables

Built in 1876 for use by guests at the Teller House, the stables were purchased by Sheriff Dick Williams in 1880 and he operated them with son Oscar (also a Gilpin County Sheriff). Acquired by the Opera Association in 1953, the stables are used for rehearsals, recitals, and Peak-to-Peak Player shows.

Register Block

This building was constructed in 1862 to house the Daily Miner’s Register, which evolved into the Weekly Register Call, the oldest continuously published newspaper in Colorado. The paper has never missed an issue since 1862. The presses installed in the 1860s are still located on the second floor. The third floor was added in December 1864 specifically for use as a Masonic Temple, and still houses Central Lodge #6 today. On the side of the building adjacent to the staircase up to East 1st High, the windows still flaunt the steel shutters required of all commercial buildings after the 1874 fire.

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Morse Block

Prior to the 1874 fire, the log cabin office and residence of Judge Harley B. Morse, a lawyer, mine owner, probate judge, and prominent Gilpin County resident was on this site. Within nine days of the fire, Morse erected a new brick building. Upon completion, Cohen & Bernstein opened a clothing store, the only clothier in town after the fire.

The Pharmacy

A pharmacy operated on this site from the early 1860s until the 1970s. Artifacts can be found at the Gilpin History Museum. The most notable owner was Englishman John Best, who operated the pharmacy from 1865 to 1891. After the 1874 fire, Best refitted the gutted first floor, added a second story, and attached the City’s first cast iron storefront, ordered from T.R. Pullis of St. Louis. Best incorporated a soda fountain in 1875, and began to sell mining supplies as well as medicines at the store.

St Mary of the Assumption Catholic Church

Father J.P. Machebeuf conducted the first mass in Gregory Gulch in 1860. In 1861, St. Mary of the Assumption started as a Mission Parish of St. Mary’s in Denver. The cornerstone for the church building was laid in 1872, but construction was delayed due to mining slumps and funding problems. Services were conducted in the stone basement, which became known as St. Patrick’s Church, until the remainder of the Gothic Revival-style church building was completed in 1893.