A history of Leadville,
since 1877
Postcards, papers and photographs of Leadville from public archives, woven together by decade. Neighbors fill in the gaps.
The story
from WikipediaRead it all ↗The Leadville area was first settled in 1859 when placer gold was discovered by A. G. Kelley in California Gulch, and by Abe Lee in April (25/26) 1860, during the Pikes Peak Gold Rush. Prospectors panned for gold in the stream that ran through California Gulch in what became the town of Oro City (oro is the Spanish word for gold). Horace Tabor, who became known as the "Leadville Silver King", and his wife Augusta were among the first prospectors to arrive in Oro City. Horace was appointed as the postmaster of Oro City on November 30, 1868. His wife made money as postmistress, banker, cook, and laundress while Tabor was a prospector.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Timeline
built from the dates on the items belowFinish Leadville’s story
Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.
3 of 10 decades since 1900 have photos 🔁Retake an old viewBird's eye view of Leadville, Lak…, 1879: stand where they stood+15 📦Share a family photoSign in to add one+10Famous people from Leadville
See all 17 →
Leadville, decade by decade
CommonsPanoramic view of Leadville in 1912, looking west. Behind t…1912
CommonsOlden Times in Colorado - A Rich Farm on the Mountain Top1916
CommonsOlden Times in Colorado - Leadville in its infancy1916
CommonsOlden Times in Colorado - Signatures of the Committee of Sa…1916
CommonsOlden Times in Colorado - Signatures of the Committee of Sa…1916
CommonsOlden Times in Colorado - Types of Leadville Young Men in 1…1916![Colorado [Adams County - Las Animas County (part)]](https://images.towntapestry.org/story/1803/a1046b8ecab2452ca170-s.jpg)
![Colorado [Adams County - Las Animas County (part)]](https://images.towntapestry.org/story/1803/c41c257eb7707f2152c9-s.jpg)
1990s
5 historic places in Leadville
5 places in Leadville are on the National Register of Historic Places, the country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving. One is a National Historic Landmark, the highest tier, which fewer than 3% of listings reach.
Where they are
When they were listed
Then & now
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as Bird's eye view of Leadville, Lake County, Colo. 1879 (1879) and it appears here side by side.
🔁 Retake this view · +15Stories next door
nearby towns’ historyFrom Wikimedia Commons (15) and the Library of Congress (3). Images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.