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Leadville
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Standing at an elevation of over ten thousand feet, south of I-70 and eighty miles west of Denver, the wonderfully atmospheric old mining town of
LEADVILLE
is the highest incorporated city in the US, with a magnificent view across to broad-shouldered, ice-laden mounts
Elbert
(14,433ft) and
Massive
(14,421ft), Colorado's two highest peaks. As you approach from the south, your first impression is likely to be of giant slag heaps and disused mining sheds, but don't let this put you off: Leadville is rich in character and romance, its old redbrick streets abounding with tales of gunfights, miners dying of exposure and graveyards being excavated to get at the seams.
In the light of this, visiting Leadville's rambling National Mining Hall of Fame and Museum , 120 W Ninth St (summer daily 9am-5pm; rest of year Mon-Fri 10am-2pm; $3), is a patchy experience: skip the baffling dioramas and outdated mine-shaft models in favor of the lurid globs of precious minerals and the atmospheric old photos of weather-beaten prospectors and rough-and-ready sluicers. For a more illuminating romp through the town's grim early history, head for the Heritage Museum , just around the corner at 102 E Ninth St (summer daily 10am-6pm; $2.50). Glass cases hold snippets on local fraternal organizations, quack doctors, music-hall stars and the like, while a host of smoky photographs portray the lawless boomtown that in two years grew from a mining camp of 200 people into Colorado's second largest city. Of all Leadville's extraordinary tales, perhaps the most compelling is that of Horace Tabor , a storekeeper who supplied goods to prospectors in exchange for a share in potential profits, and hit lucky when two prospectors developed a silver mine that produced $20 million inside a year. Tabor collected a one-third share and left his wife to marry local waitress " Baby Doe " McCourt in the socialite wedding of 1883 in Washington, DC, attended by President Chester Arthur. By the time of his death in 1899, Tabor was financially ruined. Baby Doe survived Tabor by 36 years, living a hermit-like existence in the godforsaken wooden outhouses on his only remaining mine - the Matchless Mine . The buildings still stand, two miles out on Seventh Street, and in the crude wooden shack in which she died, emaciated and frostbitten, guides recount the story of Baby Doe's bizarre life in full, fascinating detail (daily 9am-4.15pm; $3). Also on Seventh Street is the Leadville, Colorado & Southern Scenic Railroad , (depot at 326 E 7th St; $27; tel 719/486-3936), which takes passengers on a two-and-a-half-hour scenic trip to Fremont Pass.
Back in town, don't miss the
Tabor Opera House
, 308 Harrison Ave (Sun-Fri 9am-5.30pm; $4), where you're free to wander onto the stage, through the ranks of red velvet and gilt seats, and around the eerie, dusty old dressing rooms, while recorded oral histories tell tales of the theater's golden days. They give no details, sadly, of the time in 1882 when Oscar Wilde, garbed in black velvet knee britches and diamonds, addressed a host of dozing miners on the "Practical Application of the Aesthetic Theory to Exterior and Interior House Decoration with Observations on Dress and Personal Ornament." Other useful information
for tourists (each section contains more specific sub-sections): |
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United States,
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