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Central City, CO

City of Central, Colorado
Central City
Home Rule Municipality
The Teller House
The Teller House
Nickname(s): The Richest Square Mile on Earth
Location of Central City in Clear Creek County and Gilpin County, Colorado.
Location of Central City in Clear Creek County and Gilpin County, Colorado.
Coordinates: 39°47′45″N 105°30′53″W / 39.795790°N 105.514835°W / 39.795790; -105.514835Coordinates: 39°47′45″N 105°30′53″W / 39.795790°N 105.514835°W / 39.795790; -105.514835
Country United States
State Colorado
Counties Gilpin, Clear Creek
Settled 1859
Incorporated June 12, 1886
Government
 • Type Home Rule Municipality
Area
 • Total 2.45 sq mi (6.34 km2)
 • Land 2.45 sq mi (6.34 km2)
 • Water 0.00 sq mi (0.00 km2)
Elevation 8,510 ft (2,594 m)
Population (2010)
 • Total 663
 • Estimate (2016) 733
 • Density 299.43/sq mi (115.60/km2)
Time zone MST (UTC-7)
 • Summer (DST) MDT (UTC-6)
ZIP Code 80427 (PO Box)
Area code(s) Both 303 and 720
FIPS code 08-12910
GNIS feature ID 0181484
Website www.centralcitycolorado.us

The City of Central, commonly known as Central City, is the Home Rule Municipality in Gilpin and Clear Creek counties that is the county seat and the most populous municipality of Gilpin County, Colorado, United States. The city population was 663 at the 2010 United States Census. The city is a historic mining settlement founded in 1859 during the Pike's Peak Gold Rush and came to be known as the "Richest Square Mile on Earth". Central City and the adjacent city of Black Hawk form the federally designated Central City/Black Hawk Historic District. The city is now a part of the Denver-Aurora-Lakewood, CO Metropolitan Statistical Area.

On May 6, 1859, during the Pike's Peak Gold Rush, John H. Gregory found a gold-bearing vein (the Gregory Lode) in Gregory Gulch between Black Hawk and Central City. Within two months many other veins were discovered, including the Bates, Gunnell, Kansas, and Burroughs. By 1860, as many as 10,000 prospectors had flocked to the town, then known as Mountain City, and surrounding prospects, but most soon left, many returning east. The 1900 census showed 3,114 people.

The year 1863 brought the first attempt by hard rock miners to form a hard rock miners' union. Of 125 miners signing a union resolution in Central City, about fifty broke windows and doors at the Bob Tail mine, forcing other workers out. After a night of shooting and fighting, the union effort among Central City miners failed.

Many Chinese lived in Central City during the early days working the placer deposits of Gregory Gulch. They were forbidden work in the underground mines. Most of them are believed to have returned to China after making their stake.


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