I’ll readily admit to having an ongoing love affair with Black Hawk and Central City. Both have been such a huge part of my life from the very first moment I saw them. I very fondly remember begging Susanne Staruk to hire me for a job at the old Glory Hole Saloon. I remember drinking the evening away with friends at Crook’s Palace, until the bartender would wise up and toss us all out. The party, of course, would simply move to another accommodating establishment much to the chagrin of those we were about to rowdily invade.

When signatures were being gathered to get Amendment 4 on the ballot, I talked up the prospects of gaming to everyone who crossed my path while I stood at the Glory Hole door. I like to feel that I, along with so many others, did our part for the future prosperity of Black Hawk and Central City. We knew that gaming would offer year-round employment and business opportunities. Twenty years later those opportunities still exist, only on a much different and larger scale.

During the gaming transition it was incredible to see the changes that were taking place right before our very eyes. It’s not often that anyone can witness the rapid force of change on a level that took place the year prior to “Opening Day.” At times it seemed as if the entirety of Black Hawk was under reconstruction or rehabilitation all at the same time.

Opening Day came and went, new people arrived and moved on, openings and closings occurred, property changed hands with the speed of a Monopoly board game and gaming itself eventually settled down into what we see today. As with any new industry some mistakes were made during those very early years, sometimes it seemed that the “learning curve” was really a 90 degree angle. But more importantly a tremendous amount of positive things came along with the few disappointments. The three gaming host communities had been given the chance of rebirth, restoration and rehabilitation, some took it but others did not. The City of Black Hawk was one that took those chances and challenges, thriving in the process.

Much has been made of and said about Black Hawk and gaming. Quite a bit of that has been negative and offered up by those that have either forgotten what existed and/or didn’t exist in Black Hawk before gaming. There are those that mistakenly say history was bulldozed and destroyed, forgetting that the existing trailer park was never quite “historic.” Some forget that the Gilpin Hotel had become a burned out shell that was in danger of total collapse. Or that the very few remaining historic business properties and extremely deteriorated residences had become little more than archeological digs, or so neglected they were fire traps just waiting for disaster to happen. Also forgotten was that Black Hawk’sMain Streetwas a dirt road that was rutted out when wet, pot holed and dusty when dry, and impossible to deal with when frozen. At the time, some 75% of Black Hawk’s “historic stock” was all located within the small residential areas. Time had been exceptionally cruel and the little that did remain wasn’t going to last for very much longer. The revenue stream from our newly implemented industry was about to change all that with the decay, neglect and ruin soon to be polished away.

When gaming first began, Black Hawk had an annual budget of just around $125,000. And that was after checking all the couch cushions for lost change just to keep the City
operational. One joke at the time was that the City’s assets included a car that wouldn’t start, a set of keys that no one was sure what they went to, and a flashlight that only had one battery.

During the past 20 years Black Hawk has stayed focused on building and encouraging our singular industry. The ultimate goal is for Black Hawk to be a destination resort community, synonymous with places such as Aspen, Vail, and Steamboat Springs – places easily recognized as being “Colorado.” That goal becomes more certain with each passing year. Presently, Black Hawk has about 74% of the gaming market share and is providing the bulk of all gaming taxes paid to the state.Coloradogaming itself is now a $2.2 billion dollar annual GNP forColorado, producing some 27,000 direct jobs with each of those creating an additional 1.5 non-direct jobs. Within 20 years Black Hawk has risen to the top of the market and became its own economic engine providingColoradowith a sustained and growing revenue stream that will only increase in the future.

In this first 20 years Black Hawk has embarked upon a city-wide revitalization project that continues to this day. Our infrastructure, water and gas lines have been upgraded, electric lines placed underground, and unsightly telephone poles being removed. Residential streets have been paved and new streetlights added. The Post Office, Credit Union, and Sanitation District office also have a new home in a redeveloped commercial area. And our Historic Preservation Grant Program is restoring and rehabilitating all of our historic structures, making it possible for them to last another 100 years and keep our history alive and continuing. Some structures that had decayed over the decades to the point of being barely worth kindling were purchased, moved toMountainCityand restored, also preserving them for the future. Our City’s continuing projects include the revitalization ofGregory Street(beginning in 2012) that will see it transform into a new commercial district, using existing historic properties that will bring additional non-gaming businesses, jobs and opportunities to Black Hawk.

The City of Black Hawk has not dodged its civic duties and responsibilities either. As it became more and more difficult for our Gilpin County RE-1 Schools to continue with ever limited funding, the probability existed that our school district might have to be absorbed by other entities. If that were to happen, local property taxes would have skyrocketed and made it difficult for averageGilpinCountyresidents to continue to be able to afford to live here and would have put a huge damper on any future growth. The City of Black Hawk had a different idea that would help keep those property taxes low and asked city voters to approve a 1.5% Educational Enhancement Sales Tax that to date has provided over $1.6 million dollars in additional and continuing funding for the school district. This also insures that our local children receive the best education possible prior to college. One hope would be that those children will at some point return toGilpinCountyand our communities, possibly taking advantage of the employment opportunities provided by our industry. It is always amazing to speak with industry leaders and managers and learn how so many began their careers parking cars or working in the restaurants as they climbed the company ladder.

At 20 years it’s easy to look back and question some of the early day decisions, but the economic progress and the benefits our industry has brought to Black Hawk and our residents are impossible to ignore. While other places and people may not fully appreciate what has been done, none can say it hasn’t been a worthwhile endeavor. If the past 20 years are any indication of how the next 20 years will go, I would venture to say “we haven’t seen anything yet!”

About the author

Greg Moates is a long-time resident of Black Hawk, serves on the Black Hawk Board of Aldermen, and also serves on the Gilpin County Ambulance Board.

Finally At Rest With A Proper Tombstone

An unusual cemetery observance held the limelight on Saturday, November 12, in Fairmount Cemetery. A Madam’s grave was officially recognized with an elegant stone while a crowd of about two dozen Gilpin County residents, in Victorian dress, honored her. Lou Bunch would have been pleased with the recognition by the Gilpin County Historical Society (GCHS), Fortune Valley Casino, and the Sportin’ House Girls of Central City.

Most readers of the Weekly Register-Call will recognize the name of the last madam to depart Central City because of the annual Lou Bunch Day in her honor, but it took Dave Forsyth, Director of the GCHS, to research her life and death and learn that her grave in Fairmount Cemetery was unmarked. Forsyth felt that such a well-known figure in Central City’s history should have a gravestone to honor her and he shared that sentiment with Dean Dilullo, General Manager of Fortune Valley Casino, at last summer’s Lou Bunch Day. Dilullo offered to pay for a stone.

Forsyth worked with Diana Kandt, Advance Planning Counselor for Fairmount Cemetery, to order the stone, and Kandt attended the ceremony. She undoubtedly enjoyed this non-routine request. Most of the crowd consisted of Central City Sportin’ House Girls, Desperados, and Dandy Dan’s who make the annual Lou Bunch Day such a colorful celebration.

Forsyth opened the observance with an outline of Lou’s life, including the fact that she is surrounded in eternal rest by three other Central City ‘Hill’ residents: Madam Lizzie Thomas, Madam May Martin, and Fred Warwick – the husband of both the other madams. Dilullo and Sandra Hines, organizer of the Sportin’ House Girls, unveiled the stone as the guys and girls surrounded it. The crowd then feasted on a tableful of bagels, pastries, and juice donated by Panini’s.

Lou was a parlor house girl first, beginning in Denver about 1877. She made the almost-unheard of leap to a madam in 1885 and continued in that profession until the reform movement in 1916 closed the parlor houses and brothels in all of Colorado. From 1899 to 1916 she plied her trade in Central City, but the reform movement led to her switching her profession to running a boarding house, supposedly a legitimate boarding house, in Denver when she left Central City.

Lou died in 1935 and is buried in Lot 77, not far from the entrance to historic Fairmount Cemetery. If wanting to visit, an Information Center inside the main entrance will guide you to her gravesite.

Everything old is new again – almost

  On September 14, 2011, Paul Pappert, of White Construction Group, opened the doors of a home in Black Hawk and invited city officials, local residents and other guests to come inside. More than a hundred years ago, the home’s owner might have invited guests to enter via the very same doors. The house at 161 Marchant Street was built in 1888. It had recently undergone rehabilitation funded by a Black Hawk historic preservation grant and White Construction was hosting an Open House.

  Black Hawk’s Historic Preservation program requires preservation of as much of the original structure and architectural features as possible. Pappert pointed out the original wooden doors as folks passed through. The doors were in good shape, one of the few things from the original structure that survived. They had been refurbished with new hardware and Pappert said they’d had to remake parts of the trim to match the door’s original features. That’s all just part of restoring historic structures.

  Also part of restoration, at least in the case of 161 Marchant Street, was removing contaminants: asbestos, lead paint, mold and radon. The house was being used as a rental property by owners, JT Enterprises (John Thilmont and Mary Sutton), subsidized under the federally funded Section 8 program as low-income housing. It had last housed a family who had been living in a tent at a campsite in the forest. Due to a lack of maintenance, and then discovery of the contaminants, City staff had determined the house was no longer habitable. It sat empty, awaiting its turn for rehabilitation under the grant program.

  The design work for the project was approved in April, 2010 with a budget of $59,650. PEH Architects delivered construction documents to the city council in August and final approval for the scope of work was given in October 2010. Last January, White Construction won the bid to rehabilitate the 161 Marchant Street property as part of a two-property rehabilitation project. The total budget for both properties was set by the council at $724,150. The other property, 195 Clear Creek Street, is also owned by JT Enterprises.

  Black Hawk has drawn criticism in the past for the amount of historic preservation money spent on individual private properties. Mayor David Spellman and the members of several city councils have consistently defended the program. They admit the projects are expensive – it often costs more to restore an old home than to build a new one. Contractors say historic properties are notorious for “surprises” – the unexpected construction manner and materials that are uncovered during the process that need to be replaced, adding unanticipated expense. In Black Hawk, many of the homes were built without foundations – Pappert said the 161 Marchant Street home had no footers; the “foundation” was a beam laid across logs. In addition to constructing a stable foundation and laying new concrete entrance steps, White Construction removed the exterior siding and “took the house down to the sticks,” replacing, as needed, the joists, studs, beams, rafters and roof. They reconfigured the interior for more practical, efficient and comfortable living space but rebuilt the exterior to retain its historic appearance.

  The “all in” process is consistent with the direction Black Hawk officials have decided to take their preservation efforts. It’s a process that has evolved after with experience. Rather than expending funds to replace isolated components of a property (for example, the electrical, plumbing and/or heating system, the roof, or foundation), the City now funds rehabilitation of a single property in its entirety; foundation to chimney cap. Property owners may have to wait longer in the line of grant applicants, but they get their properties done all at once, rather than having to piecemeal the work. That means one consolidated time of construction mess rather than numerous episodes for the home owner. It also works better, administratively, for the city’s staff who handle the paperwork for the process – from reviewing the applications, to putting the projects out to bid, to inspections and certificates of occupancy. They had dealt with 161 Marchant before; Black Hawk’s preservation program had previously funded $91,971 for work to the property in 1997-1999. Now, by taking care of a structure all at once, city staff and officials don’t have to keep dealing with the same properties over and over.

  Members of the Black Hawk City Council wandered through the 1,200 square foot, two-story home, remarking on the improvements and recalling the rooms as they’d been before rehabilitation. Two display boards offered plenty of “before” pictures for comparison. From the kitchen at one end, through the dining room and living room to the bedroom (with his and her closets) on the first floor, they admired the new hard-wood floors, freshly painted walls and detailed trim on the woodwork. The bathroom had been relocated to an area that council members said had previously been “a dank cellar.” The former bathroom space, albeit small (approximately 6’ x 6’), had become a windowed room that could serve as an office, play room, or with the addition of a couple of shelving units, storage. An open staircase had been created, dividing the dining and living rooms and leading to an upstairs bedroom under the eaves. Outside, a deteriorating stairway that had climbed the steeply sloped back yard to a storage shed, was replaced. The shed was stabilized. All of the utility lines had been buried out of sight behind the property’s picturesque rock retaining wall.

  Sutton beamed as she talked with visitors and remarked that she planned to be selective in choosing future renters. Council members, city staff and construction and architectural contractors all seemed happy with the restored home. Black Hawk officials say they are committed to restoring the city’s historic homes; that it’s all about making the homes “livable.” Without comfortable homes, there will be no draw for people to live in Black Hawk and without residents, there will be no community. Preserving that community is important, particularly to some Black Hawk residents whose families go back for generations to the mid-19^th century heyday of the “City of Mills.” The preservation program looks beyond today’s property owners. In describing Black Hawk’s preservation efforts, Mayor Spellman has noted that the value of rehabilitation goes with the property, no matter who owns it now or in the future. Some of the homes that line the streets of Black Hawk have stood for 150 years. With Black Hawk’s restoration goals, says the Mayor, they’ll still be standing – 150 years from now.

Black Hawk Fire Department hosts stair climb at Ameristar Casino

  On Sunday morning, 9/11, fire fighters, police, emergency medical responders, and city officials from Black Hawk, Gilpin County, and surrounding areas gathered at the Ameristar Casino Resort Spa Black Hawk for a Memorial Stair Climb in memory of the lives lost in New York City ten years ago.

  After a brief ceremony and moment of silence where Captain Kevin Martschinske presided, and a prayer by Ameristar employee Sharron Maline was read, the event participants started the climb of 116 stories in the emergency stairwell of the casino.

  Even though the stair climb took place at 8,234 feet above sea level, Trent Ingle was one of the first participants to complete the course in about 30 minutes, with the last participants finishing in a little over an hour. Some of them were wearing t-shirts and shorts, while others were dressed in their firefighting gear. Since the Ameristar isn’t 116 stories tall, the 20 participants made the trip up and down four times, with families and friends cheering them on each leg of the trip at the bottom of the stairs. Daisy Martschinske and Nicole Christian marked each lap on the participants hands as they passed by, though that was probably more of a ceremonial gesture as there was no way a person would forget how many circuits that they had completed! There were bottles of water in the stairwells to ensure that everyone was well hydrated, and nobody passed out. One young lady even cooled off in the rooftop pool on her way back down the stairs on her final lap.

  One of the Black Hawk fire fighters, Jorge Olivas, had flown to NYC two weeks ago to participate in the memorial stair climb there, with around 20,000 participants.

  The Ameristar Casino graciously hosted the event, and even provided a reception afterwards with snacks and beverages.

Presented by the Gilpin County Historical Society

  The program for the September Stroehle House Tea traditionally features a return of some of the Cemetery Crawl Spirits to tell their stories. Four of the Bald Mountain Cemetery Crawl storytellers shared their life-stories in Nevadaville in the 19th and early 20th centuries at the tea on September 10th. The Gilpin County Historical Society gives two High Teas a year in the historic Stroehle House on Chase Street in Black Hawk.

  The event was a sell-out. Guests enjoyed scones, salad, a choice of several tea sandwiches and desserts featuring a variety of fancy cookies and ice cream sundaes. Everything served at the teas is homemade. The busy chef for this tea was Gloria Gaines and the servers, in traditional servant costumes of black and white, were Carol Hulsey, Herman Gaines, Shari Desotel, and Linda Jones.

  The returning “spirits” were Gary Huffman, Herman Gaines, Cora Jean Lenheer, and Neal Standard and their stories featured a miner who was buried underground, a bachelor carpenter who became a grandfather figure, three young brothers left abandoned and on their own in Nevadaville in the 1880s and the most popular man in the county, murdered in his prime.

  Attending a tea in the Stroehle House has a special enticement – enjoying the family’s antique furniture. Next year’s teas will be on the second Saturday in June and September. For more information call the Gilpin County Historical Society at 303-582-5283.

23^rd Annual Cemetery Crawl in Central City

  The Gilpin County Historical Society presented its 23rd Annual Cemetery Crawl on Saturday, August 27 at the Bald Mountain Cemetery. The Crawl is a 90-minute production by 30 volunteers. Stories of pioneer men – miners, a doctor, two sheriffs, a politician, a carpenter and more – and women are shared with each of the groups, as guides chart a course from storyteller to storyteller. Many of the 210 attendees were heard to comment that “This was the best Crawl yet.”  “Every story was so good and the storytellers were all wonderful. No one needed notes – they had everything memorized.”

  County Commissioner Buddy Schmalz, looking elegant in his ‘tails and top hat,’ gave a history of Bald Mountain Cemetery. Central City Mayor Ron Engels, the official Gatekeeper, also looked quite smashing in Victorian garb. The Gatekeeper’s duty is counting the size of each group and introducing each group to their Guide, who will steer them on a designated pattern to hear the storytellers: Children brought to the pioneer town of Nevadaville and abandoned by their parents, a miner trapped underground for 13 days, a disappointed suitor who stayed a bachelor but helped bring up a neighbor’s children, a doctor who traveled throughout the county on horseback to assist anyone and everyone, a beloved former sheriff shot in his prime, an illiterate Irishman who made a huge fortune mining, and many more riveting stories told by the costumed storytellers standing near their tombstones.

  The “Crawl” has been a success for the Society from the beginning and is a major fundraiser for the group. The Society owns four 19th century properties, three of which are open to the public – the Gilpin History Museum, the Thomas House, and the Coeur d’Alene Mine. The Society is committed to sharing Gilpin County’s history with the public although paying the museum guides cost more than admissions bring in. The fundraisers which the Society’s volunteers present, help bridge the cash flow gap between income and outgo. Because of the popularity of the Cemetery Crawl, the Society began the Creepy Crawls two years ago with an entirely different focus – emphasizing ghost stories and murders in Gilpin County in the 19th century. All five Saturday nights in October will host a Central City Creepy Crawl.  

  The volunteers who contributed to this year’s Cemetery Crawl were: Storytellers – Anne Lueddes, Dave Thomas, Alynn & Gary Huffman, Gloria & Herman Gaines, Neal Standard, Chuck Roberts, Jennifer Rogers, Cora Jean Lenheer and Jim Peyrouse. Guides were Gail Keeler, Brittany Schmidli, Chuck Lueddes, Colleen Stewart, Janell & Roy Ince, Karen & Ralph Barnhardt, Deb Wray, Linda Jones and Chris Rogers. Cashiers were Verl Jones, Susan Lobato, Sharon Peyrouse and Suzanne Matthews. Barbara Thielemann and Martie Fast helped with crowd logistics. The 2012 Cemetery Crawl will be on Saturday, August 25 at the IOOF Cemetery above Central City.

Spooks, Inc. provides paranormal insights

  The joke at Central City’s Masonic Lodge (Central 6) on Sunday afternoon was “Tiny Johnson sleeps with pigs.” “Tiny” (a more accurate moniker would be “Big” Bill Johnson) is the expert operator of the six-foot long cylindrical contraption (the “Ford Craig Road Kill Crematorium”) wherein two full hogs were slow roasted for the Mason’s annual pig roast fundraiser.  The process takes at least 18 hours and the charcoal-fueled “Crematorium” temperature must be maintained at a constant 200 degrees for the duration. That meant Johnson had spent his night sleeping, albeit episodically, in his vehicle parked behind the lodge next to his roaster-and hence the joke. The proof of the process is in the tasting- later experienced by a lodge full of visitors who savored the pork, barbecue beans, coleslaw, rolls and several choices of beverage provided by ladies of the Golden Queen Eastern Star Lodge, the women’s branch of the Masonic family tree. As an alternative to roast pork, some of the children opted for hot dogs. Cookies and cupcakes followed as dessert, and tours of the lodge and historic second floor print shop followed the feast.

  Central City is home to a unique lodge. While other lodges around the world now use slide shows to depict Masonic teachings, Central 6 members just point to their walls. Eight frescoes, dating back to the 1860’s contain the allegorical symbols and Masonic and Knights Templar emblems. The original artist, John Glendenning, painted six of the eight frescoes so they appear three-dimensional. (A geometric compass, the symbol of Masonry worldwide, painted in one of the frescoes appears to be lying on an open Bible. An alerted visitor moved about the large lodge room; the compass point followed, always indicating the observer’s position.) Curious visitors speculated about the sometimes odd or strange combination of items depicted in the frescoes. The architectural references, such as the Ionic, Doric and Corinthian columns, are obvious (Freemasonry has its roots in the stone mason guilds of Europe). But there are layers of deeper Masonic meanings associated with each one.  An oil painting of George Washington, dominating one wall of the lodge, is also Glendenning’s work.

  The lodge occupies the third story of the building-an 1865 addition the Masons built on to the then two-story “Daily Register” building. The historic print shop of the Weekly Register-Call, from the days when Laird and Marlow were the publishers, still exists on the second floor. Tours of that floor featured the massive iron press, the linotype machine and ancillary equipment which once operated in a world of clamor, ink and hot lead. The Masons are now gathering historical data with the idea to one day open the print shop as a museum. They have occasionally opened the shop for private tours, including a group of paranormal investigators, Spooks, Incorporated. Dori  Spence, Spooks director and parapsychologist with over 30 years of experience in the field, made a brief presentation during the print shop tour, telling visitors about the various spirits she had encountered in there, and the areas of inexplicably high energy readings her crew had measured with Electromagnetic Field Meters (EMF’s).  Spence explained the way she works and how she had been able to verify some of her experiences through research with archival documents, local residents and family members connected to the sites she’s investigated. Central 6 Masons have given Spooks exclusive access to the local Masonic cemetery on November 1^st – the date when the spirit known locally as the “Lady in Black” is said to be seen visiting the grave of John Cameron. Cameron died in 1887 and the “Lady” has been local legend for over 125 years. Spooks members have planned a reenactment presentation and a sunset ghost walk on November 1^st. (For more information email Spence at spiritconnections@msn.com.)  The Mason’s donate use of their first floor commercial space to Ermel’s Thrift Shop.

  Last month the Central City Council awarded historic preservation grant funds ($26,240) for foundation work on the Masonic building. Water draining from somewhere above the structure has been undermining the foundation for years. The Masons had paid for the engineering of improvements several years ago, but had lacked the funding to proceed. The grant money will help with the immediate need of shoring up the foundation.  The larger problem, said Grand Master Ashley Buss, is identifying where the water that’s doing the damage is coming from. In 1865, it cost the Masons $10,850 to build their lodge. It’s estimated that stabilizing the building’s structure, replacing the heating system and bringing the electrical and plumbing systems up to code will take more than $2 million.

  Masonic support of the local community includes the free child identification program offered at Gilpin County’s annual fair; scholarships to Gilpin youth and sponsoring young musicians to the annual band camp at the University of Northern Colorado. Additionally, Central 6 hosts the annual cherry pie feast for school children (to coincide with George Washington’s birthday).  Lodge members enjoy talking with prospective new members. Visit http://centrallodge6.org to learn more.

History in Black Hawk

Family lore has it that my Great Grandfather, Edward Sylvanus Blake, came to Gilpin County, Colorado right after the Civil War and ran the livery stable on Gregory Street. Little did I know when I started this project that Ed S. was always a livery man, a teamster, or an expressman—but not always on Gregory Street in Black Hawk.

In my research, it became necessary to marvel at the tenacity of the people who headed west when gold was discovered in Colorado. It was an adventure into the unknown via oxen, mule or horse driven wagons and carts through Nebraska or Kansas. Ownership of wagons and the animals to pull them were critical. The liveries provided the animals, man power and equipment necessary to haul the tons of timber, machinery and supplies to the mines and the ore back to the mills in Black Hawk. Roads and streets were rough because of the terrain and the rocky ground. Mud was a huge factor as were ice and snow. Residents often had their own horses and wagons; others walked or rented such conveyances from a livery stable.

The livery stable on Gregory Street was located below Church Street and across from what once was Otto’s Casino and Black Forest Inn. Its story probably parallels that of other businesses in Black Hawk after the discovery of gold in 1859. Prior to the opening of this stable, the original owner, Mr. William Germain, had some sort of livery on Main Street. From that livery, he had a passenger wagon which he ran between Black Hawk and Central City.

William Germain and his brother, Hector, received four city lots on Gregory Street from the City of Black Hawk in 1870 and built the barn and other buildings which led to the opening of the livery business. An advertisement that year read: “Livery, Feed and Sales Stable, Gregory St., Black Hawk. Elegant turn-outs with or without drivers. A fine carriage is kept constantly on the streets, at service of citizens and tourists, also found at the Colorado Central Railroad Depot upon arrival of the train.”

All must have gone well for the Germains from 1870 to 1878 because there was no mention of that particular stable in the local newspapers or transactions entered into the files of the Gilpin County Clerk and Recorder. By 1885, William was listed as the sole owner of the livery property and business.

The ore wagon was the mainstay for income for all the livery businesses in the area. Even though the Gilpin Tramway began operating in 1888, it did not reach all of the mines. Ore hauling was still a major business as was the hauling of mining machinery, timber and supplies.

Germain must have started having problems because he failed to pay his property taxes to Gilpin County in 1878, 1880 and 1881. However, he was continuing to operate the stable when on April 24, 1884, about one hundred feet of Church Street in front of the F.G. Nagle residence caved in and covered up a part of  his barn and filled the yards near the barn with rock.

The City Council of Black Hawk was very busy deciding how best to repair the wall. Numerous meetings were held and the decision was made to advertise for bids to rebuild the wall; one of the aldermen happened to be William Germain.

And this is where Edward S. Blake, my great grandfather, who also happened to be an alderman, moved that the bid of D. Houck be accepted. A discussion was held about the Church Street wall. Alderman Germain had announced that he would not allow the use of his lots by the contractor unless he received one dollar per day for the use of the ground while the wall was being rebuilt. Mr. Houck was unwilling to pay that amount. Alderman Blake then made the motion the City would pay for the rock which Mr.  A. Stephenson had already quarried, and the City proceeded to have Stephenson erect the wall.

After this final decision was made, William Germain presented a statement in the amount of $454.23 to cover damages he sustained when the wall caved in. He owed the City $304.23 in unpaid real estate taxes up to January 1, 1884. It was agreed that if Germain paid the $304.23 then he would be reimbursed the $454.23.

While the wall was being built, Edward S. Blake, the expressman, was hauling rock to be used behind the wall.  On June 13, 1884, he had his nine year old son Osgood riding with him. The horses became “fractious” and Osgood was thrown from the wagon and landed under the wheels which ran over his right leg and left arm. His injuries were slow to heal and his arm had to be re-broken before it was usable. This had to have been a very traumatic accident for both Edward and Osgood.

The Weekly Register-Call reported on April 13, 1894 that William Germain was no longer the owner of the livery stable on Gregory Street. A Mr. John Bitzer of Central City was now the proprietor. He hired George McLeod to help him with the business. A month later, John Bitzer and Joseph Waldhardt traveled to “the valley” to buy stock and equipment for the livery stable.

On May 25, 1894, the Weekly Register-Call ran a new advertisement for John Bitzer for the Black Hawk Livery, Feed and Sales Stables. It stated that the “stock, buggies and carriages are all new, he is a dealer in wood and coal and will pay special attention to all orders for expressing. Terms are liberal and there is a telephone connection.”

John Bitzer sold the livery stable and stock to Edward S. Blake in April of 1899 and by the next month a new floor was being installed in the barn.

Edward Sylvanus Blake had a long history in Black Hawk as a livery man and teamster. He came to Black Hawk in 1866 and owned land on Dory Hill near the cemetery and was listed as a farmer in the 1870 census. In 1872 he married Katie Carr who had arrived in Black Hawk in 1861 when she was nine years old. They purchased their Black Hawk home on Clear Creek Street in 1877. Edward was listed as being in Leadville working as a teamster in the 1880 census. He also had other liveries, one on Main Street and for many years he operated from his barn which was located in front of his house on Clear Creek Street.

Edward’s sons Otto M. and Harry worked with Edward. There were other employees as indicated in the ledgers that remain today.

The Colorado State Business Directory for 1903 had the following advertisement: “ED. S. BLAKE & SON Proprietors of the Black Hawk Livery, Feed and Sale Stable. Special attention given to transportation to outside camps and expressing of all kinds. Phone Central 30.”

Edward’s wife Katie died on May 29, 1904. On July 1, 1904 there was a notice in the Weekly Register-Call: “Having sold my interest in the livery stable previously known as Blake and Son to my son Otto M. Blake, I desire to thank the public for their past  courtesies in the shape of trade and ask for continuance of the same favors to my successor. Edward S. Blake, June 27, 1904.”

In 1909 the Blake Livery Barn was painted red with green trim.

The Colorado Business Directory for 1911 advertised: “Black Hawk Livery, Feed and Sale Stable—Otto M. Blake and Harry S. Blake Proprietors.”

Harry bought and sold mining property and helped his brother operate the livery. Otto added a Texaco gas pump to the livery in 1922. This was the same year in which Edward S Blake died.

The January 2, 1925 issue of the Weekly Register-Call printed the following: “Happy New Year’s Greetings from the Blake Brothers, the Pioneer Livery Stable of Black Hawk. We take this method of thanking the community for the generous business given us
during this past year and hope to merit the same during the present year. Nothing will be left undone to attend to the wants of the public and courtesy and fair treatment to all is the motto of this establishment. We conduct a complete livery business, are prepared to do hauling of all kinds, and make a specialty of moving heavy machinery, guarantying careful and speedy work at reasonable figures. Whenever you need any work in our line, we will appreciate your orders.  Otto and Harry Blake”

Eventually, Otto M. Blake sold his five and a half lots on Gregory Street to Wilhelm Lorenz. In 1961 the barn was torn down and replaced with a parking lot. The two small buildings on the lots are original buildings dating back to the 1870’s.

The history of what became the Blake Livery and that of the Blake Family proved to be quite interesting. The research has introduced me and others to many members of the extended family which will lead to other articles to be printed in the future. I want to thank David Spellman for his many hours researching the Weekly Register-Call archives and Gilpin County records and C.J. Backus for her research for and editing of this article.

St. James Methodist Church in Central City

St. James traditionally observes its anniversary the second Sunday in July with a “Homecoming” celebration. Two Methodist missionaries began the St. James congregation on the second weekend in July, 1859, on the corner of Main and Eureka Streets. Members and visitors alike were encouraged to wear Victorian dress for Homecoming and this year a large proportion of the congregation was decked out in flowery hats, long skirts, top hats and other Victorian costume necessities. Different aspects of the early life of the
church in Central City are featured each year and this year’s emphasis was on the beginnings of ragtime and jazz in Central City. The book “Holladay Street” notes that W. C. Handy, in a letter to Fred Mazzulla, traces the beginnings of ragtime and jazz to the bands in Central City which played slow, mournful hymns for the funeral parades from the town to the cemeteries above town. After stops at the Rocky Mountain Brewery on the way down for the next funeral, the bands “jazzed up” the hymns considerably! At the beginning of the Homecoming service, readers Marianne Nielson and Jim Peyrouse shared quotes from the book to lay the foundation for the service. Then famed ragtime pianist Dick Kroeckel provided the music throughout the service on the old 1868 piano. There was a lot of foot-tapping and clapping and swaying in the old church, and Colleen and Jimmy Stewart, among others, danced in the aisle.

Rhys Lloyd Talbot provided an a cappella solo, as he has graciously done for services this summer. The congregation of St. James feels blessed by this Opera Apprentice and the depth and beauty of his voice.

The centerpiece of the Fellowship Hour following the service was – of course – a birthday cake to celebrate the majestic old lady’s 152nd birthday. May she celebrate many more to come!

At the July 17^th Independence Parade celebration

Rollinsville has celebrated its independence from John Quincy Adams Rollins every summer since 1885. Rollins owned the entire town prior to around that time when he began to loosen his grip. The San Francisco Chronicle described quite an inebriated  orchlight parade that year in celebration of “independence.” The writer was on a western trip to write “local color” and included the fact that Rollinsville was celebrating its independence, especially with liquor by the drink.

J. Q. A. Rollins had held the town in tight reign and since he owned everything he could make the rules. But was he disliked? Possibly he was disliked because he wouldn’t sell anyone their home. All were renters. He banned prostitution and liquor by the drink.  e even banned late night card playing and billiards. The irony is that he was quite the gambler and billiard player himself.

Rollins and the Famous Billiard Game

  The longest billiard game in Colorado history took place between Rollins and banker Charles Cook in a billiard hall in Denver in 1866. The two rivals agreed to play until one of them gave up. The first man out would have to forfeit $1,000 to the one still standing. They began playing at three in the afternoon. Rollins gave away 20 points in each game of 100. He was that sure of himself. Cook lost game after game until midnight. Rollins was obviously tired, so Cook raised the stakes to $800 per game and Rollins agreed. It was about an hour or two before dawn when the game shifted and Rollins began winning. Much of Denver was watching the game and some stores even closed so their owners could watch as the scores were posted. Rollins stayed ahead in the long run. Finally,  fter 33 hours of play Rollins called it quits and paid his $1,000 dollars. He could afford to do that since he was ahead by $11,000. One has to wonder if the inhabitants of Rollinsville were irked to see that they couldn’t even play games of chance when their owner
was famously playing down in Denver.

A rich man, but was he unjust?

  It’s hard to imagine just how rich Rollins was. He built a showy two-story whitewashed house on Main Street and kept a fine team of horses in the building which is now the Stage Stop. Both his first and his second wives were always turned out in the finest and he sported expensive suits. He profited greatly from his holdings in Gold Dirt up gamble gulch. There he owned a stamp mill and many feet of gold veins. In fact, Chocolate Dan, well known mining historian, estimated that Rollins may have owned around three or four hundred placer claims, 30,000 feet of gold veins or more, and several quartz mills. His 16 stamp mill in Gold Dirt was said to have cost $20,000, though Dan estimated the cost at somewhat less than that.  Some estimates of the Gold Dirt population in
the 1880s are as high as three hundred miners. While Rollins did lose money on some ventures (his salt mine near Fairplay lost $60,000 or more) he mostly made huge amounts of money. It’s possible that residents of Rollinsville disliked paying for potatoes and meat when the Rollin’s farms around town turned out spuds on 2,000 acres of farm and pasture land. Still he always paid wages on time and, so far as we can tell today, generally paid a bit above the prevailing. He probably was a fair employer.

Employment on Rollin’s famous road

At least some of the Rollinsville folks enjoyed employment on the most famous project of J.Q.A. Rollins, his Rollinsville & Middle Park Toll Road. He built this toll road in record time, actually completing the first segments in one year, 1866. It wasn’t until 1879 that he completed the whole project, but he was open for business early on. His toll road opened up all of Middle Park and much of western Colorado, but it was primitive. For instance, in 1865 Rollins guided a party of Mormons over the pass and they had some difficulties. They had to take their wagons apart and lower them on ropes.  According to one of our local historians, Bonnie Cashion, one family was unlucky. They came down with fever and died. Bonnie said they were buried in the informal cemetery in the old town of Gilpin. This toll road did supply a lot of employment around Rollinsville. Even after Gold Dirt, Wide Awake, Hawkeye and Perigo slowed down or went out of business, the toll road offered jobs.

Why Did Rollins quit the town?

By the late 1880s and early 1890s, Rollinsville ceased to be a money maker for Rollins. The wagon road was less popular once the new road over Berthoud Pass opened. The mines seemed played out. As near as can be told, he started selling off properties in town in 1885 rather than renting them out as he had. He seems to have lost interest in what the local inhabitants were doing. Probably his strict code of behavior had more to do with his first wife’s wishes than anything else. All of that is somewhat speculative, of  ourse. In any case, he moved down to Denver and only came up to inspect his projects. Even by 1885 he must have been showing his age a bit. Though he lived until 1897 at a ripe old age of 81, he must have been content to rest on his laurels after the mid-1880s. No doubt the locals were happy to be given more freedom, yet they must also have missed the steady source of jobs Rollins provided during the hay days of the town. Most likely that first parade was all in good fun, not particularly bitter toward old Rollins.

Today’s Parade, Pig Roast, Speech Are Fun

The annual parade kicks off at 2:00 on Sunday the 17^th. It will be led as last year by Smith carrying a Colorado flag and will include some enterprising local kids who have a mobile lemonade stand. There will be a clown and at least one decorated dog and some
decorated bicycles. The parade ends in front of the Stage Stop where Gov. Gilpin will again give his Rollinsville speech. Since he gave pretty much the same speech wherever he went, it will not be of much interest to historians. Still, it’s a boosterish paean to the future.

The gun fight this year will be bigger and better than ever. Josie Wales has written a script that includes many dead in the street and many rounds of blanks fired. Then folks will repair to the Stage Stop. This year a whole pig is being roasted and a band will strike up behind that historic building. It’s hoped that many out of towners will stop by for the event. It’s Rollinsville’s big day.