Nevadaville

Nevadaville, Colorado, began in 1859 soon after John H. Gregory’s gold discovery in Gregory Gulch, and it quickly grew as a mining town built around the Burroughs and Kansas lodes. Early on, it served as a working-class settlement for miners, many of them Irish, while nearby Black Hawk handled more of the smelting and industrial activity and Central City became the district’s social and commercial center. The town grew rapidly in the 1860s, with around 40 stamp mills operating nearby and a major fire in 1861 destroying much of the settlement before it rebuilt. Its prime came in the late 1800s, when Nevadaville had as many as about 4,000 people, but the town declined after about 1900 as the richer surface gold was exhausted and mining could not keep pace with deeper, harder-to-process ore.

Geography

Nevadaville is in Gilpin County, southwest of Central City, at approximately 39.7953°N, 105.5325°W, with an elevation of about 9,121 feet. It is generally described as a ghost town with only a few full-time residents today, and there is no clearly documented standalone incorporated land/water area in the available sources; its historic townsite is small and mostly private land surrounded by mine ruins and remaining buildings.

Demographics

The historical population peaked in the late 1800s, with census figures showing 973 in 1870, 1,084 in 1880, 933 in 1890, 823 in 1900, and a steep drop to 367 in 1910 and much lower afterward. Today, Nevadaville’s population is effectively a handful of residents, reflecting its status as an almost-ghost town rather than a modern municipality.

Obscure and Interesting Facts

A little-known detail about Nevadaville is that its Masonic lodge still meets there today, making it the only “ghost town lodge” in Colorado. Another obscure bit is that the town’s post office used the name “Bald Mountain” to avoid confusion with other places called Nevada.