Lake City Historic Loop

Lake City Historic Loop. Lake City Park Swirled with Colorful History. , History swirled in and around the grand false-fronted wooden buildings which formerly tightly filled the area now known as the Lake City Park. , Beginning in the mid-1870's this portion of Block 58 developed as Lake City's principal commercial district. Hurriedly erected frame stores, some measuring less than 10' in width, were constructed on land which was sold by the square foot. By the late 1870's this block was filled with a colorful assortment of businesses, ranging from Chinese laundries and restaurants, to banking establishments, saloons, assay offices, barber shops, jewelry stores, and theatres. Physicians and attorneys were represented in a four-building portion of the block called "Doctor's Row". , Vast hordes of people walked up and down the street throughout the day and night; so great was the 24-hour commotion in 1877 that boardwalks had to be replaced on a routine basis. , Near this location the first bank on the Western Slope of Colorado, the Hinsdale County Bank, was opened in 1876. Thatcher Brothers of Pueblo established their Miners and Merchants Bank in a corner building of what is now the park in 1877. , Restaurants such as the Saddle Rock, Delmonico, Idlewile, and Turf Exchange did a thriving business, some offering a short-order menu throughout the day and night, while others boasted crisp white table cloths and suited waiters. The alley running through the block had a less pristine appearance: christened "Soupbone Alley," it was the depository of bones and other refuse tossed out by the restaurants and butcher shops. , A bit further down the street, Lake City's pioneer newspaper, the SILVER WORLD, operated from 1876 to 1888. It was on a printing press in the newspaper office that Hinsdale County Clerk W.H. Green played a daring game of poker with Del Norte's Tom Bowen, in the process losing all of Hinsdale County's script issued to that date. , Admission to the Bijou Theatre at mid-block cost a quarter. In 1889 patrons were escorted to private boxes where they applauded one-act dramas, comedy acts, and Minnie Hughes, the famous lady vocalist, who sang selections including "Suwanee River" and "No Irish Need Apply". , The block's numerous saloons and gambling halls, where revelry went on around the clock, were supposedly occasionally visited by such well known outlaws as Jesse James and Billy the Kid. The widowed Alice Duffield, known to history as Poker Alice, reputedly gained her card training in saloons in this neighborhood. , Other well known drinking establishments included the Stock Exchange, operated in the early 1880's by Frank Melvine, a former stage actor, and C.M. McKay's Texas House where Harry English was stabbed to death by William Burns in 1892. Peter Baird died after downing a drink laced with cyanide in 1908 in the Senate Saloon, while Lake City Mayor-elect, Dr. B.F. Cummings, was injured by a bullet fired by Steve Kinsey in the Bank Exchange Saloon during an election day argument in 1907. , A fire on December 27, 1912, destroyed the old Miners and Merchants Bank building on the corner which was at that date occupied by a restaurant and Perry and White's Corner Saloon. , By 1915, however, Lake City's days of all-night revelry were clearly at an end. Only a handful of businesses remained in operation on the block, these including a restaurant and candy store, and two saloons , A.B. Carey's Lake City Club and J.W. Vickers' Senate, both of which were considered respectable, family-oriented establishments. , Even those remnants of Lake City's past were swept away in an early morning fire on June 23, 1915, which burned the remainder of the buildings in the block facing Silver Street. The land remained vacant for a short period but was gradually developed for a park; early improvements included playground equipment which was first purchased by the Pioneer Jubilee Women's Club. In recent years, the Town of Lake City has been instrumental in enlarging and improving the park property.