Lake City in Hinsdale County, Colorado — The American Mountains (Southwest)
Metropolis of the San Juans
Photographed by Cosmos Mariner, July 21, 2025
1. Metropolis of the San Juans Marker
Gold strike in the San Juans! Word spread like wildfire that summer of 1874, and the following spring prospectors crowded into this hidden mountain valley. They pitched tents and crafted log cabins with dirt floors and sod roofs. In August 1875 the town of Lake City, named for nearby Lake San Cristobal, was formed. As more and more families arrived, log cabins gave way to sturdy frame and brick homes. Soon general stores, hardware stores, barbershops, saloons, and hotels lined Silver Street. A school, library, opera house, and six churches sprang up. Within three years, boosters claimed the town had grown to 2,000 residents. The rough mining camp had become a full-fledged town a gateway to the San Juans.
The Question of the Moment
From the mountain fastness of the San Juans, early settlers took a lively interest in current events. In the fall election of 1877, the question of the moment was whether Colorado women should be given the vote. Suffragist Susan B. Anthony toured the young state, urging Coloradans to vote yes. When she arrived in Lake City, so many packed the courthouse where she was to speak that she could not get to the rostrum. She delivered her speech outdoors where the Silver World reported, People stood for two hours in the cold night air and listened with rapt attention. Nevertheless,
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A pack train in the mountains
Lake City
Susan B. Anthony, 1820-1906
Erected 1997 by Colorado Historical Society, Colorado Department of Transportation and Federal Highway Administration.
Topics and series. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Civil Rights • Industry & Commerce • Settlements & Settlers • Women. In addition, it is included in the History Colorado series list. A significant historical month for this entry is August 1875.
Location. 38° 2.063′ N, 107° 18.714′ W. Marker is in Lake City, Colorado, in Hinsdale County. It is at the intersection of Gunnison Avenue (State Highway 149) and Henson Street, on the right when traveling north on Gunnison Avenue. Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: Lake City CO 81235, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Regionally, this marker is in the Colorado High Rockies. It is also in the American Mountain West. Globally, it is in North America, the Rocky Mountains, the Western Hemisphere, the Western World, and the Anglosphere.
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker: Roads into the Mountains (here, next to this marker); Silver Thread Country (here, next to this marker); The Mountain People (here, next to this marker); Colorado's Largest Narrow Leaf Cottonwood Tree (about 500 feet away,
Photographed by Cosmos Mariner, July 21, 2025
2. Metropolis of the San Juans Marker
This marker is the leftmost of two interpretive panels on the west side of the Colorado History kiosk. Colorado Highway 149 is in the left background. Henson Street is in the right background.
Related markers. Click here for a list of markers that are related to this marker. Susan B. Anthony in Lake City, Colorado
Also see . . .
1. Lake City, Colorado (Wikipedia).
Excerpt: Lake City was platted in fall 1874 during construction of the Saguache & San Juan Wagon Toll Road, which opened the San Juan region for settlement. To promote the speculative town, Otto Mears subsidized The Silver World newspaper and published the first issue on June 19, 1875. It was the first newspaper published on the Western Slope. It was not unusual for mining towns to grow into booming towns within a few months, and Lake City was no exception. Promoted as the "Metropolis of San Juan", the town flourished as a distribution point for goods and supplies forwarded to mines and camps in the northern Hinsdale County mining districts. The initial influx of pioneers, prospectors, and miners attracted scores of merchants and dozens of lawyers and assayers to provide goods, supplies, and services. Merchants profited by outfitting the surge of prospectors who flooded into the area in 1876 and 1877 and by supplying dozens of mines in the outlying mining districts.(Submitted on April 24, 2026, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida.)
2. Colorados Suffrage Pioneers (Denver Center for the Performing Arts).
(by Lisa Bornstein) Excerpt: In September of 1877, Susan B. Anthony, accustomed to packing auditoriums in her drive for womens suffrage, held court outdoors under the pines of Lake City in Hinsdale County, Colorado the crowd was too large for any indoor venues. She was mustering support for a referendum on womens suffrage, but even her formidable presence did not save the day the referendum was defeated by nearly a two-to-one ratio a month later. Rev. Thomas Bliss described them as bawling, ranting women, bristling for their rights.(Submitted on April 24, 2026, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida.)Despite those inauspicious beginnings, Colorado made its mark as only the second state to grant womens suffrage, and the first to do so by referendum, nearly 30 years before the 19th Amendment was ratified, bringing voting rights to all American women.
Credits. This page was last revised on April 24, 2026. It was originally submitted on April 24, 2026, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida. This page has been viewed 9 times since then. Photos: 1, 2. submitted on April 24, 2026, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida.
