Colorado, Cripple Creek Gold Belt Tour Historical Markers
Markers highlighting Cripple Creek and area, the “World's Greatest Gold Camp,” from 1890 to 1910 when more than 500 mines produced in excess of 22 million ounces of gold.
On East Bennett Avenue (Colorado Route 67) at Route 67, on the right when traveling west on East Bennett Avenue.
Two saloon keepers, E.H. Asmussen and J.A. Kelly, financed this building
to establish their Denver Exchange Saloon. As its name implied, the saloon
catered to the local investment crowd: stock brokers, speculators, bankers,
and other financiers. . . . — — Map (db m250325) HM
On East Bennett Avenue (Colorado Route 67) at North Third Street, on the right when traveling west on East Bennett Avenue.
John Nolon and Jacob Becker opened the Becker and Nolon Liquor Company in a wood-framed building here in 1893. After they lost their building to the 1896 fires, they quickly rebuilt in more durable brick.
Because they kept their pool tables . . . — — Map (db m250545) HM
On East Bennett Avenue at North First Street, on the right when traveling west on East Bennett Avenue.
Sherman and Edward Bell, who moved to Cripple Creek in 1893, did business in real estate, insurance, and investments. They built this office building to house their own business and to lease space to others.
In 1898, the Spanish-American War . . . — — Map (db m250289) HM
On Bennett Drive (Colorado Route 67) at North Third Street, on the right when traveling west on Bennett Drive.
The Bowen Building was named after Willbert E. Bowen (1825-1902), a merchant originally from New York, then Chicago, then Denver. Constructed in 1896, the building had several offices for real estate, mines, investments and was also used to retail . . . — — Map (db m250570) HM
On East Bennett Avenue (Colorado Route 67) at Route 67, on the right when traveling west on East Bennett Avenue.
George and Emma Carr entered the local scene as managers of the Broken
Box Ranch. When the ranch sold for town lots in 1891, the Carrs turned
to real estate investment. Their first building on this site, a 2-story frame
structure, burned in the . . . — — Map (db m250324) HM
On East Bennett Avenue (Colorado Route 67) at Route 67, on the right when traveling west on East Bennett Avenue.
A year after it was built, beer baron Adolph Coors purchased this building from stockbrokers William P. Bonbright and
J. Arthur Connell. Coors then leased the property to Henry Bunte for his B.B. Saloon, with the agreement that Bunte feature . . . — — Map (db m250344) HM
On East Bennett Avenue (Colorado Route 67) at North Third Street, on the right when traveling west on East Bennett Avenue.
Shortly after fires leveled much of the city in 1896, Cripple Creek decided to build a new City Hall/Central Fire Station. Most commercial buildings were quickly re-opened for business, but it took two years to obtain financing and complete City . . . — — Map (db m250574) HM
On East Bennett Avenue at First Street, on the left when traveling west on East Bennett Avenue.
The "World's Greatest Gold Camp" had a sleepy start. The area's first gold discoveries happened in 1873, but Broken Box Ranch cattle still grazed the valley in 1890. It was the spring of 1891 before several promising mining claims started . . . — — Map (db m250260) HM
On East Bennett Street at 3rd Street on East Bennett Street.
Furniture retailers C.L. and D.B. Fairley joined undertaker Oscar Lampman to finance the construction of this building. The Fairleys opened a branch of their Colorado Springs store here; Lampman acted primarily as an investor.
The Central Drug . . . — — Map (db m250549) HM
Near East Bennett Avenue (Colorado Route 67) at North Fourth Street, on the right when traveling west.
The Gold Mining Stock Exchange Association, organized October 14,
1895, was one of Cripple Creek's three stock exchanges. Shortly after
opening its large "call room" at the back of this building, the Association
was trading 60 million mining . . . — — Map (db m250583) HM
On East Bennett Avenue (Colorado Route 67) at North Fourth Street, on the right when traveling west on East Bennett Avenue.
In the early 1890s, J. S. Neall brought his much-needed assaying skills
to Cripple Creek. After the 1896 fires, he set up his assay office on the
first floor of the building you see before you. Neall's "sampling works"
were housed in the back . . . — — Map (db m250575) HM
On East Bennett Avenue (Colorado Route 67) at Third Street, on the right when traveling east on East Bennett Avenue.
Samuel Jamison leased this building to the Hooper Jewelry Company from 1896-1916. A 1900 ad stated Hoopers offered stationery, souvenirs. jewelry, books, film, cards, and Kodaks. Kodak cameras had been invented in 1888 - the first hand-carried . . . — — Map (db m250349) HM
On Bennett Avenue (Colorado Route 67) at Route 67, on the right when traveling east on Bennett Avenue.
This building tells a typical story of how entrepreneurs rode the boom and bust cycles of Colorado's mining camps. Joe Gavin and Antoine L'Abbe opened the Branch Saloon in Leadville at the peak of Leadville's silver boom.
Success in Leadville . . . — — Map (db m250346) HM
On East Myers Avenue east of 3rd Street, on the right when traveling east.
Situated just below Cripple Creek’s fashionable business district, the Old Homestead anchored Myers Avenue’s “entertainment trade.” On a street flanked by saloons and one-room “cribs” where individual “ladies” could ply their trade, this brothel . . . — — Map (db m51824) HM
On North Third Street 0.3 miles North Third Street, on the right when traveling south.
Not long after W. L. Shockey opened his Cripple Creek Pharmacy here in 1896, he realized pharmaceuticals were a 24-hour-a-day business in Cripple Creck. In the 1890s, most mines worked three 8-hour shifts each day, creating 'round-the-clock demand . . . — — Map (db m250542) HM
On Bennett Avenue (Colorado Route 67) at North Fourth Street, on the right when traveling west on Bennett Avenue.
Photographers Nils T. Schedin and John Lehman claimed to operate the
"Best Appointed Studio in the City" in 1906. They were known for their
studio portraits, but also offered postcards, special events photographs,
and commissioned works, like the . . . — — Map (db m250585) HM
On East Bennett Avenue (Parish Route 67) at Third Street, on the right when traveling west on East Bennett Avenue.
S.L. McConnell and J.C. Watt operated the handsome Antiers Bar here from 1896 until after the turn of the century. Typical of Cripple Creek's "gentleman-like" saloons, the front bar served liquor to customers who stood in casual groups, exchanging . . . — — Map (db m250352) HM
Near West Bennett Avenue at First Street, on the left when traveling east.
By 1898, the Cripple Creek area was clearly prosperous enough to support its own government. Taking pieces of northeastern Fremont and western El Paso Counties, Teller County officially formed in March 1899. At first, county offices shared space . . . — — Map (db m250269) HM
On East Bennett Avenue at First Street, on the right when traveling west on East Bennett Avenue.
Members of the Hallett family from Springfield, Massachusetts, used this building as a residence and base of business operations. It was one of the first structures to be rebuilt after
the fires of 1896. Henry W. Hallett, a jeweler, arrived first, . . . — — Map (db m250319) HM
On East Bennett Avenue (Colorado Route 67) at Route 67, on the right when traveling west on East Bennett Avenue.
William P. Bonbright built the Turf Club to house exclusive club rooms for the city's most successful businessmen. A year later, he sold the building and the business to John Harnan, who continued to operate the club.
Harnan earned his fortune . . . — — Map (db m250342) HM
On East Bennett Avenue (Colorado Route 67) at Route 67, on the right when traveling west on East Bennett Avenue.
Charles L. Tutt arrived in Cripple Creek in 1892. From the outset, he was active in mining, real estate, and stock brokering. After scouting the northeastern part of the District, he bought the C.O.D. Mine in Poverty Gulch. Tutt operated the C.O.D. . . . — — Map (db m250469) HM
On Third Street at Third Street, on the right when traveling south on Third Street.
The Weinberg family opened their first shoe and clothing store in Cripple
Creek in 1893. After the 1896 fires, the Weinbergs constructed the
Italianate-styled building you see before you.
Two years later, they sold out to M. Glauber. Glauber . . . — — Map (db m250568) HM
