View of Leadville

Abstract

Stereopair showing the town of Leadville in the distance and a mine and mine tailings in the foreground. The text on the verso does not describe the image. Leadville began around 1873 or 1874 as a small settlement called Slabtown, and it is located east of the Arkansas River and just north of California Gulch at an elevation of 10,152 feet above sea level. The discovery of silver in 1876 resulted in some two hundred prospectors a day pouring into Slabtown. By 1877, the settlement had two mercantile stores, a post office, wagon shop, drug store, hotel and a sampling works. The name of the city was changed to Leadville in 1877, and the city was incorporated in 1878. Leadville grew rapidly. By 1883, businesses in the city included ninety-seven saloons, twenty-three restaurants, fifty-one boarding houses, two sausage makers, a soap manufacturer, variety theaters, concert halls, and countless gambling halls and houses of prostitution. During its heyday from 1876 to 1893, the mine ...