Georgetown

Two early prospectors to Jackson’s Diggings were George and David Griffith.  When they arrived, they found most of the stream area staked out in claims so the brothers continued west where they established the Griffith Mining district in 1860.  The gold in this district was not as accessible as the “free” gold of Jackson’s Diggings.  Most of the gold in this area was held in pyrite ore which had to be crushed in order to extract the gold.  The method to extract the gold was primitive and this discouraged many of the miners.  But in 1864, R. W.  Steele discovered the Belmont Lode which was extremely rich in silver.  This area was named Elizabethtown and until 1868 co-existed with Georgetown.  In 1868, the two groups meet at the corner of Rose and Mary, decided to unite the two camps, using the name Georgetown.

Now the legends come into play.  In 1868, by the vote of the people, the county seat was moved from Idaho Springs to Georgetown.  But the enduring legend is that the county seal was stolen from Idaho Springs which is what allowed the county seat to be moved!  Georgetown was incorporated and granted a charter from the Colorado Territorial Legislature.  Today the city still operates under that charter.

As the town continued to grow, the Colorado and Southern railroad line reached Georgetown, which had a population of 5,000!  This was extremely important as it provided a lifeline to both mountain towns providing goods and services that had previously been unavailable.  In 1884, the Georgetown Loop was completed and still operates daily during the summer season.

All the new wealth of the area created a desire for the finer things in life and merchants were happy to provide, especially went the addition of the Colorado and Southern which linked much of the area by 1877.  Even before the railroad, Georgetown had a first-class hotel, and opera house, and a bakery which evolved into the Hotel de Paris.

In 1893, the U. S. Congress repealed the Sherman Silver Purchase Act, dealing a serious blow to the economy of Georgetown.  The resulting fall of silver prices and the decline of available work in the mines and mills resulted in a pollution decrease.  By the 1930’s the population of Georgetown fell to only a few hundred!  But with the creation of a new industry – skiing – Georgetown became a weekend Mecca for families from Denver.

The U. S. Department of the Interior and the National Park Service declared the Georgetown – Silver Plume District as a National Historic Landmark District. As a result, Georgetown created a private, non-profit – the Georgetown Society to focus on historic preservation.  The group works hard to both celebrate and preserve the history of the area.