Tuesday, August 31, 2010 Central City, BlackHawk, WheatRidge

I was impressed with how much this area has grown, especially Black Hawk, since I lived in Denver, so I did a little research.  The population for the two areas grew to 20-30 thousand in 1859 due to the Pikes Peak Gold Rush.  In the 2000 census, Black Hawk's population was 118; Central City was 515.   Central City is the county seat and was one time known as the  "Richest Square Mile on Earth." 

Gambling came to the area in 1991.  The highway from Denver to this area came into Black Hawk first.  BH currently has more casinos than Atlantic City!  It has three times more casinos and seven times the gambling revenue as Central City.  Not to be outdone, in 2004, Central City built the 4-lane parkway off I70 to divert traffic thru Central City first.  However, CC also had building codes that restricted the height of the buildings which has recently been lifted.   BH boasts a 33-story casino & hotel (so much for retaining the mining town charm).  It blows me away to drive thru BH.  It used to be maybe two old buildings!!  Welcome to "Little Las Vegas"!!  And finally, BH recently banned bicycles in their little town and has received a lot of backlash.  Colorada people love their bicycles.  Verdict is out on how this will play out.   (I should probably tell you, it is less than a mile between cities.)

This is the view of Central City as we come down the hill from the RV Park.  Most of the downtown buildings are casinos.

These are a few of the casinos in Black Hawk

The highway between Denver and Black Hawk runs along Clear Creek.

And while we are looking at "old" houses, this is the duplex in Wheat Ridge that I lived in while the house I posted yesterday was being built.