Heroes, Heroines, and History

By Donna Wichelman

Readers of my blogs over the last year and a half know I've written on topics related to my Gilded Age historical romance series, the Singing Silver Mine series, which is based on characters who settled in Georgetown, Colorado, during its silver-mining heyday of the late nineteen century. Known as the Silver Queen of the Rocky Mountains, Georgetown gained its fame from the abundant ores the surrounding mountains yielded to early miners who settled there. Yet, while Georgetown has received most of the glory over the years, its neighbor to the west, Silver Plume, has often been neglected, overshadowed by Georgetown's reputation.

Main Street, Silver Plume, Colorado: Donna's Gallery, June 2019

ID 394784059 | Colorado Silver Plume © Mkopka | Dreamstime.com

Though a meager amount of gold was discovered in the Territory of Colorado as early as 1850 by a group of Georgian prospectors heading west during the California Gold Rush, it wasn't until 1859, when George Jackson followed the Clear Creek gorge and found a significant amount of gold, that the rush was on in Colorado. Thousands from all over the world flocked to the Rocky Mountains to find their fortunes.

All seemed to point to a thriving region until the gold bubble burst in 1864, and the investment capital necessary to keep going never paid off in revenues. Many other investors pulled out.

Then, in the fall of 1864, three prospectors—Robert Steele, James Huff, and Robert Taylor—discovered an extremely rich silver lode called the Gus Belmont Lode eight miles south of Georgetown on Mount McClellan at 13,200 feet. They headed to Central City to have their samples assayed, discovering a preliminary value of $200 to $500 per ton. The silver boom was on.

ID 199624040 | Silver © Roberto Junior | Dreamstime.com

Once again, prospectors from every corner of the globe flocked to the region, and by September 1866, Clear Creek County was declared “indisputably” rich in ores by Central City’s Weekly Miners’ Register. Georgetown flourished, as clapboard buildings, housing, banks and business enterprises sprang up in a growing business district. Mining camps popped up everywhere--Bakerville, Brownville, Simplem, Silver Dale, and others. 

Historic Business District, Georgetown, Colorado: Donna's Gallery, December 2024

Finally, in 1869, two men, Charles A. Kimberlin and Col. Ambrose H. Bartlett from Doniphon County, Kansas, decided to establish a town in a small, wide spot in a valley half a mile east of the mines and buildings in Brownville and three miles west of Georgetown.

Things started slowly in Silver Plume, with Kimberlin constructing only one or two buildings in 1869, though one reporter was impressed by the completed work on a school building before finishing his own residence. (The original schoolhouse was a simple wood-frame structure that remained in use until the brick building we see today on Main Street was built in 1874.)

"View from Silver Plume, looking up." The New York Public Library Digital Collections. 1850 - 1930.NY Digital Library

Only a handful of buildings were built in 1870, but by the fall of 1870, they started to talk of building a hotel, and the town became known as Silver Plume.

By 1872, the town was up and running with a tightly packed commercial district, fifty to sixty residences, four to five hundred residents, and plans for a town government. In that same year, Silver Plume was incorporated.* See note below.

By the 1880s, the town grew quickly as silver mines proliferated in the mountains surrounding Silver Plume. Georgetown may have been the commercial center of Clear Creek County, but Silver Plume was also a cosmopolitan, multicultural, multilingual town comprising working-class miners and their families, a few merchants, and other entrepreneurs. At its peak, the population grew to well over two thousand people.

Original Road to the 7:30 Mine Trail: "Laden with ore from "Seven-thirty" mine, Silver Plume, Colorado." The New York Public Library Digital Collections. 

Integral to the town's growth and importance to Clear Creek County's silver mining industry was the Silver Plume-Georgetown Loop Railroad. It enabled miners to efficiently move their silver nuggets to smelters and markets.

Completed in 1884 by the Colorado Central Railroad, the three-foot narrow-gauge railroad was one of the American West's greatest engineering feats, with a 640-foot elevation gain between Silver Plume and Georgetown. The railroad used loops, switchbacks, and a high bridge, called the Devil's Gate High Bridge, to gradually accomplish the elevation gain.

"Great loop of the Silver Plume, Colorado." The New York Public Library Digital Collections.

Unfortunately, the entire world fell into deep economic depression in 1893, and silver was devalued. Neither Silver Plume nor Georgetown recovered from the devaluation, and only a handful of mines survived.

Today, tourism keeps the Georgetown-Silver Plume National Historic District alive. Visitors can take a step back in history and ride the narrow-gauge train between Georgetown and Silver Plume, stopping to tour a mine on the Georgetown Loop, or walk the historic streets of Silver Plume and buy coffee in the old saloon. For the adventurous at heart, one can hike one of several trails up the surrounding mountains and view numerous ruined mines in the area. One of the most popular is the 7:30 Mine Trail, which is 3.5-mile round-trip trail to the restored 7:30 Mine. 

*Note: Silver Plume disincorporated in 1874, when they realized they weren't ready for self-rule, but incorporated again on August 19, 1880.

Georgetown Loop Railroad, Silver Plume: Donna's Gallery, Summer 1995

Donna Hiking the 7:30 Mine Trail and Stopping at an Old Abandoned Mine: Donna's Gallery, June 2019

Donna is an Angel-award-winning author of Historical fiction for A Song of Deliverance. Book Two in the Silver Singing Mine series, Rhythms of the Heart, was released in November 2025. Weaving history and faith into stories of intrigue and redemption grew out of Donna's love of travel, history, and literature as a young adult while attending an international college in Wales, U.K. She enjoys developing plots that show how God's love abounds even in the profoundly difficult circumstances of our lives. Her stories reflect the hunger in all of us for love, belonging, and forgiveness.

Donna was a communications professional before becoming a full-time writer. Her short stories and articles have appeared in inspirational publications. She has two indie-published romantic suspense novels, Light Out of Darkness and Undaunted Valor, in her Waldensian Series. 

Donna and her husband of forty-one years participate in ministry at their local church in Colorado. They love spending time with their grandchildren and bike, kayak, and travel whenever possible.