How Leadville Colorado Stole Georgetown's Title as the Silver Queen, Part 1

By Donna Wichelman

Over the last two years, readers of my blog have learned about how Colorado's rise to statehood came on the heels of vast discoveries of gold and silver deposits found in the territory during the 1860s and '70s. It was because of men like David T. Griffith, one of the founding fathers of Georgetown, Colorado, who had heard about the discoveries, that people came from all over the globe to make their fortunes. The town of Georgetown benefited from its reputation as the Silver Queen and continued to grow and prosper through the latter half of the 1870s.

But almost overnight, Leadville, Colorado, at an elevation of 10,200 feet, overtook Georgetown for the number-one spot as the Silver Queen, and by 1880, Colorado became the number-one mining state in the United States. How did this happen?

Modern-day Chestnut Street, Leadville, Colorado: Donna's Gallery June 2025

Historic Chestnut Street, Leadville, CO: The New York Public Library. (1850 - 1930). Chestnut Street, looking west. Retrieved from https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/12960f50-c536-012f-37fe-58d385a7bc34

Initially, Leadville was a mining camp like Georgetown during the Colorado gold rush of 1859 - 1861. Prospectors had discovered placer gold in California Gulch. But surface gold declined, activity slowed, and the area lacked the capital investment to mine for placer gold. For more than fifteen years, nothing much happened in Leadville, while Georgetown grew and prospered.

Leadville, Colorado Mining Camp, April 1879Leadville, Colorado. (Apr. 23, [18]79) Retrieved from https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/0dd74f60-c536-012f-d918-58d385a7bc34

But just as Georgetown became comfortable with its successful title with steady growth and $2 million in production per year at the outset of 1878, miners in the district of Leadville made a discovery that changed everything. A "black sand" they had previously overlooked was actually a high-grade silver-rich cerussite ore, also known as lead carbonate. It contained as much as 77% lead and sufficient silver to be easily extracted during smelting.

Silver Nugget, Silver Plume: Donna's Gallery June 2019

Coupled with the discovery of an immense quantity of the ore, US government policy at the time favored silver, passing the Bland-Allison Act of 1878. Backed by farmers, bankers, and Western Mining interests, the act sought to expand the money supply and reverse deflationary pressures in the economy. Though it was vetoed by President Rutherford B. Hayes, the act passed and required the US Treasury to purchase $2 - $4 million dollars per month. The legislation also led to the US Treasury's minting of the Morgan Silver Dollar, which had high silver content.

Morgan Silver Dollar: ID 1629995 © Robert Fullerton | Dreamstime.com

Leadville's prosperity soared in the late 1870s and 1880s. In 1879, Leadville miners made $11 million in silver. The next year, they produced $14 million. The railroads followed, cashing in on the profits. Leadville had not only surpassed Georgetown in production but had realized the key to expansion and affluence, becoming one of the richest mining districts in the world.

Miners flocked to Leadville, making it a "mecca" for mining engineers who had previously made Georgetown their home. Major investors, like Horace Tabor, Guggenheim, and others made millions. People started talking about making Leadville the capital of Colorado, as they once had Georgetown. The US census recorded population growth in 1880 at 14,280 to 15,185 people, though some sources cite more than 30,000.

Tabor Opera House, Leadville, CO: Donna's Gallery, June 2025

Regardless, the town grew into an industrialized community and became the second-largest in Colorado. Many investors also brought their wealth to Denver, paving the way for Denver to become the predominant town in the Rockies. Leadville's popularity had supplanted Georgetown's reputation for its cosmopolitan and sophisticated aura, having produced far more ore in four years than Georgetown had in two decades. The wealth and investment put Colorado on the US map as the state where people wanted to live.

By 1879, Georgetown noticed the impact on their community. The 1880 census showed the loss of 1,200 people, 37% of their population, as people headed to Lake and Summit Counties. The Courier, Clear Creek County's newspaper, tried to put a positive spin on the circumstances. It would prove to demonstrate the vulnerability of the mining industry in the years to come, as we move into Part II of this series in May.

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.