[13][16] As the gold has been tapped out of the gulch and attention was averted to nearby Leadville, a mile or two away, Oro City became a ghost town.

[14] Leadville was founded in 1877 by mine owners Horace Tabor and August Meyer at the start of the Colorado Silver Boom.

By 1880, Tabor and Meyer's new town had gas lighting, water mains, 28 miles (45 km) of streets, five churches, three hospitals, six banks, and a school for 1,100 students.

Like the Rocky Mountain News, The Chronicle took the lead in outing criminals and thieves, in an attempt to clean up the town's shady business culture.

[17] Horace Tabor divorced his wife of 25 years and married Baby Doe McCourt on September 30, 1882,[17] who was half his age.

For several years, the couple lived a lavish lifestyle in a Denver mansion, but Tabor, one of the wealthiest men in Colorado, lost his fortune when the repeal of the Sherman Silver Purchase Act caused the Panic of 1893.

According to legend, he told Baby Doe to "hold on the Matchless mine ... it will make millions again when silver comes back."

She returned to Leadville with her daughters, Silver Dollar and Lily, where she spent the rest of her life believing Tabor's prediction.

Income from more than thirty mines and ten large smelting works produced gold, silver, and lead amounting to $15,000,000 annually.

The Leadville strike of 1880 was the first major labor conflict in the central Colorado silver boomtown, shutting down most of the area’s mining district from May 26, 1880.

As if by magic the rough frontier town of Denver became a metropolis; stately buildings arose on the site of shanties; crystal streams flowed through the arid plains and the desert blossomed and became fruitful.

"Chicken Bill" Lovell dumped a wheelbarrow load of silver-rich ore into a barren pit on his Chrysolite claim in order to sell it to Horace Tabor for a large price.

[24] A bitter strike by Leadville's hard rock miners in 1896–97 led to bloodshed, at least five deaths, and the burning of the Coronado Mine.

In a letter to a London business contact, mine owner Eben Smith wrote, "The strikers got the worst of it in the raid on the Coronado and Emmet [mines], there were 10 or 12 killed; we do not know how many, and a great number wounded; they take care of their wounded the same as the Indians but every now and then a fellow turns up that the rats have been eating or who has gone to decay that we know must have been shot ..."[25] World War II caused an increase in the demand for molybdenum, used to harden steel.

Fearing the town would be lost to the lawless element, Mayor Horace Tabor sent for Mart Duggan, who was living in Denver, as a replacement.

At the age of twenty she married a mining engineer who, like many of the men at that time, frequented the numerous gambling halls in Leadville.

Morlacchi, a famous Italian prima ballerina who had introduced the Can-can dance to the United States, performed several plays at the Grand Central Theatre, including Around the World in 80 Days and The Black Crook.

Texas Jack had served in the Confederate Army at age 16[30] and subsequently joined the Tabor Light Guard, a local militia unit.

Oscar Wilde appeared in April at the Tabor Opera House during his 1882 American Aesthetic Movement lecture tour.

[12] The reviews were mixed, and the press satirized Wilde in cartoons as an English dandy decorated with sunflowers and lilies, the floral emblems of the Aesthetic Movement.

[17] The town has made major efforts to improve its economy by encouraging tourism and emphasizing its history and opportunities for outdoor recreation.

The National Mining Museum and Hall of Fame opened in 1987 with a federal charter that was drawn in by Leadville offering a good deal on the former high school building.

In 1983, Ken Chlouber partnered with Merilee Maupin to founded the Leadville Trail 100 Run, a 100-mile ultramarathon through the rugged mountain terrain around the town.

[43] The lower part of California Gulch runs past the southern edge of the city, flowing west 3 miles (5 km) to the Arkansas River.

The district encompasses 67 mines east of the city up to the 12,000-foot (3,700 m) elevation, and a defined portion of the village area, with specific exclusions for various buildings.

As the only source of recreation for the trainees, Leadville was persuaded to change its moral character, perceived "to be on a rather low plane" at the time.

President Biden used his authority under the Antiquities Act in 2022 to establish the 53,804-acre Camp Hale-Continental Divide National Monument,[53] preserving the area’s important historic, prehistoric, natural, and recreational values.

[56] The festivities held over three days include mining competitions and burro racing, motorcycle games, a rod and gun show, live music, a craft fair and parade.

[60] Situated within the San Isabel National Forest[61] and surrounded by three wilderness areas, Leadville is popular with hikers and campers.

[12] Five access points offer opportunities to walk shorter sections: Ice Palace Park, Lake County Middle School, Dutch Henry Hill, California Gulch, and the East 5th Street Bridge.