Today is Labor Day, which marks the unofficial end of summer. It is unofficial, of course, since it is still in the 90s here in Denver and across much of the rest of the country, too. And so to cool off, yesterday afternoon my sister Susan and I drove up to Idaho Springs, an old mountain mining town 30 miles west of Denver, although truth be told, it wasn't much cooler up there, either. What it was was pretty damned crowded, and not a parking space in sight near the pedestrian only Miner Street, the main drag, as seen in the photograph on the left. Just like in Golden, all the nearby street parking was "residents only," and the public parking spaces were all taken. When I finally did spot someone pulling out of their space and hurried over, I found the minimum charge was $5.00 for two hours. No option for half an hour or even an hour, unlike every other city and town in the civilized world. Those damned crooks! Just kidding, of course - kind of.
Idaho Springs was founded in 1859, during the Pike's Peak Gold Rush, and was the location of the first substantial gold discovery in Colorado. The town is filled with Victorian era homes and commercial buildings, and the downtown historic district was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1984. The Buffalo Restaurant and Bar, seen in the photograph on the right, has been in business since 1899, the centerpiece being a bar built in Chicago back in the 1880s. When I first moved to Denver back in 1981, Idaho Springs had the reputation of being a working class former mining town, with lots of fixer-uppers. It was best known as the place where you stopped for Beau Jo's Pizza on the way home after a day of skiing. Just for fun, I checked the real estate listings on the internet when I got home, and unless you want to live in a 400 square foot, 1 bedroom, 1 bath cottage, prepare to pay premium prices for a home there these days. But before you buy, I advise you to spend a month there during the winter to see if it really is for you. Remember - winter can last 9 months out of the year in Colorado's high country.
As I mentioned before, Idaho Springs started out as a mining town, and when the gold petered out around 1913, it became a stop on the way to other places further west, and is now totally dependent on tourism. There are several former gold mines that offer tours, including the Argo Gold Mine and Mill, seen in the photograph on the left. There seemed to be a fair amount of tourists milling about when I was there, which gave me an idea. Perhaps what they should do is offer one week stays, at a premium price, where people can live in rustic cabins, actually work in the mines for 12 to 14 hours a day, and really get to know what life for the miner was like back then. This could rival the popularity of dude ranches out here in the West. I must talk to the Argo people as soon as possible about this. Happy Labor Day Everyone!
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