Central City, located in the mountains 38 miles west of Denver, is an historic gold mining town founded in 1859, and along with the adjacent city of Black Hawk, they form the Central City/Black Hawk Historic District. They both started out as boom towns, but gold mining rapidly decreased in the area between 1900 and 1920, and by the 1950s the combined population of both towns was only a few hundred. And they were still sleepy mountain hamlets when I moved to Denver back in 1981. However, gambling was introduced in both towns in the early 1990s to revive their economies, and while Black Hawk has thrived, Central City still continues to languish. The big reason for this is that Black Hawk allowed huge casinos to be built within its city limits, turning it into a mini–Las Vegas, while Central City limited building heights to 53 feet, "so as not to overshadow the town's historic buildings." The result is that these days, Black Hawk earns seven times the gambling revenue of Central City. On the plus side, Central City, seen in the photograph above, still retains its 19th Century charm, with an intact Victorian downtown and many beautiful 19th Century homes. Sadly, the town has now lifted height restrictions for vacant property, which of course could destroy the town's character. So far, no new casinos have been built, which to me is a very good thing. Black Hawk's character was destroyed years ago, and so I say keep building those huge casinos there and leave Central City the hell alone.
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