A history of striking gold
The Black Monarch was originally built as a casino, saloon and brothel at the height of the Gold Rush in Victor, CO. Being founded in such an exciting and fast-paced era in our country’s timeline, the town is chock full of fascinating history and character. Tall tales of striking it rich in the West brought a mass migration of settlers to the area of Cripple Creek in the late 1800’s. The town of Victor was formed in 1893.
The following year, a railroad is built into town and the hotel that would later become the Black Monarch would begin its construction under the ownership of the Woods brothers. As if to intentionally stir the ‘Gold Rush’ pot, a substantially sized vein of gold was discovered while digging out the foundation. This vein actually ended up leading to the famous Gold Coin vein, a now-famous gold mine.
The gold mines tours and museums still are the main attraction when it comes to Victor’s historical attractions. Visitors may go on a tour of the gold mines for $8.50 or even go panning for gold. If you love the outdoors and would prefer to discover the mines for yourself, you can access them via Victor’s many hiking trails, horse trails, and off-road vehicle trails.
Links
- https://www.victorcolorado.com/WebGuide.pdf – Your Complete Vacation Guide to Colorado’s Gold Country 2018: Adventures in Cripple Creek and Victor. This is the definitive travel guide to Cripple Creek and the town of Victor, CO. A must-have for anyone traveling to the area. This is the full PDF version available for free.
- https://www.victorcolorado.com – The town of Victor, CO’s official website. There is TONS of great information here.
- http://www.victormuseum.com/ – The Victor Lowell Thomas Museum is where the tours of the gold mines can be found as well as where you can pan for gold. It is also a great place to go to learn more about Victor’s history!