YOUR BEST BET FOR FUN!
Black Hawk is Colorado’s premier destination for gaming and exciting entertainment. Whether you’re coming to Black Hawk to get away from the daily stresses or to enjoy gaming at our casinos, dining in our excellent restaurants or learn our rich cultural history – we encourage your right to feel adventurous. For more than a century, people have come in search of entertainment, luck and prosperity, and it’s certainly no different today.
Black Hawk has become Colorado’s original destination for adventure, excitement and gaming. We’ve developed this web site to provide you with timely and relevant information about the city and community. So embrace your inner explorer, roll down the window and head up the hill. We’ll see you when you get here!
HISTORICAL TIMELINE
By most accounts, Black Hawk took its name from an early stamp mill (a type of mill used to break ore) brought in from Rock Island, IL and named for the famous Indian Chief. But in 1868 this little town by the Clear Creek river was called the ‘City of Mills’, as tons of ore poured in for processing by the water-powered stamp mills. In 1872, the Colorado Central Railway extended its line to Black Hawk creating a vital link to the nation’s network of railroads.
Information provided courtesy of: Linda Jones, President, Gilpin Historical Society. For more on Black Hawk history, please visit the Gilpin Historical Society website.
FACTS & TRIVIA
Facts and trivia on the area:
- When Colorado was admitted to statehood in 1876, the entire Congressional delegation sent to Washington D.C. came from the Black Hawk area.
- One of the four county railroads was a “gravity train.” This train ran for over six miles on pine log rails. A horse would pull the empty train up the hill from Black Hawk where workers cut down trees, loaded the wood, and jumped back on. Then they released the breaks and the train coasted back down the hill to town.
- The Gilpin History Museum contains about 18,000 artifacts from the gold mining history. One of its many unusual displays is a church pew that quickly converts to a pool table.
HOW COLORADO WINS
Colorado’s rich and diverse history dates back to the early 1800s. It’s a history as varied as the people who have lived and visited Colorado over the years. A history whose significance is experienced and enjoyed today through careful preservation and restoration efforts. And while history is just that, its contribution to our culture, heritage and economic vitality is very much a part of our present.