Central City, Colorado is a historic mining settlement founded in 1859 during the Pike’s Peak Gold Rush and came to be known as the “Richest Square Mile on Earth”. Central City and the adjacent city of Black Hawk form the federally designated Central City/Black Hawk Historic District. Casino gambling was introduced in both towns in the early 1990’s, but had more success in Black Hawk (which has 15 casinos) than in Central City (which has 6 casinos), partly because the main road to Central City passed through Black Hawk, tempting gamblers to stop in Black Hawk instead. To compete with Black Hawk, Central City has recently eliminated height restrictions for building on undeveloped land. Buildings were previously limited to heights of 53 feet, so as not to overshadow the town’s historic buildings. During this visit we were only passing through the town as part of a 3 day north western Colorado road trip.
