page_title: Georgetown, Colorado
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Georgetown, Colorado / History
caption_attribution_description: Georgetown (CO) School (Now called the Georgetown Heritage Center), part of the Georgetown-Silver Plume Historic District on the NRHP since November 13, 1966. HD borders Interstate 70, in Georgetown and Silver Plume, Colorado This is an image of a place or building that is listed on the National Register of Historic Places in the United States of America. Its reference number is 66000243
context_page_description: Georgetown is a Territorial Charter Municipality that is the county seat of Clear Creek County, Colorado, United States. The former silver mining camp along Clear Creek in the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains was established in 1859 during the Pike's Peak Gold Rush. The federally designated Georgetown-Silver Plume Historic District comprises Georgetown, the neighboring town of Silver Plume, and the Georgetown Loop Historic Mining & Railroad Park between the two towns. The town population was 1,034 at the 2010 census. The Georgetown Post Office has the ZIP code 80444.
  The town sits at an elevation of 8,530 feet above sea level, nestled in the mountains near the upper end of the valley of Clear Creek in the mountains west of Denver along Interstate 70. Although a small town today, the town was a historic center of the mining industry in Colorado during the late 19th century, earning the nickname the "Silver Queen of Colorado". It has evolved into a lively historical summer tourist center today with many preserved structures from the heyday of the Colorado Silver Boom.
context_section_description: The town was founded in 1859 during the Pike's Peak Gold Rush by George and David Griffith, two prospectors from Kentucky. It was named "Georgetown" in honor of the older of the two brothers. Although founded during the gold rush, the town grew rapidly following the discovery of silver on September 14, 1864, by James Huff at a site approximately 8 miles (13 km) up the canyon in the Argentine Pass area. In the following years, thousands of mines were dug in the mountains surrounding the town and the town quickly grew into a center for prospectors and mine workers in the surrounding mountains. Located in the valley floor, the town itself was not a mining camp but a center of commerce and entertainment for miners in the surrounding mountains.
  Silver, the main product from the district, was not discovered until 1864. John Henry Bowman (1850-1900) came to Silver Plume, Colorado, in 1883, then moved to Georgetown, Colorado, in 1885. A machinist, he worked as foreman of the Miners Sampling Works. Later, he was superintendent of the American Sisters Mine, a company in which he owned stock. American Sisters Mine was a consolidation of Two Sisters Mine and Native American Mine, silver mines located on Columbia Mountain in upper Clear Creek County, Colorado. In 1891-1892, John Bowman and his wife, Lavinia Potts Bowman (1848-1901) built what later became known as the Bowman/White House in Georgetown (a historical site today). There they raised two daughters, Iorria and Mary Ellen ("Mellie"). In 1899, Iorria married J.E. Carnal and moved to Ohio.
  For the most part, Mellie (1876-1969) stayed in the family home after she married John James ("J.J.") White (1870-1932) in 1901. She inherited half of her father's share in the American Sisters Mine and served on the Georgetown Library Association from 1911-1922.
  Mellie's husband, John James White, Sr., bought the remaining stock of what was now called the Two American Sisters Mine. He managed construction of a dam and power plant north of Georgetown, and built a new shaft house and mill at the mine site. White, an attorney, practiced law, served as the Police Judge and Mayor of Georgetown from 1900-1902, and was President of the Georgetown school board. The Bowman-White House still remains, and is registered as a historical site in Georgetown, Colorado.
  Georgetown was incorporated on January 10, 1868, and a few months later it wrested the county seat from nearby Idaho Springs, which is a larger community today. The historic courthouse dates from this year.  Georgetown is the only Colorado municipality that still operates under a charter from the Territory of Colorado which includes a Police Judge as Mayor and a Board of Selectmen instead of a Town Council. The building of the narrow gauge Colorado Central Railroad up the canyon from Golden in the 1870s further increased the central position of the town. Although most of the railroad was later removed, a portion remained between the town and Silver Plume and is operated today as a tourist railroad called the Georgetown Loop. The town experienced its greatest growth and prosperity during the Colorado silver boom of the 1880s when it rivaled Leadville to the west as the mining capital of Colorado. At one time, before the collapse of the silver boom in 1893, the town population exceeded 10,000, and a movement arose briefly among local citizens to move the state capital there from Denver.
  The frontier gambler, Poker Alice, lived for a time in Georgetown and in several other Colorado communities where she was considered an expert player and dealer.
  Following the collapse of the Silver Boom, the town population dwindled. In the 1950s the town began to experience a small renaissance as an après-ski watering hole for the thousands of skiers who passed through the town on their way down from the mountains at the ski areas near Loveland Pass and Guanella Pass. Small craft shops began to set up businesses in the once decrepit 19th century storefronts. By the late 1960s, the establishment of a museum in one of the historic hotels had made the town a pop
caption: Georgetown Public School
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