Development of the area down Clear Creek from the historic Black Hawk townsite lining State Highway 119 has flourished. The town has been in heated competition for gambling revenue with its neighbor Central City since casinos opened in both towns in 1991. Many historic buildings in the town have been restored following the opening of the casinos in 1991. Black Hawk was also served by the two-foot-gauge Gilpin Tramway which climbed from Black Hawk to the mines above Central City. A restored depot and locomotive are on display on the east side of downtown. The Colorado Central Railroad extended its line to the town in 1872. Black Hawk's advantageous location on North Clear Creek made it the center of ore processing for the area, and it became known as the 'City of Mills'. Hill's smelter could recover gold from the sulfide ores, an achievement that saved hardrock mining in Black Hawk, Central City, and Idaho Springs from ruin. Hill built Colorado's first successful ore smelter in Black Hawk in 1868. Hardrock mining boomed for a few years, but then declined in the mid-1860s as the miners exhausted the shallow parts of the veins that contained free gold, and found that their amalgamation mills could not recover gold from the deeper sulfide ores.

The Bobtail lode was discovered the following month. Gregory, brought thousands of prospectors and miners into the area, combing the hills for more gold veins. In May 1859 the discovery of gold in Gregory Gulch by its namesake, John H. History īlack Hawk was established in 1859. The ban was overturned by the Colorado Supreme Court in 2013. In early 2010, the Black Hawk city council passed a law banning the riding of bicycles in the town, drawing a reaction from bicycle advocacy groups and international press. The town declined during the 20th century, but has been revived in recent years after the 1991 establishment of casino gambling following a statewide initiative in 1990. The area flourished during the mining boom of the late 19th century following the construction of mills and a railroad link to Golden. The two cities form the federally designated Central City/Black Hawk National Historic District.

Black Hawk is now a part of the Denver-Aurora-Lakewood, CO Metropolitan Statistical Area and the Front Range Urban Corridor.īlack Hawk is located adjacent to Central City, another historic mining settlement in Gregory Gulch. The tiny city is a historic mining settlement founded in 1859 during the Pike's Peak Gold Rush. The city population was 127 at the 2020 United States Census, making Black Hawk the least populous city (rather than town) in Colorado. Black Hawk is a home rule municipality located in Gilpin County, Colorado, United States.

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