Experience Victor, City of Mines Through the Victor Lowell Thomas Museum

Sunday, July 18 the Steve Veatch will present the second annual Discover Victor program and guided tour. The program includes a one-hour presentation and two-hour guided tour of the Victor area, with stops at historic sites. The even benefits the Victor Lowell Thomas Museum. There will be two sessions for the event on July 18 – one at 9 a.m. and 1 p.m. This is a great opportunity to learn about Victor’s gold rush history from a well-known geologist, historian and author.

The presentation, which will be held at the Victor Community Center at Second and Portland Avenue in Victor, will be about one hour long, followed by a guided two-hour tour, packed with information.. A shuttle will be available for a limited number of participants, and for the rest, carpooling will be required. The cost for the event is $15 per person, including handouts. The fee also includes admission to the museum for the day. Please reserve by calling 719-689-5509 or email museum@victorcolorado.com. Walk-ins are welcome as long as you are willing to carpool. The event is sponsored by the Southern Teller County Focus Group, which is donating all the proceeds of this event to the Victor Lowell Thomas Museum’s building restoration fund. This 50-year old museum houses gold rush era history in downtown Victor.

The presentation was first made last year courtesy of Veatch and the Lake George Gem and Mineral Club and has since been improved and presented all over the country. Veatch and the gem club’s study group delved into the little-known facts of Victor’s amazing history, the famous mines on Battle Hill that made Victor famous, and the remarkable minerals of the mining district.

Gold Rush Days, July 16-18, honors the town’s mining heritage with mining games that give visitors a close-up look at mining skills of yesterday and today such as jackleg drilling, hand mucking and hand steel drilling as well as gold panning.  Pan for real gold at the museum and take a modern mine tour. CC&V gold mine tours are offered during Gold Rush Days this year Friday, July 16 and 17 at 10 and 1 – reserve on line at VictorColorado.com to see the giant trucks, rock crusher and open pit mine.  All proceeds from these tours benefit the Victor Lowell Thomas Museum.

Families can also enjoy vendors, Victorian home tours, a street dance on Friday night, the District Reunion dance on Saturday night, kids games and clowns, and a parade on Sunday afternoon.

Victor, one of the last authentic mining towns in the state of Colorado, offers the visitor an interesting selection of eateries, saloons, hotels and turn-of-the-century manufacturing, products and antiques all on the sunny southern slope of Pikes Peak, just one hour west of Colorado Springs.  The Gold Rush Days event is presented by the Victor Elks Lodge #367

May 29, 2010 Mine Tour

Tour the Historic Strong Mine & Gold Coin Club - May 29 9:30 a.m. Meet at the Victor Lowell Thomas Museum. $10 per person, which benefits the Southern Teller County Focus Group. This tour includes a visit (1 block walk or drive to) the historic 1890's Strong Mine on Victor's north side. The headframe and mine buildings will be showcased and historical information will be provided by the current owner, Gold States Mining CO., as well as historian Ed Hunter. Also open for the tour from 11-1 are the historic Gold Coin Club at 4th & Diamond, the Colorado Trading & Transfer Co.Private Museum at 3rd & Diamond. This event is held during Colorado Historic Preservation Month and is the sixth annual mine tour the STCFG has sponsored as part of the month-long event held every year to focus on Colorado history. Please call 719-789-2675 for information or email stcfg@victorcolorado.com. Please wear sturdy shoes and be prepared for walking on all grades in cool, possibly wet, spring weather.

The tour will be a featured part of the season opening of the Victor Lowell Thomas Museum. The museum opens May 29 for the summer season and will again this host gold and gem panning, modern mine tours, exhibits and special events. Museum hours will be 9:30-5:30 Daily Mays 29-Sept. 6 and weekends in September and October through Oct. 10, weather permitting. Admission is $4 per adult, $3 per senior, $2 per child; gold panning is additional. Modern mine tours start June 1. Please make reservations online or at 719-689-4211. For more information about the museum, please visit victorcolorado.com.

May 23, 2009 - Tour of the Anchoria-Leland Mine Surface Structures

High above Cripple Creek the Anchoria -Leland Mine is a landmark with a grand view of the mountains. The mine, owned by the Anchoria-Leland Mining and Milling Company in 1892, produced over $3 million worth of gold . The tour will showcase the 1890 mining operations on Gold Hill that made the Anchoria-Leland one of the great producers.

Gold Coin Mine Arch Capped

The brick arch over the iron gate of the Gold Mine in Victor is being capped to save the 100-year old bricks. The arch is unique to this one-time gold mine that was owned by the Woods family, founders of Victor. The concrete cap on the brick walls there, by Kent Burgess and John White, will protect the brick from further water damage. This project was funded by donations to the STCFG.

New Roof on Historic Blacksmith Shop

The STCFG funded the replacement of tin roofing on the blacksmith shop at the American Eagles Scenic Overlook. The tin had blown off over 2 winters of windy weather. This project was funded by donations to the STCFG.

Doyle Block Assessment & Roof Repair Grants Awarded

The State Historical Fund awarded the STCFG a $10,000 grant to assess the structural needs of the Doyle Block in Downtown Victor. This historic building once housed the 1908 Democratic Headquarters, the Silver Dollar Saloon and more recently the office of Dr. A.C. Denman. The new owners hope to save the building and develop housing upstairs, a brewery and at gallery downstairs. The STCFG has also received  a grant to repair the roof of the Doyle Block from the SHF for $27,750. This means the building is on its way to being saved. The roof replacement was completed in September, 2009. The STCFG is seeking in 2010 a grant to restore the front of this historic building.

May 24, 2008 Portland Mine Tour

The STCFG held a tour of the Portland I Mine May 24 as part of Historic Preservation Month. Partly funded by the Colorado Historical Society, the tour was lead by historian Ed Hunter. About 30 individuals attended.

Interpretive Signs at Independence Mill Site

Thanks to volunteers from the STCFG and Hilltop 4-H 3 new signs at the Mill Site describe the history of this one-time gold mill and equipment. The signs were funded by the STCFG and designed by ZStudios of Victor.

El Paso Gold King Preserved at Library of Congress

   The Gold King Headframe in Poverty Gulch is in danger of collapsing and an assessment and attempt to save it determined that the ground under it is not stable enough to rehab the structure. A grant was awarded in 2005 to the STCFG to document the structure in detailed engineering and architectural drawings. Those drawings were completed along with photos and historical documents, preserving this mine's place in history in the archives of the national trust.

   The results have been approved by the National Park Service and State Historical Fund and placed in the archives of the Library of Congress. In addition, the grant funded an interpretive sign, located near the mine in Poverty Gulch, which depicts the history of the headframe.

   Copies of the drawing with brief history of the mine, first discovered by Bob Womack in 1890, are available for sale as a fundraiser by the STCFG, which spearheaded the grants and preservation efforts. The grant was provided by the State Historical Fund with additional matching funds from the City of Cripple Creek.

The drawing of the El Paso Gold King Mine is now available for sale in our online store. Click here to purchase your copy today! All proceeds are used to preserve and interpret historic sites in southern Teller County.

National Trust/Explore Colorado

The National Trust for Historic Preservation teamed up with KUSA 9NEWS to present a public education program called, Explore Colorado.  Using the power of television and the internet, Explore Colorado reaches more than 6 million people, raising public awareness and educating audiences about our State’s heritage, inspiring interest in and visitation to historic and cultural places across the state.

The Trails of Gold are part of this project.

More info...

Historic Preservation Month Features Treasures of Victor’s Gold Mining Heritage 2007

Two events highlighting Victor’s golden past will be held during May – Colorado Historic Preservation Month. Both are funded by grants from the Colorado Historical Society.

Downtown walking tours and a guided tour of the Gold Coin Mine will be held May 19, 2007 this month. In addition, visitors to this historic mining town can search for treasures during a citywide garage sale, with locations around the city and downtown including the Victor Lowell Thomas Museum.

Saturday, May 19, 2007 the new Victor Downtown Walking Tour will get its debut – two guided tours of a new tour/trail and interpretive signs will be held. This new tour and connection to the Trails of Gold just outside of Victor includes a map and written tours of the downtown historic buildings. It allows hikers and bicyclists to access from downtown over 4 miles of STCFG trails through gold rush history.

This project was funded by a grant from the Gold Belt Byway Association and created by Doug McNiel of the Victor Heritage Society and Ruth Zalewski of the STCFG. Each tour will be about 1.5 hours and be conducted on the sidewalks and streets of Victor.

Victor mining engineer and historian Ed Hunter will conduct a guided tour of the Gold Coin Mine at 5^th & Diamond Ave. This historic mine site was owned by the Woods family who founded Victor. The tour, sponsored by the STCFG, will include a close-up look inside the locked gate of the 1890’s hoist that carries remnants of gold décor, as well as the shaft and other structures of the mine.

Signs Guides to Trails, Historic Sites
  The STCFG map sign project is complete, replacing the outdated and faded map signs at 10 locations around the district.  The project is now completed and the signs were installed by volunteers.  The installation was completely volunteer by Ed Hunter, Jane Mannon, Jon and Ruth Zalewski. The design was donated by ZStudios using artwork from Cherry Hunter, the Lowell Thomas
Museum, as well as a base map provided by the Teller County Information Technology Dept. The map signs denote the new trail system, historic sites and roads that have been rerouted over the past years due to mining activity. The new signs are National Park Service Standard fiberglass embedded panels in dark brown frames.  The City of Cripple Creek Community Resource Funds were donated for this project as well as private donations to the
STCFG.

Group Assists Victor Masons in Historic Preservation
The Victor Masonic Lodge on South 4th St., is in dire need to repairs to keep the structure in tact. The STCFG has adopted the Masonic Lodge and partnered with the Victor Masons to repair the building. Members of both groups teamed up in June to make temporary roof repairs needed to keep the building from further deterioration until a rehab grant can be obtained..
The STCFG applied for and received in a Historic Structural Assessment Grant from the State Historical Fund. The group applied for a state historical grant Oct. 1, 2005 to repair the roof. Matching funds were not provided by the Masons and grant was returned

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Historic Headframe Relocated
The metal structure that is the remnant of the gold mining operations at the Julia E shaft of the Ophir Mine has been relocated below its former location in Squaw Gulch..
Cripple Creek & Victor Gold Mining Company and Conley Construction erected the headframe  just above Highway 67 between Victor and Cripple Creek. The structure was moved on request of the Southern Teller County Focus Group.The Julia E. was on the edge of the mine expansion on Raven Hill, just above the Golden Wedge, a tall, thin, wooden headframe still intact. The STCFG requested the structure be moved to preserve it and the historic mining landscape in Squaw Gulch. The structure may be viewed from state Highway 67 and the Cripple Creek & Victor Narrow Gauge Railroad. The Advance Gold Mining, Bonding and Leasing Company owned stock in and leased the Julia E on Raven Hill at the turn of the century.

Gold Coin Wall Restored
The STCFG has funded from its historic preservation funds, raised by the sale of Portland II prints, the restoration of a 30-foot by 12 foot wall of the east side of the Gold Coin Mine. The mine, located in downtown Victor, was founded by the Woods family.
The wall, which was made from hand hewn native rock, served as the east foundation for the mine site. The new wall was constructed of native rock from the Strong and Independence mines by J&K Landscaping of Victor. The wall was completed in the fall of 2004. Others donating to the cause were Mark Gregory, Lorri Sewald, Ron Robb, Woody, Andy Watson and the Strong Mine.

High Speed Internet

The Focus Group was instrumental in bringing High Speed Internet Access to Southern Teller County, thru a partnership with CCVNet.net. The project begun in 2001 brought wireless service into existing businesses and homes as well as to those who wish to relocate here.

Two Memorial Benches Placed
Two benches were placed July 7, 2005 in memory of Cherry Hunter, well known Victor artist and volunteer. The benches were purchased with funds donated to the STCFG Victor Lowell Thomas Museum by family and friends after Cherry's
passing in Nov. 2004. One bench is at the American Eagles Scenic Overlook and the other on the Vindicator Valley Trail.

Frizzell Fund-raiser A Success
The entire series of 100 signed Frizzell Portland II prints have been sold - thanks to you all for your support! We still have unsigned prints left for sale - the proceeds go toward our historic preservation and mining history projects.

More info at our online store...