Central City — The Lost Opera of the Gold Rush

Your quest begins at the Central City Opera House, the first professional opera west of the Mississippi, built in 1878. Imagine the glittering Colorado society that flocked here, including President Ulysses S. Grant in 1879, to attend a performance. Restored in 1932 by the Central City Opera Association, this 550-seat National Historic Landmark has stood the test of time, preserving the memory of the great voices that resonated within its walls. It is here that the first clues to the lost opera will be revealed, laying the groundwork for your exploration of the Central City Historic District.

Continue to the Teller House, opened in 1872 as a luxury hotel, a testament to the opulence of the Gold Rush. It was in this three-story brick building, located at 261 Eureka Street, that President Ulysses S. Grant stayed in 1873. A famous mural portrait of Grant, painted directly on the wall in 1936, still graces the premises. The walls of this edifice, listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1971, have witnessed fortunes and disappointments, and perhaps a fragment of the libretto you seek is hidden behind this portrait.

Your path then leads to the Gilpin County Courthouse, built in 1899 in the Second Empire style, with its distinctive copper dome. This seat of Gilpin County, measuring approximately 30m x 20m, served as a jail in its basement until 1960. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1972, it symbolizes order and justice in this once wild town. The archives it contains are a treasure trove of information for detectives like you, and perhaps a mention of the lost opera's composer is preserved there, guiding you to the next stage of your interactive Central City tour.

Discover the St. James United Methodist Church, built in 1861, the oldest Methodist church in the state of Colorado. This wooden building, with its 15m bell tower, could accommodate 200 worshippers and was even used as a hospital during cholera epidemics in the 1860s. Restored in 1940, it houses an organ dating from 1870. This place of worship, far from the tumult of the mines, offers a different perspective on the lives of the inhabitants of Central City and Colorado. The hymns sung here might hold a melodic key to the vanished opera.

Conclude your journey by exploring Main Street and the Register-Call Building, at 107 Main Street. Main Street, paved in the 1870s, was the center of the 1859 gold boom, with over 20 saloons for 2,000 inhabitants in 1860, and preserves 90% of its original Victorian architecture. The Register-Call Building, constructed in 1879 to print the newspaper, with its steam presses installed in 1880 and a circulation of 2,000 copies, was listed on the National Register in 1978. Your exploration of Central City, a unique thematic circuit in Colorado's heritage, will have allowed you to reconstruct the history of the lost opera, transforming a simple visit into a deep immersion into the soul of the Gold Rush.

Your exploration of the Central City Historic District, a National Historic Landmark, will have been a true dive into the history of Colorado's Gold Rush. By following the augmented reality clues, you will have discovered the secrets of the Central City Opera House, the Teller House, the Gilpin County Courthouse, the St. James United Methodist Church, and Main Street. This Central City scavenger hunt will have allowed you to see the city from a different angle, revealing Colorado's heritage and the excitement of that era. You will take with you not only the recovered libretto, but also an intimate understanding of what made Central City 'The Richest Square Mile on Earth'.