Lovely Leadville

Looking for old buildings or discovering a piece of history?  Well, "get the lead out" and head over to Leadville, Colorado!  I discovered that the famous Doc Holliday came to Leadville to live after the fight at OK Corral.  In those days, it was an awful long way between Tombstone, Arizona and this small Colorado mining town.  I wonder if he came to get away from the bunches of hooligans in Arizona or just wanted a cooler place to live in.   Anyway, we were certainly thankful for the cool temperature of just 73 degrees as we walked up and down the main street.

Here is a view of the main street.  The bright yellow building is the Golden Burro Cafe.  

One of the most famous buildings is the Tabor Opera House, built in 1879 by Horace Tabor.  It was the largest and grandest opera house west of the Mississippi River when it was built and hosted people like John Philips Sousa, boxer Jack Dempsey and even Houdini!

I loved the architectural detail on the old buildings.  Each one has its own personality.  One excellent example is the old Fearnley building adorned with 3 finials and meticulously painted in accent colors.

Now compare that to a large building down one of the side streets.   This is the type of property that is described as "full of potential" by real estate ads!

Then there is the one with a commanding view (of the junkyard)!  To say the least, it is interesting to look at, although I don't think I'd ever want to live in it!

There is a tourist train that leaves from Leadville, but unfortunately we didn't know that until we drove around a bit.  The train was gone, leaving behind bunches of wildflowers growing up between the railroad ties.

Along the way we came across an old rusty truck.  It blended in well with its surroundings.  Another photo opportunity for me!  This reminded me of one of the old trucks in the Cars 2 Disney movie.

South of Leadville, off Highway 24 we discovered more dilapitated buildings in various states of disrepair.

Looks like this building has a natural skylight!

The two story building below was actually the Red Rooster Tavern in a former life.  Now it is the visitor center for the tiny town of Twin Lakes.

Don agreed to stop along the highway for a minute so I could get a picture of this old schoolhouse, complete with outhouse.

The drive on Highway 24 between Leadville and Twin Lakes lent itself to plenty of photo opportunities for me. A ribbon of road winding its way among rolling hills of green grass and past falling fences is sure a lot more interesting than the miles of cement on Interstate 25!