Editing Gold Hill, Colorado

{{Use American English|date=January 2025}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2023}}
{{Infobox settlement
<!--See the Table at Infobox settlement for all fields and descriptions of usage-->
<!-- Basic info  ---------------->
|official_name            = Gold Hill
|other_name               = 
|nickname                 = 
|settlement_type          = [[Census-designated place|Census Designated Place]]
|motto                    = 
<!-- images and maps  ----------->
|image_skyline            = Gold Hill Historic District Gold Hill CO.jpg
|imagesize                = 
|image_caption            = Gold Hill, Colorado.
|image_map                = Boulder_County_Colorado_Incorporated_and_Unincorporated_areas_Gold_Hill_Highlighted.svg
|mapsize                  = 
|map_caption              = Location of the Gold Hill CDP in {{nowrap|[[Boulder County, Colorado]].}}
|pushpin_map              = USA
|pushpin_label            = Gold Hill
|pushpin_label_position   = right
|pushpin_map_caption      = Location of the Gold Hill CDP in the [[United States]]
|pushpin_mapsize          = 
<!-- Location ------------------>
|subdivision_type         = [[List of sovereign states|Country]]
|subdivision_name         = {{flag|United States}}
|subdivision_type1        = [[U.S. state|State]]
|subdivision_name1        = {{flag|Colorado}}
|subdivision_type2        = [[List of counties in Colorado|County]]
|subdivision_name2        = [[Boulder County, Colorado|Boulder County]]
<!-- Politics ----------------->
|government_footnotes     = <ref name=gnis/>
|government_type          = [[Unincorporated area|unincorporated community]]
|leader_title             = 
|leader_name              = 
|established_title        = Founded
|established_date         = 1859
|established_title2       = <!-- Incorporated (town) -->
|established_date2        = 
<!-- Area    --------------------->
|unit_pref                = [[Imperial units|Imperial]]
|area_footnotes           = <ref name=CO_CDP_2020>{{cite web|url=https://tigerweb.geo.census.gov/tigerwebmain/Files/bvp20/tigerweb_bvp20_cdp_2020_co.html|title=State of Colorado Census Designated Places - BAS20 - Data as of January 1, 2020|publisher=[[United States Census Bureau]]|access-date=December 8, 2020}}</ref>
|area_total_km2           = 5.374
|area_land_km2            = 5.374
|area_water_km2           = 0.000
|area_water_percent       = 
<!-- Population   ----------------------->
|population_as_of         = [[2020 United States census|2020]]
|population_footnotes     = <ref name="Census 2020">{{cite web |url=https://data.census.gov/profile/Gold_Hill_CDP,_Colorado?g=160XX00US0830945 |title=Gold Hill CDP, Colorado |author=United States Census Bureau|date= |website= |publisher= |access-date=April 18, 2023 |quote=}}</ref>
|population_note          = 
|population_total         = 218
|population_density_km2   = auto
|population_density_sq_mi = auto
<!-- General information  --------------->
|timezone                 = [[Mountain Standard Time|MST]]
|utc_offset               = -7
|timezone_DST             = [[Mountain Daylight Time|MDT]]
|utc_offset_DST           = -6
|coordinates_footnotes    = <ref name=gnis/>
|coordinates = {{coord|40|03|35|N|105|25|08|W|region:US-CO_type:city|name=Gold Hill CDP, Colorado|display=inline,title}}
|elevation_footnotes      = <ref name=gnis/>
|elevation_ft             = 8455
<!-- Area, postal, and other codes -------->
|postal_code_type        = [[ZIP Code]]<ref name=ZIPcode>{{cite web|url=https://www.zipdatamaps.com/80302|title=Zip Code 80302 Map and Profile|publisher=zipdatamaps.com|year=2020|access-date=December 20, 2020}}</ref>
|postal_code              = [[Boulder, Colorado|Boulder]] 80302
|area_codes               = [[Area codes 303 and 720|303 & 720]]
|blank_name               = [[Geographic Names Information System|GNIS feature]]
|blank_info               = 2408304<ref name=gnis>{{GNIS|2408304}}</ref>
|website                  = 
|footnotes                = 
 {{Infobox NRHP
| embed                          = yes
| name                           = Gold Hill Historic District
| nrhp_type                      = hd
| nocat                          = yes
| designated_other1              = Colorado
| designated_other1_date         =
| designated_other1_number       = 5BL.769
| designated_other1_num_position = bottom
| image                          =
| caption                        =
| location                       = Roughly bounded by North St., Pine St., Boulder St., Gold Run St., and College St.
| coordinates                    =
| locmapin                       =
| area                           =
| built                          = 1872
| architecture                   = Late 19th And 20th Century Revivals
| added                          = August 3, 1989
| mpsub                          = Metal Mining and Tourist Era Resources of Boulder County MPS
| refnum                         = 89000979<ref name=nris>{{NRISref|2009a}}</ref>
}}
}}

'''Gold Hill''' is an [[Unincorporated area|unincorporated community]] and a [[Census-designated place|census-designated place (CDP)]] located in and governed by [[Boulder County, Colorado|Boulder County]], [[Colorado]], [[United States]]. The CDP is a part of the [[Boulder, CO Metropolitan Statistical Area]]. The population of the Gold Hill CDP was 218 at the [[United States Census 2020]].<ref name="Census 2020" /> The [[Boulder, Colorado|Boulder]] [[post office]] ([[Zip Code]] 80302) serves the area.<ref name=ZIPcode/>

Gold Hill is located to the northwest of [[Boulder, Colorado|Boulder]], perched on a mountainside above [[Left Hand Canyon]] at an elevation of 8,300 feet. Originally a mining camp, it was the site of the first major discovery of gold during the 1859 [[Colorado Gold Rush]] and remained an important mining camp throughout the late 19th century, with a population approaching 1500 at its height, before falling into decline. It has been revived somewhat in recent years as a quiet isolated haven, with no paved streets, but easily accessed by dirt roads. The town contains numerous historic wooden structures, some restored in recent years, as well as decaying ruins from its mining heyday. It has a small museum and two-room schoolhouse, the Gold Hill School, which since 1873 has been the oldest continuously operating public school in Colorado. Other businesses include a General Store and a restored inn listed on the [[National Register of Historic Places]]. The town is laid out on a small grid of dirt streets.

Gold Hill is accessible from nearby [[Left Hand Canyon]] Road via Lick Skillet Road. Easier approaches to Gold Hill include Sunshine Canyon Road from 4th and Mapleton in [[Boulder, Colorado|Boulder]], Gold Run Road from Salina (on Four Mile Canyon Road), and Gold Hill Road from the [[Peak to Peak Highway]] ([[State Highway 72 (Colorado)|State Highway 72]]) south of [[Ward, Colorado|Ward]]. All of these roads are susceptible to heavy snows during the winter, which at times render Gold Hill inaccessible to vehicles not equipped with chains or four wheel drive.

Gold Hill is sometimes labeled a [[ghost town]], which is an inaccurate designation.  Gold Hill is part of unincorporated Boulder County, and while it does not have a [[municipal government]], it does have an active [[town meeting]] with elected officials.

==History==
{{more citations needed section|date=February 2011}}
The community is located above Gold Run, the first lode discovery of gold in Colorado (at that time the area was part of the [[Nebraska Territory]]) on January 15, 1859. The discovery occurred nearly simultaneous with prospecting in [[Gregory Gulch]] and [[Clear Creek (Colorado)|Clear Creek]], but these latter discoveries were not exploited until later that Spring. On March 7, 1859, the Gold Run discovery became the first mining district in region (named either the Mountain District No. 1, Mining District No. 1 of the Nebraska Territory, or the Nebraska Gold Hill Mining District, according to various historical sources). Word quickly spread among miners in the region, prompting a flood of new arrivals and the establishment of Gold Hill as the first permanent mining camp in present-day Colorado. By autumn, a [[quartz]] [[stamp mill]] was erected at the base of the hill, the first such piece of equipment in the region, one that had been transported by [[ox]] cart westward over the [[Great Plains]]. The first productive vein was the Scott, followed quickly the Horsfal, Alamakee, and Cold Spring. Nearby [[placer mining|placers]] were also worked for the gold in stream beds.

[[File:DSCN2849 goldhillwoodstructures e 600.jpg|thumb|left|Modern residences around ruins of historic mining structures in Gold Hill]]

By 1861, the year of the organization of the [[Colorado Territory]], the surface deposits of gold in the vicinity of the town were largely played out, resulting in a temporary exodus of prospectors and a population decrease. The town was somewhat revived later that year by the construction of the Hill [[smelter]] at nearby [[Black Hawk, Colorado|Black Hawk]], allowing the treatment of lower-grade ores.

The discovery of [[tellurium]] in the area in 1872 prompted a second boom, bringing the population to nearly 1000 once again. At its height, the town had a newspaper and number of hotels, including the Mines Hotel, built in 1872 and recently restored as summer tourist destination. The Mines was immortalized in verse by [[poet]] [[Eugene Field]], who stayed at the hotel while working as a newspaper man in [[Denver, Colorado|Denver]]. The town population dwindled in the early 20th century as the mining tapered off. The town has experienced two major fires in its history, but it nevertheless retains many of its historic wooden structures.

Despite a dwindling permanent population, Gold Hill continued to remain attractive to tourists. Around 1926 [[Florence Molloy and Mabel MacLeay]], previously the owners of the Molloy-MacLeay taxicab company in [[Boulder, Colorado|Boulder, CO]], opened the Double M Dude Ranch (or M&M ranch, then Trojan Ranch, and now the Colorado Mountain Ranch) in Gold Hill, CO.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://localhistory.boulderlibrary.org/islandora/object/islandora:76116?solr_nav%5Bid%5D=1cdba39b6e1bc0fc73de&solr_nav%5Bpage%5D=0&solr_nav%5Boffset%5D=0|title=Revealing Our Routes: women of Boulder County {{!}} Carnegie Library for Local History|website=localhistory.boulderlibrary.org|access-date=2019-11-24}}</ref> The [[Syracuse Herald-Journal|Syracuse Herald]], described the Double M as offering, “all the attractions of the open spaces of the West sufficiently tempered with luxuries to meet the requirement of Easterners.”<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://mcgrathsearch.com/Mattydale_Stuff/Settlers/Molloy/1927-02-06%20Molloy%20&%20MacLeay%20Open%20Dude%20Ranch.jpg|title=Ex-Syracuse Women Open Dude Ranch|last=Sloan|first=Mildred|date=6 February 1927|work=The Syracuse Herald|access-date=23 November 2019}}</ref> The Double MM operated until [[World War II]] when it was sold in 1941 and subsequently became the Trojan Ranch and then later the Colorado Mountain Ranch (currently in operation).<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.dailycamera.com/ci_22313289/bernie-egeland-longtime-boulder-resident-reflects-coors-events-center-gold-hill|title=Longtime resident reflects on Boulder living, wrangling|date=2013-01-04|website=Boulder Daily Camera|language=en-US|access-date=2019-11-24}}</ref>

In 1921, The Holiday House Association of Chicago, started by [[Jean Sherwood]], purchased the hotel at Gold Hill, now the Gold Hill Inn, to create a summer camp destination for self-supporting single women from Chicago. These vacationing women were referred to as "Bluebirds." The Bluebird Lodge addition to the hotel was completed around 1926.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1990-07-26-vw-1177-story.html|title=Bluebird Cottage--Early Pastoral Haven for the Working Girl : History: A women's rights activist named Jean Wirt Sherwood came to a meadow in Boulder in 1904 and immediately saw it as a vacation retreat for the weary.|date=1990-07-26|website=Los Angeles Times|language=en-US|access-date=2019-11-24}}</ref>

In September 2010, the [[Fourmile Canyon#Four Mile Canyon Fire|Four Mile Canyon wildfire]] destroyed approximately 170 homes in and around Gold Hill.<ref>{{Cite web |date=9 September 2010 |title=Evacuation order lifted for some, others express frustration |url=http://www.kdvr.com/news/kdvr-fourmile-fire-community-meeting-txt,0,7516523.story |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110717000816/http://www.kdvr.com/news/kdvr-fourmile-fire-community-meeting-txt,0,7516523.story |archive-date=17 July 2011 |website=FOX31 Denver}}</ref>

==Geography==
The Gold Hill CDP has an area of {{convert|5.374|km2|acres|disp=flip}}, all land.<ref name=CO_CDP_2020/>

==Demographics==
<!-- As of the [[census]]<ref name="GR2">{{cite web |url=https://www.census.gov |publisher=[[United States Census Bureau]] |access-date=2008-01-31 |title=U.S. Census website }}</ref> of 2000, there were 210 people, 90 households, and 47 families residing in the CDP.  The population density was {{convert|104.7|PD/sqmi|PD/km2|sp=us|adj=off}}.  There were 114 housing units at an average density of {{convert|56.8|/sqmi|/km2|sp=us|adj=off}}.  The racial makeup of the CDP was 89.05% [[White (U.S. Census)|White]], 0.48% [[African American (U.S. Census)|African American]], 3.33% [[Native American (U.S. Census)|Native American]], 1.90% [[Asian (U.S. Census)|Asian]], 4.29% from [[Race (United States Census)|other races]], and 0.95% from two or more races. [[Hispanic (U.S. Census)|Hispanic]] or [[Latino (U.S. Census)|Latino]] of any race were 7.62% of the population.

There were 90 households, out of which 33.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 46.7% were [[Marriage|married couples]] living together, 2.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 46.7% were non-families. 35.6% of all households were made up of individuals, and 1.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.  The average household size was 2.33 and the average family size was 3.00.

In the CDP, the population was spread out, with 22.9% under the age of 18, 4.8% from 18 to 24, 37.1% from 25 to 44, 32.4% from 45 to 64, and 2.9% who were 65 years of age or older.  The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females, there were 114.3 males.  For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 116.0 males.

The median income for a household in the CDP was $48,750, and the median income for a family was $76,850. Males had a median income of $48,929 versus $12,105 for females. The [[per capita income]] for the CDP was $24,675.  None of the population or families were below the [[poverty line]].
 -->
The [[United States Census Bureau]] initially defined the {{nowrap|Gold Hill CDP}} for the {{nowrap|[[United States Census 2000]].}}
{{Historical populations
|title  = Gold Hill CDP, Colorado
|type   = US
|align  = left
|source = [[United States Census Bureau]]
|2000|210
|2010|230
|2020|218
}}
{{clear}}

==See also==
{{portal|Colorado}}
*[[Boulder, CO Metropolitan Statistical Area]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Further reading==
*Brown, Robert L.  ''[[Jeep Trails to Colorado Ghost Towns]]''.  [[Caldwell, Idaho|Caldwell]]: Caxton, 1963.

==External links==
{{sister project links}}
*[https://goldhilltown.com/ Gold Hill, Colorado]
*[https://westernmininghistory.com/towns/colorado/gold-hill/ Gold Hill @ WesternMiningHistory.com]
*[https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/gold-hill Gold Hill @ ColoradoEncyclopedia.org]
*[http://coloradopreservation.org/programs/endangered-places/endangered-places-archives/original-gold-hill-townsite/ Original Gold Hill Townsite @ ColoradoPreservation.org]
*[https://www.ghosttowns.com/states/co/goldhill.html Gold Hill @ GhostTowns.com]
*[https://www.mindat.org/loc-24840.html Gold Hill Mining District @ Mindat.org]
*[https://thediggings.com/places/co0132408304 Gold Hill, Colorado Mining Claims And Mines]
*[http://drfumblefinger.com/blog/2019/02/walking-main-street-in-gold-hill-colorado/ Walking Tour of Gold Hill]
*[https://www.bouldercounty.org/ Boulder County website]
{{Boulder County, Colorado}}

{{authority control}}

[[Category:Census-designated places in Boulder County, Colorado]]
[[Category:Census-designated places in Colorado]]
[[Category:1859 establishments in Nebraska Territory]]
[[Category:Colorado Mining Boom]]
[[Category:Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Colorado]]
[[Category:National Register of Historic Places in Boulder County, Colorado]]