Leadville history: a silver boom seen from Harrison Avenue

Leadville’s mining wealth paid for a theater as well as mines. Harrison Avenue holds the old commercial center and the Tabor Opera House; the museums cover the people and the mining technology behind it.

Start at the Tabor

Horace Tabor built the Tabor Opera House in 1879. The opera house’s own history says construction took just 100 days, with materials brought over the mountain passes by wagon. Stores occupied the first floor, the theater the second, and the building once had a skywalk to the neighboring Clarendon Hotel, which no longer stands.

Tabor’s finances failed in the silver collapse of 1893, and the opera house’s history traces several changes of owner and name after that: the building outlasted the fortune that built it. Tours and performances are booked from its current calendar; the tours run on a summer schedule.

Compare public ambition with domestic life

Healy House and Dexter Cabin, both History Colorado sites, show home life in a mining town at two different scales. The interior is seen on a guided tour, at times set on the museum’s schedule.

The National Mining Hall of Fame and Museum turns from architecture to the mining work itself. Matchless Mine, which ties the landscape to the Tabor story, is a separate visit with its own public season; outside it, the museum is the indoor visit.

Walk first, then choose one deeper visit

The Harrison Avenue walking route covers the exteriors on foot, and one museum or guided tour adds the detail. A few blocks and one interior make a half day without driving between landmarks.

Leadville out of season covers the weather and seasonal access for the railroad, the lake and the trails. Closed mines, private property and old industrial structures are not open to explore; the sites above are the ones whose operators admit visitors.