The Eagle Valley Library District recently acquired 27 images of Holy Cross City from the 1890s! Located in what is today the Holy Cross Wilderness between Red Cliff and Leadville, this small mining town included a post office, two general stores, saloon, assay office and hotel, called the Timberline Hotel. The town was founded by John W. Bailey, who also owned the Gold Park Milling and Mining Company. Two mills were in operation at Holy Cross City, the Holy Cross Mill and Treasure Vault Mill. The two mills were connected by a two-and-a-half mile long flume.
The town was abandoned in the late-1880s, but was revived for a short period in the 1890s. Today, only a small number of buildings remain. This collection is of great importance to Eagle County in that no other institution has more than four or five images that show Holy Cross City when it was inhabited. Many of the known images of Holy Cross City were taken in the 1930s and 1940s by hikers, long after the town was abandoned. These images help fill in a missing piece of the puzzle that is the history of Eagle County! Check out more images from this great collection in the Library's Local Digital Archive: Holy Cross City photographs, 1880s-1890s!
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