The Rise of the Silver Queen
Georgetown, Colorado 1859-1896
Liston E. Leyendecker, Christine A. Bradley, and Duane A. Smith
Paperback
Price: 22.95

For nearly 150 years, the community of Georgetown, home to approximately 1,100 people, has nestled high in the Rocky Mountains west of Denver. The Rise of the Silver Queen tracks the history of Georgetown, its people, and its miners from its founding in 1859 through the end of the silver era with the crucial presidential election of 1896, and demonstrates the town's place in the larger story of the settlement of the Rocky Mountains and the West.

After a slow start as a gold mining camp, Georgetown skyrocketed to international acclaim with the discovery of the rich Belmont silver claim in fall 1864. Within a few years, the town would be known as the "Silver Queen of the Rockies." The authors cover the growth of the town, the economic troubles that came with the richer discoveries around Leadville in 1877, and the tumult associated with the creation of a permanent community the Rocky Mountain West. The Rise of the Silver Queen contains 175 photographs, including views of the businesses and neighborhoods, community events, mines and mills, railroads, and people.