thanks for joining us today and welcome to nevadaville colorado most people are only familiar
with nevadaville if at all as a highway sign that they pass on the way towards the glittery casinos
of blackhawk or central city colorado however if you make one wrong turn on that highway
you may find yourself in one of the many ghost towns that are crowded into the landscape of
gregory gulch. one of the most stunning and well preserved examples is nevadaville colorado. in
the 1800s nevadaville was bustling with businesses families and of course gold miners it was founded
in 1859 when john h gregory discovered the first load gold or underground gold in what
would later become the state of colorado however when mr gregory was prospecting in nevadaville
it was not yet a state it was a part of what was called the western kansas territory
the town was primarily irish and the miners were two large loads the borough load and the kansas
load the town was also known in the 1860s and 1870s as nevada city its post office was called
the bald mountain post office this was supposed to avoid confusion with other towns with the name
nevada or other nevada villes in colorado most people continued to call the settlement nevada
nevada city or nevadaville fun fact nevada is a spanish word meaning snowy clad or snowy land
so it's pretty fitting the town died due to gold and silver running out in the early 1900s at its
peak it had over 4 000 residents today only two full-time residents live in the community. Before
its collapse nevada ville was one of the most important and largest mining settlements in the
area a fire destroyed over 50 buildings in 1861 including a taxidermist a naturalist and martha
maxwell's boarding house interestingly the town folk made use of tnt to dig fire lines and save
the remaining portion of the city from the fire to some degree they used fire to fight fire despite
the reconstruction efforts the area's gold veins were almost gone and nevada bell's glory days were
behind it. This is because the near surface mines were oxidized and tapped out leading the miners
deep into the mountain. The rudimentary ore mills had trouble recovering gold from the deep sulfide
ores basically it was looking bleak until more advanced and capable or mills were built in the
nearby city blackhawk this sustained nevadaville through the 1920s and 30s though the town remained
a shadow of its former self by the latter half of the 20th century the population had declined to
just a handful of individuals. The last census was taken in 1950 and shows only six residents
having lived at the town at that time. Today the community is largely abandoned but as i alluded
to earlier it's not completely deserted a few very determined residents call nevadaville home to this
day only a few buildings stand on the main street acting as a tribute relics if you would of the
old west version of colorado. The masonic lodge continues to hold regular meetings a tradition
stemming back to the start of the temple in 1861. the lodge was a planned part of the post-fire
reconstruction and has remained active ever since though it was not completed until the 1870s.
despite not having a lodge the masons were already active and well established in the area
for the miners of the late 1800s becoming a freemason was something to aspire to the dues
to be a member were four dollars a year and the average miners made one dollar a week meaning
the cost of membership was an entire month's wages this is not easily obtainable today let alone then
being a member of the nevadaville lodge gave men high status and wealth it was an assurance
that the brethren would help pay for medical needs or after death expenses things of that
nature a tradition stemming back to the gilded and medieval ages it served as an early form of health
insurance life insurance and general welfare services it was the social safety net of its
time larger modern institutions have adapted and incorporated elements of the mason system
into their own such as labor unions international trade packs and democratized medicine systems
even to this day the brethren of the masons help each other out with their monetary needs
once a month the town population has a short-lived boom when the freemasons converge onto nevadaville
to practice their rituals in a building made by brothers from another era the central hub
of activity and the basic unit of a mason is their lodge name and the group that meets in nevadaville
is called nevada lodge number four today there's a little over two million masons in america and
over four thousand five hundred active lodges the practice of freemasonry dates back to the medieval
stonemason fraternities despite the wild and speculative rumors most of their meetings involve
mundane and structured conversations very similar to a board meeting or shareholders meeting but
what captures the imagination of outsiders are the secretive ceremonies rituals and initiation
process the confidential nature of these meetings has bred a cacophony of conspiracy theories
theories that were popularized in works of fiction such as dan brown's the lost symbol or films like
national treasure nevada bill is host to one of a handful of ghost town lodges and temples
that reside in colorado many of these derelict buildings are still around today thanks to the
efforts of the freemasons who over the decades have preserved these structures and preserved
the nevadaville lodge particularly well however we can see more grand and ornate lodges and temples
that are falling to ruin in cities like victor or [ __ ] creek colorado you can have a look at some
of these derelict structures in my victor colorado video above fortunately the lodge and temple in
nevadaville did not meet this fate and we got a glimpse inside in the 2020 colorado public radio
interview with the current worshipful master or elected leader of the nevadaville lodge patrick
day day said you can still see the original wallpaper and wayne's coating according today
the lodge room has impressed outsiders including members of other local lodges who come to the
abandoned town for initiation according to the interview they typically blindfold the pledges
as they are led into nevadaville and through the lodge once the pledge is seated in the meeting
room the blindfold is removed as day puts it when it comes off i always hear them go wow just to be
in a room during that is such an experience they went on to say up here in nevadaville we don't get
good cell reception so you don't have to worry about guys sitting there playing on their phone
while in temple so hang out enjoy yourself you're in a ghost town he says there has been looting
and a few break-ins but folks should be reminded that it is not completely abandoned
again two residents live here year round there are many brethren and community members who often
visit if anything is suspected or at times where a disruption is likely such as halloween the masons
post lookouts to make sure the property remains secure they concluded with we want to protect it
it's important to us and we think it's important to history i couldn't agree with mr dave more
it's an important part of our history and very important to preserve and protect the structure
and while it is important to protect it it's not completely closed to the public the masons are
happy to show it off on special occasions annually they hold a pancake breakfast fundraiser that the
public is welcome to attend random visitors to nevadaville are generally not welcome but passing
through on the roadway is not an issue however i suggest that you drive by slow and do not stop
if you do decide to park be mindful of where you do so the street itself is public but the
buildings and surrounding land are all privately owned beware do not wander the mine shafts are
extremely dangerous to approach this is because the ground nearby can collapse under the weight
of a single person the mines and equipment can be seen off in the distance and it may seem tempting
to wander over for a closer look do not do this i cannot stress this point enough the mine shafts
were made in a manner that pulverized the granite walls and sides this leaves us today with an ever
crumbling sinkhole the edges have a tendency to cave and you could end up dead at the bottom of a
13 to 500 foot shaft it's about 154 meters there are numerous sinkholes appearing daily one such
hole is nicknamed the glory hold which is 1450 feet deep about 441 meters this is large enough to
fit the entire sears tower in chicago illinois with those warnings out of the way i think it's
best just to drive through the town and appreciate what it is today it's not very welcoming outside
of the pancake breakfast which i encourage you to look up and go ahead and visit next time it's held
but beyond that i really do appreciate the time you've spent here with me today
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