Victor, Colorado

Victor sprang up during the Pike's Peak Gold Rush (1859 and after). Small bodies of gold ore were found all over the place, which led to mine shafts being sunk all over the place. And in typical mining fashion, when the ore ran out, so did the miners, leaving their equipment, constructions, heavy-metal contaminated tailings, and miscellaneous other debris all over the place. Some folks call it "quaint" and charge tourists a few bucks each to "share in the experience." Other folks call it an environmental disaster on a grand scale. I'm not going to take sides on this one (back around 1997, the pristine wilderness that I live in the heart of was turned into a massive coalbed-methane project with about 1 gas well per 40 acres - I don't like it but they fixed our roads and the royalty checks pay my mortgage every month).

What's left of the townsite of Victor is "quaint" and looks to be in pretty good shape. Except for the big mine that's still in operation (in the topmost photo on this page you can see modern mine's tailings above the townsite), Victor looks to be primarily a touristic center. I'm told there are a fair number of artist types in the area, too. And Victor, unlike Cripple Creek, is not a center for Colorado's Limited Stakes Gambling.

From these photos you can see that nearly everything close to downtown was built during the Victorian era with the most modern construction being the Victor Hotel. The Masonic Temple was an interesting building but it doesn't look as if it sees much use these days. There was a plaque in front of the Masonic Temple telling about a church that used to be across the street: apparently it was most famous because of its' prominent position in the video scenery that was the backdrop for the opening credits of "The Outer Limits," the 1960's version (the building was condemned and torn down in 2000).

In my walk through town I didn't see much traffic (it was late afternoon) but several of the vehicles I did see tended to stop in the middle of the street while the folks inside carried on conversations with miscellaneous people at different points on the sidewalks. Main Street and State Highway 67 which passed through town were about the only pavement that I came across, all the other streets and roads were dirt/gravel. Most of the gold mines are/were north and northwest of Victor so maybe next time...

I drove into Victor via the Phantom Canyon Road, part of the Gold Belt Scenic Byway. I left town and headed to Cripple Creek on State Highway 67. When I left Cripple Creek I came back towards Victor on SR 67 but made the turn at Anaconda that took me down onto Shelf Road and then back down the "hill" to Cañon City. Except for the mining debris, it is an absolutely gorgeous area. And I was very pleasantly surprised by what I found along the way on both the road in and the road out.