Local History

Harrison Avenue, looking south, c. 1915

Baseball game, Climax, CO, Climax vs Gilman, circa 1940's

Express wagon and horses

Camp Hale

Panorama view of Little Johnny (sic) Mine

Carbonate Hill

The Boulevard

Harrison Ave 1917 - postcard

Chestnut Street during President Ulysses Grant's visit to Leadville 1880

Harrison Avenue, looking north, c. 1915

In-person research now available by appointment!

Beginning June 1, 2021, we will be allowing in-person local history and genealogy research by
appointment only on Mondays and Fridays.
Research sessions are available in thirty minute or one hour increments.
Please only book one session per day.
To make an appointment, visit our Schedule an Appointment page.

Please note: we are not requiring appointments for quick cemetery look-ups. If you are unable to make an appointment, please email your research request to holly@lakecountypubliclibrary.org.

About CMHC

Colorado Mountain History Collection

This special, non-circulating collection is housed in our beautiful Leadville Room and contains over 4000 items of various media relating to the history of Leadville and the surrounding areas. The collection is available for Lake County genealogical research. The digital and physical collections are always growing, see the CMHC Digitization and Collection Development Plan for more information.

For those unable to come to Leadville, our local history staff can perform limited searches for you. Due to the volume of requests we receive, please allow at least 5-7 business days for a response to your request. Requests are processed in the order in which they are received. Please include as much information in your request as possible that will assist in expediting the search, including resources/records already searched/found.

Research is performed within the resources we hold; we do not perform research at other sites, including churches, other libraries, etc. We also cannot handle extensive requests, i.e. researching an entire family line, or tracing the entire history of a building or house.

Contact Holly Henning with your inquiries by emailing holly@lakecountypubliclibrary.org or by calling 719-486-0569.

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Local History Resources

There are a number of resources throughout Leadville to assist in genealogical and local history research. The list of government offices and organizations may be found here.

Timeline of Leadville History from 1860.