PROJ00116

• Contract/PO #: C153477
• Contractor Name: Victor, City of
• Water District: 0
• County: Teller
• Bill Number: XB 99-999
• Loan Projects - Doc Type: Feasibility Study

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CHAPTER 2

CITY OF VICTOR

Hi story

Located fifty miles southwest of Colorado Springs, the City of Victor has for
nearly 100 years mirrored the importance of the mining industry to this area.
The following brief history of Victor was taken from a master plan prepared for
the City by students as a part of a planning effort to renew the vitality of the
area.

Victor was first organized and incorporated under the laws of Colorado
on May 15, 1894, by two brothers, Frank and Harry Woods. The town was
named a fter Vi c tor Adams, one of the a rea's fi rst homesteaders. The
Woods brothers establ ished it at the base of Battle Mountain, eight
miles southeast of Cripple Creek. Cripple Creek was the district's
financial, political, and social center. Victor, on the other hand,
was where the working miners lived. It sprouted blocks of flimsy,
false-fronted, pine buildings along its dirt streets.

Growth came quickly to the "City of Mines" due to two types of lucrative
business ventures: railroads and ore refineries. The development of a
shipping and rail center was facilitated by the building of three
railroads: the Florence and Cripple Creek Railroad, the Midland
Terminal Railroad, and the Colorado Springs and Cripple Creek District
Railroad. The mills, used to refine crude gold ore, were located in
town close to the many mines on and around Battle Mountain. They
provided hundreds with jobs, establishing Victor as an important
milling center. By 1896, the population neared 8,000.

In August 1899, twelve blocks of Victor (some 200 buildings) were
destroyed by a raging fire. More than three thousand people were left
homeless, and $2,000,000 worth of damage was done. Victor and Cripple
Creek residents rall ied, and within eight months, replaced the entire

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