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NM Farm W400•a OMB Approval W.1024-WIB case► United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Section number —7 Page 9 Economic stratification was evident as early as the 1870s in residential sections of the mining towns. The fire of 1874 in Central City destroyed about 20 percent of the residential area, and wealthy businessmen rebuilt their homes to reflect their wealth and position in the community. Those who could afford it used brick in construction. According to the tax records, no residential buildings remain in Black Hawk from the 1870s, though historic photographs shed doubt on the accuracy of these records. Those remaining in Central City are concentrated on Eureka, East High, West High, and Lawrence Streets. Six of these are brick (C7-8, C11-4, C12-1, C12-5, C55-1, C28-5) and four introduce Italianate elements to residential architecture (C8-4, C12-1, C11-4, C28-5) . Other 1870s buildings are wood frame vernacular, some with simple Greek Revival elements such as wood pediments over doors and windows, pilaster cornerboards, sidelights, returns, and full entablatures. The 1880s was the high point of economic prosperity in the three communities of the mining district. Gilpin County led the State in gold production until 1893, and building during this period reflected the continued optimism of economic prosperity, primarily in residential construction. While there was little new commercial or other building, new residential building boomed into the early 1890s. Most all of the existing residential buildings in Nevadaville that date from the historic period were built in the 1880s and 1890s. Homes built in Central City were larger and with more attention to architectural details than in previous decades; more construction was brick or stone. There was a variety of architectural styles employed, with Greek Revival and Gothic Revival the most popular. There are also examples of Italianate, Romanesque Revival, Second Empire and Federal styles. The concentration of less affluent miners in Black Hawk and Nevdaville accounts for the fact that the vernacular cottage was more prevalent there than any distinctive styles. The steep decline in Gilpin County mining brought residential construction to a near halt after 1890, until increased yield in the mines between 1897 and 1899 led to a slight resurgence in home construction. Those few structures that were built between 1891 and 1899 were a mixture of wood frame, brick, and stone. Though they still demonstrated the careful craftsmanship of the homes built in the boom period of the 1880s, the homes built in the mid to late 1890s are a much simpler vernacular, lacking the stylistic elements seen earlier. Tax records show a major building boom in 1900 in domestic construction, particularly in Black Hawk. Though this may be due to the increased yield of the mines from 1897 to 1899, the large