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NPS Farm W Wo-& awe MvVwr no.ratsaoie W" United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Section number 8 Page 7 the residents of Gilpin County were able to share in the region's economic recovery, which was helped by renewed investment from outside investors. By 1870, Nathanial Hill was handling $1/2 million of ore a year, and this greatly increased interest in the region on the part of Eastern entrepreneurs. Hill was not the only addition to a new Gilpin County scientific community. The revitalized mining economy also was prompted by better management through consolidation and educated superintendents, some educated at German universities and a newly created School of Mines at the University of Columbia.' After the crash and period of depression, steady growth resumed. In 1871, gold production in Gilpin County peaked at $3,237,364. In 1872, the Colorado Central Railroad, whose president was Henry M. Teller, reached Black Hawk, effecting a dramatic improvement in transportation and reduction in haulage costs. It did not extend to Central City until 1878; in the meantime, local traffic was accommodated by the Gilpin County Tram- Railway that ran between Central City and Black Hawk, also organized in 1872. After the railroad arrived in 1872, other improvements in communication with the outside world followed quickly. The first telegraph already was a decade old. A fire in 1874 destroyed Central City's commercial district but an optimistic citizenry rebuilt the entire district of brick and stone, and the mid-1870s was the construction peak of the town's development. The railroad brought the decorative elements of Carpenter Gothic in domestic architecture and the cast iron storefronts that began to predominate in the commercial districts of the towns. In 1878, both the mechanical telephone and the Edison phonograph were demonstrated in Central City. In 1879, the Edison Telephone Company was advertising for subscribers. Soon telephone communication was open between the Register- Call offices and Denver. Some private residents were able to receive transmissions from as far away as Georgetown, Colorado.10 As the center of the critical milling operations and the transportation terminus connecting the mining district with eastern markets, Black Hawk became the vital link in the economic revival of the mining district. By 1877, the Colorado Business Directory touted its position as the milling and transportation hub of the area. It was advertised thus: . . . terminus of the Mountain Division of the Colorado Central Railroad. Western Union Telegraph. Daily mails and express. Stages to Central. Population about 1,500. Principal industry gold milling and reducing ores."