Day #23 features Lincoln City, Colorado

Lincoln City is one of the oldest settlements in Colorado, dating to 1861. A man named Harry Farncomb discovered enormous amounts of gold in the gravels of the creek in French Gulch, in the unusual form of strands and clumps of wire. “Wire gold” as it is known is of fine purity, and most could be used immediately in the minting of coins and manufacturing of jewelry, which made it even more valuable than “regular” gold which normally required some sort of refining. Farncomb knew the source of the wire gold must be the hill above French Gulch, so, even before staking claims, he bought the hillside, and much of the bottom land in French Gulch.

An example of wire gold, similar to that found in French Gulch

When Farncomb began mining operations in French Gulch, and news spread of his discovery of pure wire gold, a mad rush into the gulch followed. Fortune seekers were irate to find that Harry Farncomb already owned all of the land in upper French Gulch and violence ensued.  Gunfights were common between Farncomb and would-be prospectors who felt he had unfairly grabbed the land. Cases were taken to Court, but Farncomb had legally purchased the land, and the prospectors had nothing legal to stand on in their complaints.

Tensions eventually reached a crescendo one day, and a shootout between the warring parties took place in Frenchg Gulch that lasted seven hours! Three prospectors were killed and numerous others were seriously wounded by Farncomb and his allies that day. After the battle, Farncomb agreed to sell parcels of his land in French Gulch, and he was paid handsomely for the rich claims. Today, Farncomb Hill at the head of the gulch bears his name.

The town that sprang up around the claims Farncomb had sold was called “Lincoln City” in honor of President Abraham Lincoln, and as a slight to the nearby town of Breckinridge, which was named after former Vice President John C. Breckinridge, who had recently joined the ranks of the Confederate Army as General, and who would go on to become the Confederate Secretary of War under President Jefferson Davis. The town fathers of  “BreckInridge”Colorado quietly changed the spelling of its name to “BreckEnridge” in 1867 to hide this inconvient truth. (Breckenridge is now a fashionable ski resort and summer recreation spot, and few knows of the town’s controversial name change.)  

General John C. Breckinridge, Former Vice President of the United States, Confederate Secretary of War, whom “Breckenridge” Colorado was named after, the town fathers altered the spelling in 1867 to hide this fact

Passions were strong in the Civil War days as roughly 40% of the population in Colorado at the time was southern-born, and fights oftne broke out in the mining camps based on regional alliances between northern and southern factions. Such was the case between the townsfolk of Lincoln City, and the people living in Georgia Gulch on the other side of the mountain from them. Bands of drunken men would leave one gulch and appear in the other where fist fights, broken noses, and the occassional gunfight would erupt between the opposing groups. The “war” between Lincoln City and Georgia Gulch carried on for years with no serious loss of life, but plenty of spirited jawing and bruises.

Old newspaper article about the pro-south faction in Georgia Gulch, Colorado near Lincoln City

In the 1880s the gold deposits around Lincoln City began to play out, but silver and galena ores were discovered which kept the town alive. Around 250 people called the spot home in the mid-1880s. A smelter was built to process the lower grade ores and the silver now being mined. Dredges were scraping the last of the placer gold from the creek below. Mills crushed hard rock on the hillsides around the town for the last specks of gold to be found. Lincoln City boasted a general store, Post Office, and two hotels. In the decade between 1885 and 1895, Lincoln City all but died, dwindling from 250 residents to only 25.  In the 1940s when ghost towning legend Muriel Sibell Wolle visited, only two old grizzled prospectors remained at Lincoln City.  Today, Lincoln City is no more, it is just a cluster of tin-roofed and tin-sided shacks, some cabins, mining debris, and a lone grave nestled in amog the pine and aspen trees. Modern-day Breceknridge has absorbed the old Lincoln City townsite, and modern luxury homes dot the pines all around the old shacks and cabins. Sadly, some have even called for the removal of the lone grave so they spot can be turned into a parking lot for the mountain bike and hiking trails that begin at the old town site. The future does not look bright for the sparse remnants of one Colorado’s oldest towns.

Some have called for the removal of this tombstone dating to 1864 so a parking lot can be built for hiking and biking trails that start near the Lincoln City town site

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Please see my other blogs for more ghost town photos and history!

Colorado Ghost Town Guide- The High Rockies- Click Here!

Colorado Ghost Town Guide- The Foothills – Click Here!

Colorado Ghost Town Photo Book- Click Here!