|
||
|
|
|
|
Nice example of this important early birdseye view of Nevada, Colorado, (also know as Nevada City and Nevadaville, now a ghost town), from Alfred Edward Mathews Pencil Sketches of Colorado, published in 1866.
A.E. Mathews (1831-1874) came to the United States at an early age and was raised in Ohio. He worked as a typesetter, itinerant bookseller, and school teacher, with a predilection for landscape sketching. During the Civil War, Mathews served in the Union Army with Ohio troops for three years, making topographical maps and views. and produced images of scenes behind the front which were issued by Ehrgott & Forbriger.
In 1865, Mathews moved to Denver, where he produced a number of portfolios of views of the Rocky Mountains, Colorado and Montana, including his important 1866 Pencil Sketches of Colorado.
Colorado Territory was formed following the disccovery of Gold in the mountains above Denver in 1858, which was followed by the 1859 Colorado Gold Rush. By the time Mathews arrived in Denver, it was one of the most important mining regions in America and the hub of commerce for the Rocky Mountains and Western Plains.
Mathews' work captured this transient and foundational moment in the history of Colorado. The work is very rare, with only a few complete sets changing hands in the prior decade and single plates from the work are often amoung the earliest accurate depictions of the regions sketched by Mathews.
Nevada (also called Nevada City and later Nevadaville), started in 1859, soon after John H. Gregory found the first lode gold in what is now Colorado. At the time, the townsite was in western Kansas Territory. The town grew to house the miners working the Burroughs lode and the Kansas lode. The post office was named Bald Mountain, to avoid confusion with other towns called Nevada.
The town was one of the most important mining settlements in the area, which became known as Gregory Gulch and included other famous towns such as Black Hawk and Central City. A Masonic lodge was organized in 1859 from the Kansas Grand Lodge, becoming Nevadaville Number 36. After only one regular meeting, the lodge relinquished their charter and came under the jurisdiction of the new Grand Lodge of Colorado who had taken over the territory. The Lodge still meets on an annual basis, the only such active lodge in a ghost town.
