CLEAR CREEK COUNTY RECORDS

Collection

Identifier: WH71

Staff Only

SCOPE AND CONTENT

The collection consists of voting records of the precincts of Clear Creek County as well as two Justice Dockets, which document the early criminal and civil system of the area.

SERIES 1 VOTING RECORDS 1861-1933 BOX 1-2

The 1861 voting records list each individual voter and each candidate in chart form. It may be easily discerned who voted for whom. After 1861, the records become more general. All records list registered voters for specific precincts, some contain hash marks to identify if a person voted. Some contain election results in the form of totals. Later voting records contain only lists of registered voters for each precinct, listed alphabetically. The books were designated as records for precincts of less than 2000 voters with precincts changing as towns appeared and disappeared.

SERIES 2 JUSTICE DOCKETS 1914-1920 BOX 2

The civil and criminal cases of James A. Noone, Justice of the Peace, comprise this series in a bound volume. The cases are indexed in an alphabetical list divided into two parts - civil and criminal actions. Each case lists the plaintiff and defendant, a summary of the case and the court decision.

SERIES 3 OVERSIZE JUSTICE DOCKET BOOK 1867-1871 OV BOX 1

This series contains the bound volume of the civil and criminal cases of S.F. Yates, Justice of Peace, from 1867 to 1871. Appeals to the District Court and jury as well as judge decisions are included.

Dates

1861-1933

Conditions Governing Access

The collection is open for research.

Copyright

All requests for permission to publish, reproduce, or quote from material in the collection should be discussed with the appropriate librarian or archivist. Permission for publication may be given on behalf of the Denver Public Library as the owner of the physical item. It is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which also must be obtained by the customer. The Library does not assume any responsibility for infringement of copyright or publication rights of the manuscript held by the writer, heirs, donors, or executors. Reproduction restrictions are decided on a case-by-case basis.

ORGANIZATIONAL NOTE

Clear Creek County, located in the mountainous north-central part of Colorado, was one of the original 17 counties created by the Territorial Colorado legislature in November 1861. Along with Gilpin County, it remains one of only two counties with its original boundaries unchanged. The county's namesake, Clear Creek, runs down from the continental divide through the county. Idaho Springs was originally designated the county seat, but the county government was moved to Georgetown in 1867. Discoveries of gold and silver, the depletion of the metals through mining and the vagaries of markets led to a boom-and-bust economy in Clear Creek County. Towns were established only to disappear a few years later. Government nevertheless followed the population of the county. Justice was established with a court systems and elections were held in each township.

George Jackson discovered gold on Chicago Creek in January 1859. The first settlement in the county was Spanish Bar, located two miles above Idaho Springs. George and David Griffith founded the site of Georgetown, which soon became the leading town in the county. The "Silver Queen of the Rockies" was the leading silver mining town in Colorado until ore discoveries were made in Leadville in 1879.

Silver Plume, which took the name of a claim lode, was founded in 1870 and incorporated in 1880. Valley City, later called Empire City and, finally, Empire was incorporated in 1882.