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Harvesting Historical Riches Iron Building, Leadville
Accepting silver's decline, Fearnley renamed his property the Iron Building after a less glamorous but more profitable ore. In 1890 geologists discovered that the Leadville mining district's plentiful manganiferous iron could be used to strengthen steel. Following the Panic of 1893, some of Leadville's mines returned to profitability by selling iron to companies that made railroad car wheels and other steel products. For a while, iron saved Leadville from total economic collapse. As sturdy as its name, the Iron Building survived this boom-bust cycle, as well as the ones that followed. The building endured the rise and fall of silver, gold, iron, zinc, molybdenum, and other forms of earthly wealth, but by the late 1990s it could not tolerate many more years of the 10,410-foot-high town's notoriously harsh winter weather. The economic climate made matters worse; individual owners of historic properties could not restore their buildings without assistance. The town's architectural heritage, embodied by the Iron Building and other structures within the Leadville National Historic Landmark District, faced another bust. Property owners, architectural review board members, and planning and zoning commissioners dedicated themselves to saving the seventy-block district by implementing a long-term phased project. By combining all of the work into one project, the stakeholders saved time, reduced overhead expenses, and maintained the quality of craftsmanship. The State Historical Fund provided financial assistance totaling nearly $300,000. In Phase I, the project's participants stabilized eight of the most threatened structures, including the Iron Building. In Phase II, they finished stabilization work on three of the original eight structures, again including the Iron Building. Phase III focused entirely on the Iron Building. Workers led by A-E Design Associates and University Designers and Builders fixed the Iron Building's roof, re-pointed chimneys, and repaired the sheet-metal parapet. Fronting Harrison Avenue at Sixth Street in the heart of downtown Leadville, the rehabilitated Iron Building attracts many visitors and architectural admirers. Major events start near this prominent intersection, including the tough Leadville Trail 100 race series. In many ways, the event mimics Leadville's history. Considered the most grueling endurance race in the country, the 100-mile course takes runners and mountain bikers above 12,000 feet before returning them to the highest incorporated town in America. Participants face pain, harsh weather, and impossible uphill battles. One hundred years ago, a journalist wrote, "Adversity is the surest as well as the hardest test of people's.stamina. And the people of Leadville have well stood the test." A race participant who understands endurance might look at the restored Iron Building and say that 1893 wasn't such a bad year for construction after all. BY BEN FOGELBERG, Editor
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On July 17, 1893, the Leadville Herald-Democrat reported that "the Fearnley
Block goes steadily upward, just as if nothing had dropped." Realtor J.
Fearnley could not have chosen a worse time to construct a new commercial building
in Leadville. Congress literally pulled the rug out from under the mining town's
feet when it repealed the Sherman Silver Purchase Act that year. Silver prices,
already flirting with historic lows, fell to sixty-two cents an ounce and forced
mine owners to lay off workers. Joel Smith, a local storekeeper, told a reporter
that people were still buying "the absolute necessities," including "beer, cigars,
cordials, and cocktails," but they were cutting back on luxuries. "People in these
times somehow think they can worry along without carpets," he lamented. Still, the
Fearnley Block's walls went up, making space for new businesses even as existing
shops closed.