Which U.S. city is also known as the “Richest Square Mile on Earth"?

Although the nickname for Central City, Colorado may no longer hold true today, the “Richest Square Mile on Earth” came by its nickname honestly.

The small town west of Denver was established in 1859 during the Pike’s Peak Gold Rush. John H. Gregory, a Colorado miner, uncovered a gold-bearing vein (which became known as the Gregory Lode) in Gregory Gulch between the towns of Black Hawk and Central City. Within two months many other veins were discovered in the area. Enough gold was found over the course of the following year to draw roughly 10,000 other prospectors to the area. The city became known as a place of wealth and prosperity, hence the nickname and claim to fame.

Sadly, less than a century later, the town had shrunk considerably. Mining in the Central City district decreased rapidly between 1900 and 1920, as the veins were exhausted; the population shrunk also, as disappointed miners moved on, hoping to strike it big elsewhere.

The 1900 census showed 3,114 people; the combined population of Central City and its sister city Black Hawk had dropped to a few hundred residents by the 1950s.

Central City made a comeback in the 1990s as a gambling town with casinos, restaurants, historic homes, and shops. As of 2020, the population was 779.