Peak to Peak News: Gilpin's forgotten Black History

Send us Fan Mail In the 20th century, segregation in Colorado prevented many Black artists and families from staying at hotels, eating in restaurants and finding respite. A little known plot of land in Gilpin County called Lincoln Hills was the only place many African Americans could go for this. At the time, Lincoln Hills was the only leisure destination west of the Mississippi owned by and made for Black Americans. Artists like Duke Ellington, Langston Hughes and Zora Neale Hurston spent time communing and creating here to get away from segregation and find peace in the Colorado Mountains. For Black History month, Mountain-Ear reporter Mindy Leary is writing a series of profiles covering the time these artists spent at the Gilpin County refuge. Today, she joins us on the podcast to tell us about Gilpin's forgotten Black History. Also Asbestos testing to finally begin at the Caribou Village Shopping Center fire wreckage Ned BOT pursues $1 million in funding for local improvements Very Nice Brewing Gilpin hosts annual crawfish boil Read the first story in Mindy's Lincoln Hills series about Langston Hughes here. Her Feb. 19 piece will feature jazz artist Duke Ellington, followed by a feature on actress and activist Lena Horne on Feb. 26. Our theme song is courtesy of singer-songwriter Brittney Wagner. Stream her record Better off Dead here. Support the show Thank you for listening to The Mountain-Ear Podcast, featuring news and culture from peak to peak! Additional pages are linked below. If you want to be involved in the podcast or paper, contact: Barbara Hardt, our editor-in-chief, at [email protected] Tyler Hickman, multimedia producer, at [email protected] Jamie Lammers, podcast host, at [email protected] General inquiries: [email protected] Head to our website for all of the latest news. Subscribe to The Mountain-Ear in print and online. Submit local events to promote them in the paper and on our website. Find us on Facebook @mtnear and Instagram @mtn.ear Listen and watch on YouTube today. Share this podcast by scrolling to the bottom of our website home page or by heading to our main hub on Buzzsprout. Thank you for listening!