In 1895, Leadville city leaders faced a dilemma. The silver mining industry had made the town quite wealthy. But then the , and the city's fortunes cratered right along with it. Residents were leaving in droves to seek better opportunities.
So, city leaders came up with an unusual idea to draw tourists to Leadville, entice people to live there, and give the remaining residents a sense of pride:
They decided to build a giant palace of ice.
What followed is a of innovative engineering that drew visitors from thousands of miles away 鈥� at least for a few winter months, until the inevitable spring melt.
Windsor-based author paints a vivid picture of all of this in her new book, . Her research drew from the collections of the Heritage Museum and the National Mining Hall of Fame and Museum in Leadville.
She joined Erin O鈥橳oole to talk about why she finds this history fascinating 鈥� and why the story of the Ice Palace still resonates today.
