Leadville’s massive ‘ice palace’ was an engineering feat. A new book explores how it came together

In The NOCO

In 1895, Leadville city leaders faced a dilemma. The silver mining industry had made the town quite wealthy. But then the silver market crashed, 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 remarkable story of innovative engineering that drew visitors from thousands of miles away – at least for a few winter months, until the inevitable spring melt.

Windsor-based author Afton Rorvik paints a vivid picture of all of this in her new book, The 1896 Leadville Ice Palace. 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’Toole to talk about why she finds this history fascinating – and why the story of the Ice Palace still resonates today.

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Host and Producer: Erin O'Toole
Producer: Ariel Lavery
Executive Producer: Brad Turner
Theme music by Robbie Reverb
Additional music by Blue Dot Sessions
In The NoCo is a production of KUNC News and Community Radio for Northern Colorado.