Central City Has a Submarine You Need to Check Out

Central City, now known as one of Colorado's gambling towns, has a rich history; part of that history includes a submarine.

You don't really associate a Colorado mountain town and submarines, but that's the beauty of it. The next time you "head up the mountain" to try your luck, you need to stop in and see the sub.

It's a testament to the ingenuity and tenacity it took to help towns like Central City begin and thrive.

There is An Old Submarine in Central City, Colorado

It takes a special mindset to want to work/live on a submarine: Underwater in a closed tube isn't for everybody. Those who take it on, embrace it; they enjoy the challenge of submarine life. That's today's submarines, though; imagine one built in the late 1800's.

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It was in 1898, that an engineer in Central City who had designed the water systems for Central City and Black Hawk (among other infrastructure things) built a submarine. Far from the standards of today, it was indeed, a sub.

Why Build a Submarine in Central City?

According to the Gilpin County Historical Society, they believe that he'd heard about a submarine building competition the the NAVY was holding, and that sparked his creativity and intent.

Did the Submarine in Central City Work?

They ended up taking the submarine (about the size of a bus, according to FOX31) from Central City about six miles to Missouri Lake; they loaded it with 3,000 tons of rocks before putting in the water.

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Just think about all the work that took: the bringing of the sub six miles, the three tons of rocks, just amazing.

The submarine did not work as planned; it sank to the bottom of that lake. It sat there for four decades before being towed out of the water. It now resides in the Gilpin History Museum, where you can take a look at it, when they are open.