CRIPPLE CREEK COLORADO

Charlie and I flew in to Denver Colorado and headed to  Cripple Creek. Here is a little description that I coped: Located at the base of Pikes Peak, the historic mining town of Cripple Creek is surrounded by majestic mountains and breathtaking scenic views. The boom of Colorado’s Gold Rush put Cripple Creek on the map. More than 100 years ago, this mining community attracted thousands of gold-seekers in search of their fortunes, and you can still do that there today in the towns casinos and gaming halls.

We stayed at the Hotel St. Nicholas and I loved it.

The Hotel St. Nicholas and the Sisters of Mercy

The Hotel St. Nicholas traces its roots to the year 1898 and its construction, by the Catholic Sisters of Mercy, as the first dedicated general hospital to serve Cripple Creek and the surrounding area.

History of the Sisters of Mercy

The Catholic Order of the Sisters of Mercy has a rich history of over 175 years. The Order was founded by Catherine McAuley in Dublin, Ireland, in 1831. McAuley, born into a prosperous Catholic family in 1778, was orphaned at age 19. For several years Catherine lived with relatives who disapproved of her practice of Catholicism and suffered financial losses themselves, making it necessary for her to find employment and residence. Within several years she entered the household of William and Catherine Callaghan, elderly and prosperous Quakers, as a household manager and companion to Mrs. Callaghan. During the next 20 years Catherine became deeply involved in ministering to the needy, particularly poor women and children who were often overlooked by other institutions of the day. In 1822, following the deaths of the Callaghans, Catherine inherited their £25,000 estate, and in 1827 opened the first House of Mercy, in Dublin, as a home providing religious, educational and social services to women and girls.

Although McAuley originally intended to establish a secular society, her work and advice from supportive Dublin clergy led her and two associates to profess vows in December, 1831, and establish the Religious Institute of the Sisters of Mercy. Members soon became known as the “walking nuns” because of the frequency with which they were seen moving throughout Dublin ministering to the sick and poor. By the time of McAuley’s death in 1841 there were 10 foundations in Ireland and England with over 100 sisters.

The Sisters in Cripple Creek

The first Sisters of Mercy arrived in the United States from Ireland in 1843 at the invitation of the Bishop of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Their energy in ministering to the sick and poor attracted many new members. By 1854, Sisters from Ireland had settled in New York and San Francisco, and continued to spread throughout the country, establishing schools and hospitals.

In 1882, at the request of the Bishop of Colorado and Utah, Joseph Machebeuf, Mother Mary John Baptist Meyers led a group of 5 sisters from St. Louis to Colorado to establishing a hospital and school in Durango, and in 1887 in Ouray, Colorado. By 1889 they were working in Denver. In 1894, Sister Mary Claver Coleman was sent to Cripple Creek to establish the town’s first general hospital.
The Sisters originally operated from an existing wood-framed building at 326 E. Eaton, one block from the current St. Nicholas, and served 307 patients during their first year. A massive fire in April, 1896 destroyed most of Cripple Creek, and led to an incident of drama and irony. As the fire progressed through Cripple Creek, buildings were dynamited in an effort to slow the fire. While the sisters were evacuating patients to safer locations, a member of an anti-catholic society entered the hospital’s kitchen and attempted to destroy the building by placing dynamite in the stove chimney. To the man’s misfortune, the dynamite exploded prematurely, causing little damage to the hospital, but blowing off his leg. He was evacuated with the other patients, and the compassionate care he received from the Sisters led him to express remorse for his deed. His shoe, which had landed in the tea kettle, was kept by the Sisters as a memento.

Although the original hospital survived, the fire convinced the Sisters that there was a need for a more modern and safer structure. Construction of the current St. Nicholas was begun in 1896 and was completed in 1898, at a cost of $12,000. The first two floors of the hospital were used for patients. The Sisters’ living quarters were on the 3rd floor. The hospital orderly occupied the attic. The new building was thoroughly modern, with electric lights, steam heat, hot and cold running water, and a surgery department. Dedicated on May 15, 1898, the hospital was in use from March 12, 1898, when it received its first patient, a young miner named Elijah Ayers, who had fallen down a shaft at the Specimen Mine. The hospital was named for and dedicated by then Bishop Nicholas Matz. In 1902 an addition was made to the hospital to serve as a living quarters for the sisters.

The St. Nicholas after the Sisters

In 1924 the Sisters left Cripple Creek, and the hospital was purchased and operated as a privately by a series of local doctors. During the years as mines closed and the population of Cripple Creek shrank, the hospital continued to serve the area. The St. Nicholas Hotel continues to host guests who were born or treated in the hospital during the mid-1900’s, or whose family or friends were. The hospital finally closed in 1972, and was used as a boarding house or stood vacant until its purchase and meticulous refurbishment in 1995 into Cripple Creek’s original mountain inn, the Hotel St. Nicholas.

It was so neat staying in the hotel!  We all so got the cheapest breakfast ever at Bronco Billie's for only $4.28 for the both of us!  We then drove all the way to Durango........the next blog!