The town of Vail Breckenridge was named after the vice-president of the United States in 1859, John Breckinridge. The name of the founder of the town was General George E. Spencer. He named the town after the Vice-President because he wanted to obtain a post office for the newly established town. The idea was a hit, and a post office was established. It was the first post office between the Continental Divide and Salt Lake City, Utah. It was an important milestone in the History of Summit County Colorado Skiing Vail Breckenridge

Change Of Name

When the Civil War started and the Vice President was expelled for treason, the little town of Breckinridge quietly changed the spelling of its name from Breckinridge to Breckenridge because of the embarrassment about the Vice President. It was a very small change, just from an ‘i’ to an ‘e’.

Gold Rush

Looking back at the History of Summit County Colorado Skiing Vail Breckenridge, let us see what exactly happened that continued the gold rush in the Summit County. Around 1859 gold was discovered near Breckenridge. A man called Ruben J. Spalding with a party of fourteen crossed the Hoosier Pass from the South and discovered gold. General Spencer, who gave the town its name, belonged to this group of fourteen men.

If you walk down the main street of Breckenridge today, you can still see the History of Summit County Colorado Skiing Vail Breckenridge. Most of the buildings in the town have been restored from the originals from the late 1800’s and early 1900’s.

Hydraulic Mining

In the History of Summit County Colorado Skiing Vail Breckenridge, the importance of Breckenridge as the country seat for Summit County started only around 1860. The Civil War curbed the industry of gold mining, and all the merchants and businessmen shifted out to neighboring towns. And then came the hydraulic placer mining. In the hillsides around Breckenridge rich silver and lead carbonates were discovered, and once again Breckenridge got back its popularity.

Ski Resort

Industry especially mining came to a stop in the History of Summit County Colorado Skiing Vail Breckenridge when the Second World War started. Many years later, in the winter of 1961 a Wichita, Kansas lumber company opened Breckenridge as a ski area and it came back on the map again. So today if you want to have a fun summer or winter activity in the middle of the Rocky Mountains, Breckenridge is the place to spend your vacation.

Summit County is basically mountainous terrain. The highest elevation is Grays Peak at 14,270 feet and there are two major reservoirs too. Some areas of Summit County have an average snowfall of 280 inches a year. That is why there are major destination ski resorts like Breckenridge, Arapahoe Basin, Keystone and Copper Mountain. The large tourist base economy is mainly due to these four ski resorts.