Town

1800 - 1899

• 1859 - Breckinridge founded - gold discovered along the Blue River
• 1860 - Breckinridge built a post office & town population reached 75-100. The town's first stagecoach arrived
• 1861 - Town changed its spelling to BreckENridge after former U.S. Vice President namesake became a Confederate Brigadier General in the Civil War
• 1870 - Hydraulic Placer Mine introduced
• 1879 - Father Dyer "The Itinerant Preacher" started his church
• 1880 - Gold mining boom time & Breckenridge established its historic fire department during a raging forest fire that threatened to destroy the town
• 1882 - South Park & Pacific Railroads constructed a Breckenridge depot with rail service to Breckenridge over Boreas Pass
• 1887 - "Tom's Baby," a 13.5-pound gold nugget discovered near Breckenridge
• 1889 - Breckenridge population exploded to number in the 1000's
• 1898 - Pug Ryan and his gang held up Breckenridge's elaborate Denver Hotel. It snowed in Breckenridge for 79 days straight, forcing townspeople to build snow tunnels to get around town

1900 - 1999

• 1900 - Phones and electricity introduced to town. The Denver Times described Breckenridge as "a camp that has turned out more gold with less work than any camp in Colorado."
• 1936 - "Kingdom of Breckenridge" first included in U.S. Map
• 1942 - World War II forced the end of the dredging industry
• 1960 - Breckenridge population dwindled to 393
• 1961 - Breckenridge Ski Area opened on Peak 8
• 1963 - First "Ullr Dag" festival celebrated in Breckenridge, now known as Ullr Fest
• 1971 - Peak 9 opened
• 1973 - Eisenhower Tunnel completed on I-70
• 1981 - Historic structures entered as a National Register Historic District
• 1985 - Peak 10 opened
• 1990 - Breckenridge population reached 1,285
• 1993 - Riverwalk Center and Peak 7 opened
• 1999 - Breckenridge population reached 2,399

2000 - Present

• 2001 - Breckenridge Golf Club opened 9 new holes for a total of 27-holes - all Jack Nicklaus-designed
• 2003 - Breckenridge population reached 3,182
• 2004 - Barney Ford House Museum opened
• 2005 - Breckenridge Ski Area opens the Imperial Express chairlift, the highest lift in North America at 12,840 feet.
• 2007 - Grand opening of the Breck Connect Gondola, directly linking the town and the ski area.