Breckenridge National Historic District

Description:

• The entire Victorian core of this 19th-century mining town has been carefully preserved, and you can see it on your own (pick up a free walking-tour brochure at the Visitor Information Cabin), or during the summer on guided 1 1/2-hour walking tours conducted by the Summit Historical Society. Colorfully painted shops and restaurants occupy the old buildings, most dating from the 1880s and 1890s. Most of the historic district focuses on Main Street and extends east on either side of Lincoln Avenue. Among the 254 historic buildings in the district are the Barney Ford House Museum, 111 E. Washington Ave.; the 1875 Edwin Carter Museum, 111 N. Ridge St.; and the 1896 William Harrison Briggle House, 104 N. Harris St., in Milne Park. The society also leads tours during the summer to the outskirts of town to visit the underground shaft of the hard-rock Washington Gold Mine and the gold-panning operation at Lomax Placer Gulch. Allow 2 to 4 hours.

• © Frommer's 2012