Photo: View of Fairplay and South Park looking south from State Highway 9. The historic buildings of South Park City, an open-air museum, are in the foreground. . Photographed by Username: Matthew Trump (own work), 2005, [cc-3.0], via Wikimedia Commons, accessed October, 2021.
Fairplay [†], Colorado was founded in 1859, one of the earliest settlements during the Pike's Peak Gold Rush. The town was established at the site of gold placers.
The placers at Fairplay were difficult to work and richer diggings at nearby camps like Buckskin Joe and Montgomery took attention and capital away from the town. However, Fairplay was at the center of the district, and still prospered as a supply and transportation center.
Fairplay would never be the location of a great mining excitement, but the local mines and it's position as supply center guaranteed the town a long life. Today Fairplay is still an active community and the largest town in Park County.
The Park county seat would move from one boomtown to another in the early days, but Fairplay would become the permanent seat, a title it still holds today. The railroad arrived in 1879, adding further stability to the town.
Neighborhoods
† Western Mining History. Fairplay, Colorado, www.westernmininghistory.com, accessed October, 2021.