Denver's 1876 Tax Rolls Reveal Gilded Age Wealth Inequality in Colorado
Denver's 1876 tax rolls have provided insight into the significant wealth inequality present in Colorado during the Gilded Age. While Pueblo, Colorado's second-largest city at the time, had a total assessed property value of $1,654,588, Denver's taxable property exceeded $9.1 million. This disparity is further highlighted by the concentration of wealth among Denver's pioneer elite. The Kansas Pacific Railway topped the list of taxpayers with $387,240 in assets. Other prominent businesses and individuals included early Colorado railroads, the Daniels, Fisher & Co. department store, and former territorial Governor John Evans, whose net worth was assessed at $167,580, equivalent to approximately $84.8 million in today's economy when adjusted for the size of the U.S. economy in 1876. The list also featured other railroad barons like Walter Cheesman and David Moffat, former territorial governor Samuel Elbert, and publisher William Byers, alongside at least two notable Black entrepreneurs, Edward J. Sanderlin an...