The historic district covers most of both Central City and adjoining Black Hawk and is a National Historic Landmark in recognition of the surviving Victorian streetscape from the gold-rush era of the 1860s and 1870s. Many of the brick buildings were built immediately after a fire that destroyed the wooden town in 1874, and the architecture reflects what the miners could afford with the gold money: tight, ornate Italianate and Second Empire commercial fronts crammed into a narrow gulch.
A self-guided walking tour brochure, available from the visitor centre, picks out the more notable buildings. The contrast between the small-scale historic core and the larger casino additions is jarring — locals call it the "two cities" effect. The district extends about a mile down the gulch to Black Hawk, an easy walk with mostly downhill grade.