The Charlie Tayler Water Wheel

Near the western edge of town, at the foot of Bridal Veil Falls, stands a giant wooden water wheel about thirty feet across. It was built in eighteen ninety three by a prospector named Charlie Tayler to power a five stamp mill, a machine that crushed gold ore, at his mining claim up on Ute Creek. Water pouring over the wheel turned the heavy stamps that pounded rock into powder so the gold could be separated out.

But Charlie Tayler is remembered less for his mining than for his personal habits. He credited his long life and good health to two lifelong rules. He never took a bath, and he never kissed a woman.

That colorful boast made him a local legend, and the wheel became known as much for its eccentric builder as for its engineering. After Tayler died in nineteen thirty nine, his estate gave the wheel to the town of Idaho Springs, and in the late nineteen forties it was moved to its present spot. It fell into disrepair over the years, but a group of dedicated volunteers restored it in nineteen eighty eight.

Today it is one of the most photographed landmarks in town, easily visible from the highway.