Vicksburg was founded in 1867 after prospectors from Leadville, camping out in the Clear Creek Canyon, lost their burros. The burros had wandered down the creek and when the miners found their pack animals, they discovered gold in the creek bed as well. At its peak, Vicksburg had a post office, school, blacksmith, two hotels, two billiard halls, several saloons, a general store, an assay office, and a livery stable. Early miners packed in balsam poplar trees on the backs of burros and planted them to line the street. The trees still stand today and are watered by ditches leading from Vicksburg Creek into the town. The ditches were dug on either side of the street to provide a water system; wooden boxes were built in the ditches to keep food cold and provide water to fight fires. The site was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1977.