Abstract
The idea of a sweeping economic crisis in Minas Gerais at the end of the gold cycle is now entirely discredited, but there is still some belief in the decline of the future state´s urban areas. Using data from the 1804 census and unpublished archival data regarding the Donativo Voluntário of the same year, we examine the situation of Vila Rica at the dawn of the nineteenth century. We conclude that, far from being ruined, the city was very much alive and well. It had a diversified economy and its economic and social conditions could not be matched by most Brazilian towns at that time.