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Anasazi Heritage Center |
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Located in Dolores, Colorado, the Anasazi Heritage Center is a museum of the Ancestral Puebloan (or Anasazi) culture and other Native cultures in the Four Corners region. It is also the starting point for visits to Canyons of the Ancients National Monument. The museum features exhibits on archaeology, local history, and Native American cultures, interpretive programs, archaeological sites, and a research library. |
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Aspen Historical Society |
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Includes information on the Wheeler/Stallard Museum, Ashcroft and Independence Ghost Towns, and the Holden/Marolt Mining and Ranching Museum. |
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Astor House Museum and Clear Creek History Park |
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Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the Astor House Museum in Golden has been restored to its original glory as a late Victorian western hotel / boarding house. It offers a look into the life of Ida Goetze, boarding house residents, Golden founders and pioneers, as well as Victorian material culture. The Clear Creek History Park provides history-based educational opportunities interpreting the Golden region from 1843-1900. Using skilled living history interpreters, the Park provides visitors with diverse hands-on experiences designed to enable the public to see and use restored structures and period replicas which illustrate the lives of late 19th century Golden area residents.
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Aurora History Museum |
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The museum collects, preserves, interprets and exhibits artifacts and documents that tell the story of Aurora, Colorado, from prehistoric times to the present. Admission is free. |
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Beecher's Island Battlefield Monument |
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Located in Beecher Island, Yuma County, the Beecher's Island Battlefield Monument is a joint Colorado - Kansas historical site established in 1905 to commemorate the 17-19 September 1868 battle fought there between Colonel George A. Forsyth's Scouts and a group of about 750 Indians from several Plains Indian tribes.
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Bent's Old Fort |
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Visit a reconstructed fort, originally built in 1833. It served as the center of the Bent, St. Vrain Company's expanding trade empire. Later it also served as a U.S. Army supply center. Bent's Old Fort is located in La Junta. |
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Boulder History Museum |
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The Boulder Historical Society and Museum was founded in 1944 Now called the Boulder History Museum, it exhibits artifacts from a collection of over 30,000 objects of historical significance. |
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Burlington Old Town Museum |
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Tour an old town circa 1880-1921, including a depot, shops, jail cells, saloon, barn, school house, and more. |
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Cañon City Municipal Museum and Rudd House |
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Tour the Anson and Harriet Rudd Cabin, built in 1860, preserved as part of the Cañon City Municipal Museum, and numerous displays of artifacts from Cañon City’s history. The two galleries contain game trophies, fossils, minerals, weaponry, tools, household objects and American Indian artifacts from the 1860s to the 1950s.
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Carnegie Branch Library for Local History |
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A branch of the Boulder Public Library, this facility houses a collection of over 200,000 photographs and 700,000 historic documents and is is available to the public and researchers.
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Centennial Village |
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Stroll through history at Centennial Village in Greeley. Visit 32 structures set on 5.5 acres surrounded by beautiful landscaping. |
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CF&I Museum of Industry and Culture |
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The CF&I Museum of Industry and Culture features exhibits related to all facets of the CF&I, including the history of mining, labor history, history of steel production, railroad history, and history of Pueblo and Colorado and the CF&I's impact on the region.
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Colorado Historical Society |
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Founded in 1879, the Colorado Historical Society brings the unique character of Colorado's past to more than a million people each year through historical museums and highway markers, exhibitions, manuscript and photograph collections, popular and scholarly publications, historical and archaeological preservation services, and educational programs for children and adults. In short, the Society collects, preserves, and interprets the history of Colorado for present and future generations. |
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Colorado History Museum |
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Explore Colorado's own museum with fascinating collections, detailed dioramas, historic photographs, artifacts, and more. Special galleries also feature changing exhibitions on life and culture in the American West. Located in Denver.
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Colorado Railroad Museum |
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The Colorado Railroad Museum is recognized as one of the best privately supported rail museums in the United States. This "can't miss" site for railfans features over 70 historic narrow and standard gauge locomotives and cars exhibited on 15 acres at the foot of North Table Mountain, near Golden, Colorado.
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Colorado Springs Pioneers Museum |
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The mission of the Colorado Springs Pioneers Museum is to collect, preserve, research and interpret the history and culture of the Pikes Peak Region. The Museum is housed in the beautifully restored 1903 El Paso County Courthouse.
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Cozens Ranch Museum |
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Cozens Ranch House is one of the oldest homesteads in the Fraser Valley. Throughout the house now you will find photographs of the Cozens family and early life in the Fraser valley. Original wallpaper and carpet pieces in the mainhouse are combined with family and antique items to help history come alive. |
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Cross Orchards Historic Farm |
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Costumed interpreters at the Museum’s Cross Orchards Historic Farm offer you opportunity to step back in time and imagine what it was like to live as a Grand Valley pioneer in the early 1900s. |
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Curecanti National Recreation Area |
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Three reservoirs, named for corresponding dams on the Gunnison River, form the heart of Curecanti National Recreation Area. Panoramic mesas, fjord-like reservoirs, and deep, steep and narrow canyons abound. Blue Mesa Reservoir is Colorado's largest body of water, and is the largest Kokanee Salmon fishery in the United States. Morrow Point Reservoir is the beginning of the Black Canyon of the Gunnison and below, Crystal Reservoir is the site of the Gunnison Diversion Tunnel, a National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark. Recently discovered dinosaur fossils, a 5,000 acre archeological district, a narrow gauge train, and traces of 6000 year old dwellings further enhance the offerings of Curecanti.
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Denver Firefighters Museum |
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The Denver Firefighters Museum is located in an historic firehouse, built in 1909. The collection includes firefighting equipment dating back to the days when horses provided the locomotion. Learn all about the games that firefighters used to hone their skills, the big Denver fires that they have fought, and how trained horses and dogs helped the firefighting effort. Try on a firefighter's uniform and visit the gift shop, which offers many hard-to-find firefighting memorabilia and souvenirs.
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El Pueblo History Museum |
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The El Pueblo History Museum showcases the history and traditions of the various cultural and ethnic groups in Pueblo, and includes exhibits focusing on the region’s early history through the twentieth century with objects, art, and photographs that represent the events and people who shaped the area. The outdoor El Pueblo Trading Post placita is also available for tours. |
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Enos Mills Cabin Museum and Gallery |
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The Enos Mills Cabin in Estes Park is an unconventional Museum that was placed on the National Register of Historic Places on July 3, 1973. Enos Mills is best known for being the "Father of Rocky Mountain National Park", after his six year struggle to educate the public and Congress of the importance of setting aside large land areas for preservation of scenery and the wild life inhabitants. He was also an author, photographer, nature guide, innkeeper, lecturer, and adventurer.
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Estes Park Area Historical Museum |
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The Estes Park Museum, in Estes Park, Colorado, was founded by volunteers in 1962. As a department of the Town of Estes Park, its purpose is to collect, preserve, interpret and exhibit local history for visitors and residents.
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Forney Transportation Museum |
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The Forney Transportation Museum in Denver is a one-of-a-kind collection of over 500 exhibits relating to historical transportation. It began with antique cars, but soon expanded to include vehicles of all kinds. The museum houses "Big Boy," the world's largest steam locomotive, railcars, cabooses, coaches, a diner, antique cars, buggies, carriages, wagons, fire engines, aircraft, Denver's only cable car, trolleys, steam tractor, models, motorcycles, bicycles, costumes, music boxes, and more. |
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Fort Collins Museum |
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The Fort Collins Museum is dedicated to engaging and inspiring our audiences to explore the legacies of the peoples and environments of the Cache La Poudre Rivery Valley. The Main Gallery highlights the early history of Fort Collins from paleo-lithic Indians that lived 10,800 years ago, to the fort era, and the agricultural boom of the sugar beet industry. Also features special exhibits. |
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Fort Morgan Museum |
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Come explore Ft. Morgan, the boyhood home of Glenn Miller. Exhibits include the Old Hillrose Soda Fountain, farming exhibits, Native American exhibits, and more, all focused on the history of the Ft. Morgan area. |
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Fort Sedgwick Historical Society |
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The Fort Sedgwick Historical Society features collections in two museums: The Depot Museum, housing relics documenting the early pioneer life, and the newer Fort Sedgwick Museum which contains the interpretative displays, Book Corner, Austin Research Room, and society offices. The Fort Sedgwick Museum is open year-round. The Depot Museum is open during the summer season. Both are located in Julesburg. |
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Fort Uncompahgre Living History Museum |
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Fort Uncompahgre was first established as a fur trading post around 1826, by Antione Robidoux near the present sight of Delta , Colorado. Fort Uncompahgre today recreates the sights, sounds, the feelings and the experience of visiting the original post, offering guided tours by interpreters clothed in period attire.
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Fort Vasquez Museum |
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Fort Vasquez Museum, 35 miles northeast of downtown Denver on U.S. Highway 85, features displays that interpret the fur-trade era. Annual educational events offered by the museum include the Kids' Fur Trade Rendezvous in September and May, and the Rendezvous Workshop Series in October and April. Visit the site of an 1835 fur-trading fort, and follow the paths of founders Louis Vasquez and Andrew Sublette. |
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Four Mile Historic Park |
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On the banks of Cherry Creek, just four miles from downtown Denver, Four Mile Historic Park is a 12 acre oasis featuring Denver’s oldest standing structure, pioneer exhibits, special events for all ages, and guided tours that transport visitors to Colorado’s frontier past. Four Mile House was once a wayside inn and stage stop.
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Frontier Historical Society Museum |
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The Frontier Historical Society Museum collects and preserves artifacts and materials relating to the history of Glenwood Springs and Garfield County, Colorado. |
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Ghost Town Wild West Museum |
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As a true preservation of Colorado’s western past, Ghost Town Museum is a fun and historic look back at kind of old west town that used to dot this region during the late 1800’s and early 1900’s. Located in Colorado Springs. |
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Gilpin Historical Society |
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Includes information on the Thomas House Museum, Gilpin History Museum, and the Coeur d' Alene Mine Shaft House. |
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Golden Pioneer Museum |
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The Pioneer Museum contains an interesting array of exhibits from Golden's past, including ranching and farming implements, mining artifacts, antique clothing and household goods. Special exhibits are always offered and change three or four times a year.
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Grand County Museum Complex |
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Housed in the old Hot Sulphur Springs School, exhibits include a display detailing the beginning of the ski industry in Colorado, 8,500 year old artifacts of Windy Gap, and a Pioneer Woman exhibit. |
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Historic Georgetown |
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Historic Georgetown was created to initiate, encourage and integrate efforts to preserve the rich heritage of the Georgetown/Silver Plume National Historic Landmark District. It purchased the Hamill House, the home of Englishman William Hamill, a successful mine owner, banker and politician of 19th century Colorado, to restore this elegant home as a museum. Over the years, Historic Georgetown, Inc. has acquired other properties - a miner's cottage, a professional man's house, a merchant's home and a log cabin - to guarantee that the history we preserve includes a variety of lifestyles.
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History Museum and Smith Education Tower |
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Located in Grand Junction, the History Museum and Tower features a 1921 LaFrance fire truck, Southwest pottery, a full-size WAAIME uranium mine, a firearms collection, a 15th century Spanish cannon, and a display of the life of Alferd Packer. The Sterling T. Smith Education Tower offers a 360° view of the surrounding geography. Tower top displays include a working weather station, and provide information on downtown historic preservation efforts, regional archaeology and geology.
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Hiwan Homestead Museum |
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Located in Evergreen, this 17-room log lodge was placed on the National Register of Historic Places because of its unique construction. Hiwan’s restored 1890–1930 era rooms illustrate a comfortable style of early mountain summer home living. As a local history museum, it maintains active craft and interpretive school programs as well as changing exhibitions, which are sponsored by the Jefferson County Historical Society. |
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Koshare Indian Museum |
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The Koshare Indian Museum in La Junta is patterned after the Pueblo architecture found throughout the southwest, featuring the world's largest self supporting log roof and housing a collection of Native American art and artifacts. |
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Lakewood's Heritage Center |
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A historic and social center park, Lakewood's Heritage Center features a look at 20th century lifestyles. Located in Belmar Park, the museum currently has over 10 historic structures and 30,000 artifacts. Tours allow you to learn about life in the 1920s and 1930s. |
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Limon Heritage Museum & Railroad Park |
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Limon Heritage Museum is a local history museum with focus on the Colorado high plains, the Union Pacific and Rock Island Railroads, ranching and farming. View the Prairie Monument, a one-room schoolhouse, rail dining car, and Native American teepee. |
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Littleton Historical Museum |
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The Littleton Historical Museum is located on 14 acres and features two living history farms. The 1860s homestead farm and the 1890s turn-of-the-century farm show how people lived and worked during the early years in Littleton and the South Platte Valley. There is a working, early 1900s blacksmith shop, an ice house and Littleton's first one room school house. Interpreters work the farm sites, run the blacksmith shop and teach in the school house, offering a "living history" perspective to the museum visitor.
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Log Cabin Heritage Museum |
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This two-story log cabin homestead was moved in 1994 from the site of the Wolford Mountain Reservoir into Kremmling and was preserved as a historic site. |
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Lula W. Dorsey Museum |
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Whether you’re an old-timer or first-timer, the Dorsey Museum in Estes Park has something for you. Housed in a 1924 guest lodge, the museum features several period room settings and display galleries. There is also a 1905 log tourist cabin and two-bedroom cabin depicting accommodations from 1949. Admission is free. |
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McAllister House Museum |
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Tour one of the oldest homes in Colorado Springs with knowledgeable guides and staff who recreate the atmosphere of the early history of the family and city, making the house and its occupants live again. Restored to its original Victorian elegance by the National Society of Colonial Dames. |
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Meeker Home |
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The 1870 home of Greeley's founding family, Nathan Meeker and his family. It is built of adobe bricks in keeping with the ecology of the region. It is filled with many Meeker family belongings and furnishings of the 19th century and is open for touring from May through September.
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Mesa Verde National Park |
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Mesa Verde, Spanish for "green table", offers an unparalleled opportunity to see and experience a unique cultural and physical landscape. The culture represented at Mesa Verde reflects more than 700 years of history. From approximately A.D. 600 through A.D. 1300 people lived and flourished in communities throughout the area, eventually building elaborate stone villages in the sheltered alcoves of the canyon walls. Today most people call these sheltered villages "cliff dwellings". The cliff dwellings represent the last 75 to 100 years of occupation at Mesa Verde. The archeological sites found in Mesa Verde are some of the most notable and best preserved in the United States. Mesa Verde National Park offers visitors a spectacular look into the lives of the Ancestral Pueblo people. |
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Miners Museum |
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In the "school room" of the museum, Lafayette's educational heritage has been well preserved. Pictures, trophies and memorabilia are available for viewing. A small bedroom also contains vintage clothing and accessories from the turn of the century. The museum is open to the public all year long. |
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Miramont Castle |
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Miramont Castle was constructed in 1895 as a private home for Father Jean Baptist Francolon, a French born Catholic priest. The castle features nine styles of architecture ranging from English Tudor to Byzantine and all crafted from locally quarried greenstone and yellow pine framing. Today Miramont is a museum dedicated to preserving the Victorian heritage of Manitou Springs and the Pikes Peak region. |
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Molly Brown House Museum |
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The Molly Brown House stands as an enduring symbol of the Victorian era and the city of Denver. Using educational programs and artifact acquisition, the Museum interprets Margaret "Molly" Tobin Brown's life - primarily between the years 1894 and 1912 - in order that a broad public and future generations may understand and appreciate the social, economic, and political aspects of Victorian life in Denver. The museum preserves Margaret Brown's historically significant home through continued restoration.
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Montrose County Historical Museum |
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The Museum focuses on early-day pioneer life, with a walk-through of a Homesteader's Cabin, equipped with furnishings and memorabilia. Also offers one of the most extensive collections of Farm Machinery in the state, including horse-drawn reapers, planters, plows, and a hay baler. The "County Store" exhibits wares, household objects, and tools. The Children's Corner contains dolls, toys, and baby furniture. The Museum's Library contains a complete set of Montrose newspapers from 1896-1940, a photo collection of the Montrose area, historical publications, and oral histories.
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Museum of Northwest Colorado |
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Take a look at Colorado's frontier history at the Museum of Northwest Colorado in Craig. Also houses the Cowboy and Gunfighter Museum. |
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Old Colorado City Historical Society History Center |
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The History Center represents the interwoven stories of the life and personality of the many people who made Old Colorado City their home, their workplace and, most importantly, their community. Provides a physical place to view the many artifacts and photographs, and a place to conduct research. |
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Old Spanish National Historic Trail |
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Santa Fe emerged as the hub of the overland continental trade network linking Mexico and United States markets—a network that included not only the Old Spanish Trail, but also the Santa Fe Trail and El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro. After the United States took control of the Southwest in 1848 other routes to California emerged, and use of the Old Spanish Trail sharply declined. Because of its rich history and national significance, the Old Spanish Trail has been designated as a national historic trail.
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Ouray County Museum |
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Explore the history of Ouray County with special and permanent exhibits, including a look at the mining history of the area. The museum is located in Ouray. |
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Phoenix Gold Mine |
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The Phoenix mine is operated by the oldest continuous gold mining family in Colorado, Al and Dave Mosch. It is a working gold mine where miners actually do the work. Take a guided tour of the mine and then do some actual panning for gold in the stream. There is also an area to picnic. This tour has a fee associated with it.
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Plains Conservation Center |
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A visit to the Plains Conservation Center offers a unique way to experience the natural and cultural heritage of the High Plains of Colorado. |
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Pony Express National Historic Trail |
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The Pony Express National Historic Trail was used by young men on fast paced horses to carry the nation's mail across the country, from St. Joseph, Missouri to Sacramento, California, in the unprecedented time of only ten days. Organized by private entrepreneurs, the horse-and-rider relay system became the nation's most direct and practical means of east-west communications before the telegraph. Though only in operation for 18 months, between April 1860 and October 1861, the trail proved the feasibility of a central overland transportation route, and played a vital role in aligning California with the Union in the years just before the Civil War. Most of the original trail has been obliterated either by time or human activities. Along many segments, the trail's actual route and exact length are matters of conjecture. However, approximately 120 historic sites may eventually be available to the public, including 50 existing Pony Express stations or station ruins. |
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Pueblo County Historical Society Museum |
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The Pueblo County Historical Society's museum was opened in 1975 in the lower level of the old Vail Hotel. It features exhibits relative to the Pueblo area, including the William White Railroad Collection, The Pueblo Saddlemakers (The Ray Bryan Western Room Collection), and The Francis King Western Collection. The museum also houses a substantial collection of Pueblo and regional artifacts.
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Rock Ledge Ranch Historic Site |
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The spirited history of the Pikes Peak Region comes to life at Rock Ledge Ranch Historic Site. Discover the American Indian Area, visit the 1860s Galloway Homestead, the 1880s Chambers Farm and the 1907 Orchard House. Knowledgeable interpreters present the true-to-life history of the people of the Pikes Peak Region.
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Sand Creek Massacre National Historic Site |
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This site in Kiowa County is being developed to recognize the national significance of the massacre of about 150 Cheyenne and Arapaho people by 700 U.S. volunteer soldiers led by Colonel John M. Chivington. |
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Santa Fe National Historic Trail |
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Between 1821 and 1880, the Santa Fe Trail was primarily a commercial highway connecting Missouri and Santa Fe, New Mexico. From 1821 until 1846, it was an international commercial highway used by Mexican and American traders. In 1846, the Mexican-American War began. The Army of the West followed the Santa Fe Trail to invade New Mexico. When the Treaty of Guadalupe ended the war in 1848, the Santa Fe Trail became a national road connecting the United States to the new southwest territories. Commercial freighting along the trail continued, including considerable military freight hauling to supply the southwestern forts. The trail was also used by stagecoach lines, thousands of gold seekers heading to the California and Colorado gold fields, adventurers, fur trappers, and emigrants. In 1880 the railroad reached Santa Fe and the trail faded into history. |
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Southern Ute Indian Cultural Center Museum |
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Located on the Southern Ute Indian Reservation southeast of Durango, the Southern Ute Indian Cultural Center Museum brings to life the rich history of the Ute Indian People who occupied all of Colorado, eastern Utah, and northern New Mexico when the U. S. Civil War ended in 1868. |
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Stanley Museum at the Stanley Hotel |
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In 1997, the Stanley Museum was invited to The Stanley Hotel to set up museum exhibits and to manage the historic tours of the Hotel and has become an important extension of the original Stanley Museum. Over the years the Museum has attracted a worldwide membership while fulfilling its mission to tell the Stanley story.
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Telluride Historical Museum |
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The Telluride Historical Museum provides a rich and compelling experience to visitors, offers learning opportunities, and encourages a deeper understanding of our past -- all by exploring the events, artifacts, and personal accounts of Telluride's cultural heritage. |
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Trinidad History Museum |
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Explore the Baca House, Bloom Mansion, historic gardens, and learn more about the Santa Fe Trail. Ongoing exhibits document the history and culture of southern Colorado from the Santa Fe Trail period through the 1920s.
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University of Denver Museum of Anthropology |
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Explore the DU Museum of Anthropology, located on the campus of the University of Denver. The Museum houses 165,000 archaeological and ethnographic objects and site collections and records from over 1,800 Colorado archaeological sites and from hundreds of other sites in twelve western states. |
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Western Museum of Mining & Industry |
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Nestled along the Front Range in scenic Colorado Springs you will find the Western Museum of Mining and Industry (WMMI). Among the museum's attractions, you will find mining artifacts, a 12,000 volume research library available by appointment, a museum store and historic machinery that actually works. WMMI, is a nonprofit educational museum dedicated to preserving the West's mining heritage.
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Yucca House National Monument |
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Yucca House National Monument is a large, unexcavated Ancestral Puebloan surface site. Yucca House is located in Southwest Colorado between the towns of Towaoc and Cortez. |
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