Redstone | Redstone, CO 970-963-2526 | visit our website Redstone is a 19th-century historic gem, hidden in the dense aspen and blue spruce of the White River National Forest.  The town of 92 people is located on the West Elk Loop Scenic and Historic Byway (Colorado Highway 133), the doorstep of the Snowmass/Maroon Bells Wilderness Area.  In 2008 it was designated as a Preserve America Community.  The Crystal River flows through the village founded in 1901 by coal and steel baron John Cleveland Osgood to house the men (and their families) who worked the Redstone coke ovens.  These "cokers" turned Coal Basin's high-grade metallurgical coal into the coke which fired the blast furnaces that helped build America.

Steelworks Museum of Industry and Culture | Pueblo, CO 719-564-9086 | visit our website Colorado Fuel and Iron (CF&I) played a major part in the industrialization of the West. It was the first integrated steel mill west of the Mississippi, controlling all of the natural resources necessary to produce steel: coal, iron ore, limestone and water.  Begun in 1872 by General William Palmer to provide steel rails for the Denver and Rio Grande Railroad, CF&I was later controlled by John Osgood of Redstone, Colorado and John D. Rockefeller.   The company produced necessities for the West, including iron rails, fencing, nails, and steel pipes.  The reach of CF&I was broad; the company owned and operated 62 mines and quarries and numerous sales offices and subsidiaries across the country.

Byers-Evans House Museum | Denver, CO 303-620-4933 | visit our website Built in 1883 by founding Rocky Mountain News publisher William Byers and sold in 1889 to the family of William Gray Evans an officer of the Denver Tramway Company, the Italianate Byers-Evans House is a testament to the growth of a new frontier city. Using his position in the newspaper business, William Byers was an enthusiastic promoter of Denver as the leading city of the west.  The Rocky Mountain News promoted Denver as the Queen City of the Rockies, imagined possibilities of an active river front on the South Platte, and championed the importance of irrigated agriculture.  In 1859, Byers authored one of 17 guidebooks welcoming newcomers to Denver.  He was also significant in forming the city's new Chamber of Commerce.

Boggsville Historic Site | Las Animas, CO 719-456-1358 | visit our website Boggsville is the oldest unfortified permanent settlement in southeast Colorado. A major site on the Santa Fe Trail, Boggsville was settled in the 1860's by Rumalda Luna Bent, her husband Thomas Boggs, John Powers, and his wife Amache. Thomas Boggs was the son of a Missouri Governor and the grandson of Daniel Boone. He met his wife, Rumalda Jaramillo Luna Bent, stepdaughter of Charles Bent, when he worked at Bent's Fort.   John Prowers, who later became a cattle baron in southeast Colorado, started at Bent's Fort in 1857. Amache was the daughter of Cheyenne Chief Lone Bear, killed at the Sand Creek Massacre.  Together these families -- along with Christopher "Kit" Carson -- settled Boggsville.

Trails of Gold | Victor, CO 719-689-2675 | visit our website The Trails of Gold is a series of hiking trails & interpretive sites through Victor's 1890s gold rush mining country. Located as a side trip off the Gold Belt Tour National Scenic Byway, the trail passes by historic mines, mill sites, and railroad routes.  Although privately owned, many of these sites are open and accessible to the public.

Lariat Loop Scenic and Historic Byway | Golden, CO visit our website The completion of the Lariat Trail in 1914 allowed early automobile travelers to escape the congestion of Denver and test their driving skills on a twisting mountain road that featured numerous hairpin turns and sharp drop-offs.  Today, drivers and bicyclists can experience the same thrills on the 40-mile Lariat Loop Trail, a designated Colorado Scenic & Historic Byway.  Numerous historic sites and structures are located along the route, including several museums open to the public.

Kirkland Museum of Fine & Decorative Art | Denver, CO 303-832-8576 | visit our website The Kirkland Museum has a nationally important collection of 20th century decorative arts with more than 3,300 displayed works of Arts and Crafts, Art Nouveau, Glasgow, Bauhaus, Art Deco, Modern and Pop Art Styles.  The Museum was built as an art school in 1911 and contains the historic studio of Colorado modernist painter Vance Kirkland.Vance Kirkland's paintings are hung throughout the building.

Barney Ford House Museum | Breckenridge, CO 970-547-3112 | visit our website The Barney Ford House Museum honors Barney L. Ford, an escaped slave who prospered and became a prominent entrepreneur and black civil rights pioneer in Colorado. The house is located in the center of downtown Breckenridge, at the corner of Washington and Main Street.

Rosemount Museum | Pueblo, CO 719-545-5290 |visit our website Rosemount was the home of prominent Pueblo businessman John A. Thatcher and his wife Margaret. It was designed by noted New York architect Henry Hudson Holly.  Completed in 1893, the home cost $100,000 including appointments and furnishings-- an enormous sum for those times. The 37 room mansion is a three story brick building faced with rose colored rhyolite.  The roof is Vermont slate with columned chimneys serving ten fireplaces.

Town of Creede | Creede, CO 800-327-2102 | visit our website Welcome to the historic Town of Creede, Colorado! Creede.com is the official site of the Creede/Mineral County Chamber of Commerce, your connection to vacations, recreation, attractions, and the Arts in southern Colorado.

Hinsdale County Courthouse | Lake City, CO 970-944-2515 | visit our website The Hinsdale County Courthouse is important for its association with the settlement and development of Lake City during the late 1800s mining era. Constructed in 1877, the building is significant as the state's oldest courthouse still in use for its original purpose. The first year of its operation as a courthouse was marked by the appearance of suffragette Susan B. Anthony.

Sand Creek Massacre National Historic Site | Kiowa County, CO 719-383-5051 | visit our website The newest addition to the national park system, the Sand Creek Massacre National Historic Site marks the location of one of the most infamous events in Colorado history.  On November 29, 1864, 700 members of the First Colorado and Third Colorado U.S. Volunteer Cavalry, under the command of Colonel John Chivington, attacked an encampment of about 500 non-combatant and mostly unarmed Cheyenne and Arapaho tribal members.  Approximately 160 people were killed, the majority of whom were women and children.[*]

The Leadville Historic Walking Tour and Heritage Museum | Leadville, CO visit our website In the late 19th century, Leadville was the richest mining district in the world. Leadville's mining history began in 1860 with the discovery of gold south of town. About 8,000 prospectors soon arrived, and during the next five years, unearthed more than $4 million worth of gold. Once the gold played out, most of the prospectors moved on. A few remained and discovered the area was also rich in silver and lead. Prospectors once again swarmed the town. By 1880, Leadville was home to more than 30,000 residents, along with stores, hotels, saloons, dance halls, gambling joints and brothels.

Molly Brown House | Denver , CO 303-832-4092 | visit our website The Molly Brown House Museum interprets the life of Margaret Tobin Brown the famous survivor of the sinking of the Titanic. However Margaret, as she was known, is also a significant figure in Colorado history.  After earning a fortune in gold in Leadville, Margaret and her husband J.J., moved to Denver and became active in the community.  Margaret was a founding member of the Denver Women's Club.  She became a suffragist and even ran for the United States Senate in 1914, despite the fact that women could not vote in federal elections.

Trinidad History Museum | Trinidad, CO 719-846-7217 | visit our website Explore the past and present of the American West at the Trinidad History Museum.  The museum features several attractions on one block of Trinidad's acclaimed historic district, "El Corazon de Trinidad."  Historic homes, local treasures, and lovely gardens make the Trinidad History Museum a great place to spend the day.  The Trinidad History Museum is a property of the Colorado Historical Society.

Cherokee Ranch | Sedalia, CO 303-688-5555 | visit our website Cherokee Ranch and Castle is a place where people can discover a distinctive architectural treasure in an extraordinary natural setting. It is the legacy of two families–the Johnson Family from the early 1900s and Tweet Kimball in the mid 1900s. The Johnsons purchased the land, built the castle and started a working ranch on about 2,200 acres. In 1954, Tweet Kimball purchased the ranch and raised prize winning Santa Gertrudis cattle.

This project is paid for in part by a State Historical Fund grant
from the Colorado Historical Society.