History and culture - Mountains
The Dillon Schoolhouse Museum was saved when the town moved
Dillon's 1883 schoolhouse was moved to higher ground when the reservoir flooded the old town, and it is now a museum run by the Summit Historical Society.
Published June 10, 2026 - Last verified June 11, 2026
When the town of Dillon was relocated for its reservoir in the 1960s, most buildings were moved or torn down. One that survived is its old schoolhouse.
The frame schoolhouse was built in 1883, with a belfry and bell, for the children of Dillon’s first families. As the reservoir threatened to flood the town, the historic buildings had to be moved or destroyed to keep Denver’s new water supply clean. Local residents pushed to save the schoolhouse, and it was hauled to higher ground. It later opened as a museum, with a classroom set up the way it might have looked in the 1890s, plus general-store and blacksmith displays.
Today the Summit Historical Society cares for the schoolhouse and a few other relocated historic cabins on the same grounds in present-day Dillon.
Why this is worth knowing: it is one of the few physical pieces of old Dillon you can still walk into, and it ties directly to the bigger story of the town being moved for the lake. To plan a visit, see the Summit Historical Society and the Town of Dillon.