Colorado Porch

Topic

History and culture

Mining towns and railroads, landmarks and museums, festivals, food, and the local-color stories that make each corner of Colorado make sense.

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Local notes

More history and culture notes

502 sourced notes in this topic

History and culture

Rifle Falls has a state fish hatchery that raises trout

The Rifle Falls Fish Hatchery near Rifle raises several kinds of trout for stocking, and it is part of how Colorado keeps its rivers and lakes fishable.

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History and culture

Salida is part of Colorado's state creative-industries effort

Salida's downtown is home to a state-recognized Creative District under the Colorado Creative Industries program, which ties the town's arts economy to formal state support.

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History and culture

Sugar beets and the Great Western factory shaped Logan County farming

A sugar beet factory opened in Sterling in the early 1900s and came under the Great Western Sugar Company, and the beet industry helped shape farming and growth across Logan County.

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History and culture

The A.R. Mitchell Museum fills a 1906 department store on Main Street

Trinidad's museum of Western art honors local painter Arthur Roy Mitchell and sits inside the historic Jamieson department store building in the heart of downtown.

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History and culture

The Adams County Fair and county museum keep the farm story alive

The Adams County Fair and the Adams County Museum at Riverdale Regional Park carry the county's farming and ranching heritage into the present.

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History and culture

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.

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History and culture

The Reiling Gold Dredge is a preserved relic of French Gulch

Above Breckenridge in French Gulch sits the sunken hull of the Reiling Gold Dredge, a machine that mined gold from the streambed in the early 1900s.

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History and culture

Why so many things near Grand Junction say 'Grand'

Grand Junction, the Grand Valley, and Grand Mesa carry a name from the river that was once called the Grand before it became part of the Colorado River.

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History and culture

Why the county seat is named Delta

The City of Delta takes its name from the delta-shaped land where the Uncompahgre River meets the Gunnison, and it became the county seat when Delta County was carved from Gunnison County in 1883.

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History and culture

The state bug lab in Palisade

Palisade is home to a state-run insectary that raises beneficial insects to fight pests, a working facility born from a 1940s threat to the valley's orchards.

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History and culture

The wild horse range north of Grand Junction

The Little Book Cliffs Wild Horse Range near Grand Junction is one of a small number of areas set aside under federal law specifically to protect wild horses.

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History and culture

Art on the Corner: downtown Grand Junction's open-air sculptures

Since 1984, Grand Junction's Main Street has doubled as a free outdoor sculpture exhibit, the centerpiece of downtown's state-certified creative district.

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History and culture

Sterling's carved 'living trees' are a free, walkable bit of local art

Sterling calls itself the City of Living Trees for the cottonwood sculptures carved by artist Bradford Rhea, several of which you can see on a self-guided downtown walk.

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History and culture

Three museums, one regional history

The Museums of Western Colorado run several heritage sites around Grand Junction and Fruita that together tell the valley's human and natural story.

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History and culture

Denver's tree-lined parkways are a designed historic system

Denver's grand boulevards and parks were planned together as one system in the early 1900s, and the whole network carries historic recognition.

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History and culture

Ignacio once shipped Depression-era turkeys east by rail

A historic Ignacio building recalls a Depression-era turkey-packing cooperative that shipped birds raised on local farms east by rail, part of La Plata County's farming and ranching backbone.

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History and culture

Lookout Mountain holds Buffalo Bill's grave and a wide view

Lookout Mountain, a Denver Mountain Park above Golden, is the site of Buffalo Bill Cody's grave and museum and a sweeping view back over the plains.

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History and culture

Park County's libraries are spread across four communities, not one central building

Park County Public Libraries operate branches in Bailey, Fairplay, Guffey, and Lake George, reflecting a county that has several population centers rather than one hub.

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History and culture

The Capitol steps have more than one 'mile high' marker

Denver's nickname comes from sitting about a mile above sea level, and the State Capitol's west steps carry several 'One Mile Above Sea Level' markers from surveys done over the years.

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History and culture

The Old Spanish Trail passed through the Grand Valley

A branch of the Old Spanish National Historic Trail, a 19th-century trade route between New Mexico and California, reached the Grand Junction area on its way west.

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History and culture

Grand Junction's historic downtown and old neighborhoods

Grand Junction runs a historic preservation program, and landmarks like the old railroad depot, the Avalon Theatre, and the North Seventh Street residential district recall the early town.

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History and culture

The coal seams in the Book Cliffs

The cliffs and canyons north of the Grand Valley hold coal that shaped local industry, including the old mining area around Cameo east of Grand Junction.

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