Montrose County Historical Museum

The Montrose County Historical Museum
Established	1973
Location	Montrose, Colorado
Coordinates	38°28′41″N107°52′48″W / 38.4781°N 107.8800°W Coordinates: 38°28′41″N107°52′48″W / 38.4781°N 107.8800°W
Type	History museum
Website	http://www.montrosehistory.org

Last updated April 26, 2019

The Montrose County Historical Museum is located in Montrose, Colorado, USA, founded in 1973 by the Montrose County Historical Society. The society's mission is to preserve, display and interpret the historic and cultural legacy of Montrose County (incorporated in 1882) and its surrounding region. Its building, the Denver and Rio Grande Depot, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Montrose, Colorado Home Rule Municipality in Colorado, United States

Montrose is the Home Rule Municipality that is the county seat and the most populous municipality of Montrose County, Colorado, United States. The city population was 19,132 at the 2010 United States Census. The main road that leads in and out of Montrose is U.S. Highway 50. The town is located in cardinal-western Colorado, in the upper Uncompahgre Valley and is an economic, labor, and transportation waypoint for the surrounding recreation industry. Demographically, the town is majority white, with a large Hispanic population. It is also the home of a few major engineering projects, namely the Gunnison Tunnel.

Montrose County is one of the 64 counties of the U.S. state of Colorado. As of the 2010 census, the population was 41,276. The county seat is Montrose, for which the county is named.

The Denver and Rio Grande Depot, also known as the Montrose Railroad Depot, is a historic railway station in Montrose, Colorado. The building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, has housed the Montrose County Historical Museum since the 1970s.

History

The historical museum is located in the original 1912 Denver and Rio Grande Depot in downtown Montrose, Colorado. In the late 1800s the narrow gauge railroad was the main mode of transportation. The daily operation of passenger and freight trains promoted the growth of Montrose. The 1920s saw a rapid decline in railroad transportation due to the fast increase in the use of automobiles and trucks. The loss of business caused the railroads to discontinue passenger scheduled service. The depot ended its use as a train station in the 1950s. In 1972 the Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad Company donated the depot and the land to the city of Montrose to use as a museum. The Montrose Historical Society has operated in this location since that time. The museum attracts diverse visitors from across Colorado, the United States, and abroad.

Collection

The Montrose County Historical Museum houses numerous collections that were donated by the region's pioneer families that pertain to the historical story of Montrose. For researchers the museum holds local newspapers from 1896 to 1940, hundreds of photos, a data base of the historic buildings from first built until today, local publications, and records on file.

Many facets of Montrose area history are explored within the museum, including Native Americans, homesteaders, farmers, ranchers, railroaders, and miners. A tour inside the old depot gives a hint of what life was like in the early days in Montrose.

The ticket room, now known as the railroad room, contains original survey equipment from the construction of the Gunnison Tunnel, cameras, miners tools and railroad memorabilia.
The electrical room features rare memorabilia from Ames, Colorado, the first alternating current plant in the world.
Upstairs contains the antique toys, dolls, school items, and music items such as a grand piano from the Gray family, a World War I Edison Phonograph, and a rare Victrola player.
The freight room contains the original freight scale, farm tools, saddles, more tools, typewriters, and a general store with well stocked shelves.

The museum has worked to build this lasting tribute to the pioneers and founders of Montrose County; 90% of all artifacts are from Montrose and 10% from the outlying area.

Approximately half of the museum's artifacts are held outside in a large courtyard. These objects mostly include automotive parts, agricultural equipment, and carriages. Also included are a stagecoach that ran the Montrose-Durango route, an Ice wagon, and several tractors. Two tractors have been restored. In addition to such artifacts, the museum also displays two log cabins in this courtyard. One cabin, known as the Lashley Cabin, which contains a traditional bed, kitchen, and modest furniture; reflecting the simple homes and lives of those who first settled in the Montrose area. This cabin was reclaimed as a historical artifact, once owned and lived in by a mother and her five children. A second cabin, known as the Cowboy Cabin, houses artifacts and memorabilia relating to the agricultural history of Montrose. The outdoor collection further includes a train caboose from the Union Pacific train route. The caboose served as a living and working quarters for train conductors throughout the Denver to Salt Lake City travel route.

Public engagement

The Montrose County Historical Museum has a storied tradition of interacting with the public by means of various tours, special exhibitions, and other events. The museum engages closely with activities created by the city government, downtown development authority and tourism board, the county, and the Montrose Recreation District. One such event is the annual Fourth of July parade that travels down the Main Street of Montrose; in this parade, the museum displays a float to educate local residents and tourists not only of the presence of the museum but also of the history it holds. Another popular event that the museum puts on throughout its open season is a series of historical walks. These walks function as a series of guided tours, exploring a number of historical places in Montrose and surrounding areas. Popular historical walks include the prohibition walk, unknown stories of downtown buildings walk, secret societies walk, and the ghost walk during Halloween.

Outside of city-sponsored events, the museum has sought to educate the public through a number of independent events. One such event is the Pioneer Social, where the families of local pioneers are invited to discuss and educate the community regarding their family history and place within the Montrose community. Another such extra-city organized event occurs during the annual Youth Appreciation Day. Here, the museum hosts a free scavenger hunt for students, and offers other historical activities such as an opportunity to pan for gold and wash period based clothing.^[1] The museum also engages with a wider community through its Facebook page.

Related Research Articles

The Denver & Rio Grande Western Railroad, often shortened to Rio Grande, D&RG or D&RGW, formerly the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad, was an American Class I railroad company. The railroad started as a 3 ft narrow-gauge line running south from Denver, Colorado in 1870. It served mainly as a transcontinental bridge line between Denver, and Salt Lake City, Utah. The Rio Grande was also a major origin of coal and mineral traffic.

The Prospector was a passenger train operated by the Denver & Rio Grande Western railroad between Denver, Colorado and Salt Lake City, Utah. There were two incarnations of the train: a streamlined, diesel multiple unit train that operated briefly from 1941 to 1942; and a locomotive-hauled train of conventional passenger equipment that operated from 1945 until 1967.

Durango and Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad

The Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad (D&SNG) is a 3 ft narrow-gauge heritage railroad that operates 45.2 miles (72.7 km) of track between Durango and Silverton, in the U.S. state of Colorado. The railway is a federally designated National Historic Landmark and is also designated by the American Society of Civil Engineers as a Historic Civil Engineering Landmark.

The Colorado Railroad Museum is a non-profit railroad museum. The museum is located on 15 acres (6.1 ha) at a point where Clear Creek flows between North and South Table Mountains in Golden, Colorado.

The Ghost Town & Calico Railroad is a 3 ft narrow gauge heritage railroad within Knott's Berry Farm, a theme park in Buena Park, California.

The John Hay Center is on the eastern edge of the Salem Downtown Historic District in Salem, Indiana. It comprises:

The Shavano was a named passenger train operated by the Denver & Rio Grande Western Railroad between Salida and Gunnison, Colorado. The train, named for nearby Mount Shavano, operated over the railroad's historic narrow gauge route over Marshall Pass. The Shavano operated as Train #315 westbound, and #316 eastbound.

The Rio Grande Scenic Railroad of Colorado, a heritage railway, began operations in 2006, operating both steam and diesel locomotives in and around the San Luis Valley, on trackage of the San Luis and Rio Grande Railroad. Located 200 miles (320 km) south of Denver, Colorado, the Rio Grande Scenic Railroad operates out of Alamosa, Monte Vista and La Veta. This 4 ft 8 ¹⁄₂ instandard gauge route, featuring a climb over the Sangre de Cristo Mountains via Veta Pass, dates back to 1899 and is a successor to the original 3 ft narrow gauge La Veta Pass line of the Denver and Rio Grande Railway, completed in 1878. In keeping with the Denver and Rio Grande Western slogan Scenic Line of the World, the trip between Alamosa and La Veta offers views of several of Colorado’s 14,000-foot (4,300 m) peaks.

The Rochester and Genesee Valley Railroad Museum (RGVRRM) is an operating railroad museum located in Industry, New York. The museum started in 1971 with the purchase of a former Erie Railroad Depot from the Erie Lackawanna Railroad. Since then the museum has grown to include a one-mile demonstration railroad, making it one of the only operating railroad museums in New York State. The museum was formerly an operation of the Rochester Chapter National Railway Historical Society until 2011. The organization rosters more than 40 pieces of historic railroad equipment, including diesel and steam locomotives, electric trolley and multiple-unit cars, freight cars, cabooses, passenger cars, and work equipment. The museum campus includes a number of preserved railroad structures, including the 1909 Industry Depot built by the Erie Railroad, a waiting shelter from the Rochester, Lockport & Buffalo Railroad, and a crossing watchman's shanty from the New York Central. Train rides are operated and the museum is open to the public on select weekends from June through October, and is staffed entirely by volunteers.

Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Depot – Delmar is a historic building located in Delmar, Iowa, United States. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

The South Torrington Union Pacific Depot was built in 1926 just to the south of Torrington, Wyoming. It was designed by Gilbert Stanley Underwood in the Mission Revival and Spanish Colonial Revival as a combined passenger and freight depot.

The Alberta Central Railway Museum is a railway museum located south-east of the City of Wetaskiwin, in Central Alberta, Canada. The main building was designed as a scaled-down version of the City's 1907 Canadian Pacific Railway depot. The depot includes a waiting room, baggage room and telegraph office, as well as exhibits and railroad artifacts. Railroad equipment includes locomotives, a sleeper car, passenger coach, freight equipment, cabooses, freight cars and a snowplough. Attractions include a model train layout of the original Wetaskiwin railyard. The museum also features a 1906 Alberta Grain Co. grain elevator which was moved from Hobbema. The elevator is known to be Alberta's second-oldest grain elevator in the Province. Rides are given on a one-mile loop of track.

Denver and Rio Grande Western No. 315 is a Class C-18 2-8-0, Consolidation type, narrow gauge steam railway locomotive that was originally built for the Florence and Cripple Creek Railroad by Baldwin Locomotive Works in 1868. On the F&CC it was number 3, named Elkton. After the demise of the F&CC in 1915, the locomotive sat unused until the Denver & Rio Grande purchased it and four of its sisters in 1917 to help with war traffic. In D&RG service it became No. 424, but was renumbered No. 315 when the D&RG became the Denver and Rio Grande Western in the reorganization of 1924. It began its D&RG service at Alamosa, Colorado, was leased to the Rio Grande Southern for 1926-27 and then spent most of the next decade on the Gunnison Division, in Salida, Colorado, on the line to Montrose and on the branch to Ouray.

Denver and Rio Grande Western No. 168 is a 4-6-0, Ten Wheeler type, narrow gauge steam railway locomotive. It is one of twelve similar locomotives built for the Denver and Rio Grande Railroad by Baldwin Locomotive Works in 1883. It was built as a passenger locomotive, with 46 in (1,200 mm) drivers, the largest drivers used on any three foot gauge D&RGW locomotive. The large drivers made it suitable for relatively fast passenger service.

Denver and Rio Grande Western 223 is one of a class of 28 2-8-0, Consolidation type, narrow gauge steam railway locomotives built for the Denver and Rio Grande Railroad by the Grant Locomotive Works of Paterson, New Jersey in 1881-82. Number 223 was completed in December 1881, at a cost of $11,553. Baldwin built an additional 25 locomotives in the same class at the same time.

The Railroad Museum of Oklahoma is a railroad museum located in the former Atchison Topeka and Santa Fe freight depot in Enid, Oklahoma. The museum began in 1977 and is a non-profit operated by the Enid chapter of the National Railway Historical Society. The freight depot was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2015.

Limon Railroad Depot was a major Union Pacific and Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad station in Limon, Colorado. It has been on the National Register of Historical Places since 2003. It is included in what is now the Limon Heritage Museum and Railroad Park. It is one of seven still standing Rock Island Line stations in Colorado, and the only one restored.

The Denver and Rio Grande Western Depot, commonly referred to as the Rio Grande Depot, is a former train station on the western edge of downtown Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. It is currently home to the Division of Utah State History and the Utah Department of Heritage & Arts, as well as the Rio Gallery.

The Central of Georgia Depot in Andalusia, Alabama is a historic train station that has been converted into the Three Notch Museum.

References

↑ "Notice". Montrose Daily Press.

External links

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.

[1] "Notice". Montrose Daily Press.