Trinidad History Museum
The Children's Museum is in the Fire House on the left side above
Old Fire House No. 1 - Children's Museum
A.R. Mitchell Museum of Western Art
The Trinidad History Museum features four attractions in a unique complex at 312 E. Main. The Baca House, a 2 story adobe built in 1870, is indicative of the lifestyle of a prominent Hispanic family during the Santa Fe Trail period. The Bloom Mansion, an 1882 Victorian Rococo jewel, sits on the same block. In the Santa Fe Trail Museum displays of historic photos, family possessions and commercial goods depict local history from the Trail days through the 1920's. The rest of the block is filled with the Pioneer Museum and the Historic Gardens, containing native plants, herb and vegetable gardens, century-old trees, grape and trumpet vines. The gift shop and bookstore sells items about the West, Colorado and Trinidad.
Trinidad History Museum is open 10 am-4 pm, daily May 1-September 30 (including weekends and holidays). Between October 1-April 30, the Santa Fe Trail Museum is open 9 am-1 pm and the houses are closed except for large groups with reservations. The museum is a property of the Colorado Historical Society. Call 846-7217.
Louden-Henritze Archaeology MuseumThe Louden-Henritze Archaeology Museum offers visitors a glimpse at millions of years of the history of southern Colorado and northern New Mexico. A rare fish egg fossil, shark teeth and a partial skeleton of a Mosasaur are on display, along with a replica of a Tyrannosaurus Rex footprint found in the area and evidence of the K/T boundary (a thin layer of iridium, deposited worldwide at the same time by a catastrophic collision between the Earthy and an asteroid), which provides clues to the extinction of the dinosaurs. Mammoth tusks and bones of other Ice Age mammals are also on display. The are also exhibits showing arrowheads, tools, pottery, and other artifacts from local prehistoric peoples.
Free Admission. Open May to September, 10 AM to 4 PM, Monday to Friday. Call for off season hours. Trinidad State Junior College Library, Ground Level - East Entrance. 719-846-5508
The Children's Museum is in the Fire House on the left side above
The Children's Museum invites both children and adults to explore Trinidad's history through the eyes of Old Fire House No. 1, built in 1889. The early 1900's classroom, the vintage fire truck, the model train, and Trinidad's original jail cells are just a few of the hands-on exhibits and activities available to make imaginations soar and history come alive.
Free Admission. School Tours Available. Open June to August 12 Noon to 4 PM, Monday to Saturday. 314 N. Commercial St. 719-846-8220 or 719-846-2024
Housed in an early 1900's western style building still sporting the original tin ceiling, wood floors and horseshoe-shaped mezzanine, the "Mitchell" features a selection of more than 250 original paintings by acclaimed western artist and illustrator Arthur Roy Mitchell and many of his contemporaries. The second floor mezzanine offers gallery space to many regularly featured local artists.
O.E. Aultman came to Trinidad in the end days of the Santa Fe Trail. He spent the rest of his life chronicling Trinidad's history in photographs. His complete story, the Aultman Photographic Collection, used to be housed in the "Mitchell" but was mostly removed to Denver to be kept by the Colorado Historical Society.
Free Admission. Open April to September. 10 AM to 4 PM, Monday through Saturday. Call for off-season hours. 150 E. Main St. 719-846-4224.
