The Dougherty Museum, home of one of the finest collections of antique automobiles in the region, will open for the summer on Friday, June 1. This year's opening marks the museum's 30th year of sharing its collection with the public.

The museum's collection of beautifully restored automobiles - most of which are in running condition - includes models powered by steam and electricity, as well as early internal-combustion types. Other artifacts include farm equipment and machinery used on Boulder County farms dating back more than 100 years.

The museum includes a 1902 Mobile Steamer owned by Boulder pioneer Andrew J. Macky, a local banker who donated land and money to the University of Colorado. The vehicle was one of the first cars in Boulder County, if not the first. The driver in this car would sit in the backseat and steer with a lever on the right side of the car. The front seat was reserved for the passengers.

The museum includes several Stanley Steamers, including a 1915 Stanley Steamer - a 12-Passenger Mountain Wagon. The original owner of the wagon was a University of Wyoming professor who used it for geology field trips. In this area, the Stanley Steamers met visitors at train depots in Longmont and Loveland to take their guests up to the Stanley Hotel in Estes Park.

The Dougherty collection also features a Concord Overland Stage Coach. Often portrayed in early Western movies, the stage coaches were a popular means of transportation in the mid-to-late-1800s. It usually took six horses to pull a coach with six to eight passengers whose luggage was strapped on top.

The museum, located one mile south of Longmont on the east side of US 287, is open to the public from 11 a.m.-5 p.m. on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays through September 2, 2007.

Admission is $5 for adults and $3 for children (6-12 years old). Children under 6 years of age are free. Those who visit the museum are asked to sign a guest book, thereby ensuring they can return, free of charge, for the rest of the summer!

For more information or to arrange a private group tour, contact Dorothy Dougherty at 303-776-2520.