Looking for a fun summer weekend getaway? Call 1-800-825-0208 now or visit
www.ourjourney.info for a free ticket to 13 unique historic attractions on Colorado's Central Plains.
Museums and historical attractions from Cheyenne, Elbert, Kit Carson and Lincoln counties have joined forces to create
"Our Journey," a free travel pass that includes interesting historical facts, a song book and karaoke CD for the car ride and free admission to 13 different attractions that is valid now through Labor Day.
Families, explorers and history buffs alike will discover that Cheyenne, Elbert, Kit Carson and Lincoln counties are alive with history on the delightfully wide-open plains. Simply log on to
www.ourjourney.info or call 1-800-825-0208 to request a free
"Our Journey," kit. Each kit includes interesting historical information, a map of the area with driving instructions for a self-guided tour, highlights of highway mile marker road-side attractions and even a song book to keep travelers entertained on their journey east. When visitors present an
Our Journey ticket at attractions they receive a stamp. After six stamps, visitors can turn in their
Our Journey tickets for a free prize. Those who visit at least seven locations are also automatically entered in a drawing for two nights and dinner for two at one of Colorado Central Plains' wonderful bed and breakfasts.
Don't let the small-town image fool you! The towns of Colorado's Central Plains are hopping with plenty of activities and attractions to keep tourists entertained. As visitors journey east from the Front Range they will discover wonderful treasures in each of the museums that offer free admission through the
"Our Journey," program:
MountainStatesTelephone & TelegraphMuseum - New This Year!!
60 S 1st Street, CheyenneWells, CO80810
Open Memorial Day-Labor Day Monday-Friday 1-4 p.m.-- Saturday & Sunday 2-5 p.m.
Cheyenne Wells, Colorado was home to the first radio wave telephone system in the United States and now a new museum has opened that interprets telecommunications in the 1920s with an original phone booth, switchboard, and other unique artifacts. In April 1927 the Mountain States Telephone and Telegraph Company purchased the Cheyenne County Telephone Company. Seven months later the business opened a new building in Cheyenne Wells. This modest brick structure represented a big change for the community: 161 telephone lines were brought in and the operator was now available twenty-four hours a day! For a brief time, the Mountain States Telephone and TelegraphBuilding enjoyed a stint as the technological center of the modern telephone world. Don't miss this new historically significant telephone museum.
Elbert County Museum- New This Year!!
515 Comanche Street (Highway 86) - Kiowa, Colorado 80117 Open Memorial Day-Labor Day Thursdays 11 am-4 p.m.; Saturday 12-4 p.m.; Sunday 2-4 p.m.
www.elbertcountymuseum.org
The
Awakening Stories of Ancient Bison Huntingexhibit at the newly reopened Elbert County Museum looks at the importance of bison to Native American cultures over the centuries and brings to life bison hunting as it was practiced for thousands of years by Indians on the Colorado High Plains.
"American Buffalo: Spirit of a Nation" is the title of a DVD that accompanies the exhibit. Produced by the National Wildlife Federation, it explores tribal programs aimed at restoring bison herds.
KitCarsonCounty Carousel -- 815 15th Street, Burlington--New!!
Open Daily 1-8 p.m., Memorial Day - Labor Day
Distance from Denver: 2 ½ hours on I-70 east
In 1928, Burlington commissioners bought the original wooden carousel from ElitchGardens for $1200, then promptly lost the election because folks thought they'd squandered thecounty'sprecious resources. Now, more than 75 years later, of the nearly 4000 wooden carousels carved in America between 1885 and the 1930s, fewer than 150 are still in existence. One of the finest of these survivors is the Kit Carson Carousel located on the county fairgrounds in Burlington. The sixth of 74 carousels manufactured by the Philadelphia Toboggan Company between 1904 and 1933, the Kit Carson County Carousel is a three-row, stationary (the animals do not move up and down) machine housed in a 12-sided frame building. It is the only antique carousel in America that still includes original paint on both the scenery panels and the animals and costs just 25 cents to ride. Visitors ride to tunes churned out by an original 1909 Wurlitzer Monster Military Band Organ.
OldTownMuseum -- 420 South 14th Street, Burlington--New!!
Open Year Round, 9-5 p.m. Monday-Saturday, Noon - 5 p.m. Sunday
Distance from Denver: 2 ½ hours on I-70 east
Visitors take a step back in time at Burlington's OldTownMuseum. Opened in 1988, this historic attraction showcases life on the prairie, homesteading and farm heritage. OldTown houses 21 buildings spread over six acres and includes a main museum, a barn, a train depot circa 1889 and a two-story manor house. On weekends OldTown offers free horse drawn wagon rides, can-can dancing in the saloon, an old-time working soda fountain and demonstration gun fights.
LimonHeritageMuseum & RailroadPark-- 899 1st Street, Limon
Open Memorial Day to Labor Day, Monday - Saturday 1-8 p.m.
Distance from Denver: 1 hour, 15 minutes on I-70 east
Following the devastating Limon tornado in 1990, local business leaders formed a heritage volunteer group to save part of their past. The 1910 Limon Depot was restored and is now maintained by Heritage Society volunteers. The Depot once serviced both Rock Island and Union Pacific Railroads and is now a community treasure on the National Register of Historic Places. The Museum includes the restored train depot, an adjacent railroad park and an exhibit building depicting the life and legends of the plains. Visitors will find a permanent "Trains on the Plains" exhibit on display along with antique machinery and vintage windmills, arrowheads, pottery and a complete railroad model of the Limon community circa 1940 when 13-15 trains rolled through Limon each day. Visitors can also see a replica of an original plains story front mercantile and one of the original weather stations, complete with "Limon radar."
World's WonderViewTower -- 30121 Frontage Rd., Genoa
Open Daily Year Round, 9 a.m. - 5 p.m.
Distance from Denver: 1 hour, 30 minutes on I-70 east
This 22-room Museum is quite a site to see! Once the brain child of the son of PT Barnum, the World's Wonder View Tower is now home to a two-headed calf, an antique gun collection, 20,000 Indian artifacts, mammoth bones, antique bottles and nearly 1000 paintings by Princess Raven Wing a full-blooded Sioux Indian. Eight of the 22 rooms are constructed of solid rock from floor to ceiling. An old dance hall makes up one of the rooms and includes a historic stage built on a slant. From the top of this magnificent tower, visitors can see six states including Kansas, Nebraska, Wyoming, South Dakota, New Mexico and of course, Colorado.
LincolnCountyMuseum - 617 3rd Avenue, Hugo, Colorado
Open 4-7 p.m. Friday, 1-7 p.m. Saturday, 1-4 p.m. Sunday -- Memorial Day to Labor Day
Distance from Denver: 1 hour, 30 minutes on Highway 40 south of Limon
In the 1870s, Hugo's first store keeper and postmaster built a small home for his family about four blocks north of the railroad depot. The house was eventually sold to Judge P.O. Hedlund and remained in his family for more than 50 years. In 1972, the last Mrs. Hedlund donated the house to the town of Hugo. This historical property is now a Museum with a unique collection of pioneer artifacts including one of the first double-edged razor blade sharpeners created in the early 1900s. Knowledgeable volunteers staff the Museum and are on hand to tell interesting stories including one about the time President Teddy Roosevelt made an unexpected stop in Hugo. History has it that President Roosevelt was on his way to Denver in 1903 when his train passed through Hugo. Local business leaders had invited folks from near and far to watch the train carrying the President as it passed by their town and more than 2000 people showed up. As President Roosevelt stepped out from the train to express his regrets for not stopping in Hugo, he smelled a delicious aroma of beef, potatoes and biscuits cooking over an open fire. Roosevelt changed his mind and hopped off the train for breakfast. Nearly 60 years later, the cowboy cook who was honored to serve the President breakfast donated the hat, gloves and boots he was wearing as well as the plate, tin cup and utensils used by the President to the Museum. These are just some of the unique artifacts on display today.
Grampa Jerry's ClownMuseum--22 Lincoln Avenue, Arriba
Open Daily 10-6 p.m., Memorial Day - Labor Day
Distance from Denver: 1 hour, 45 minutes on I-70 east
More than 3,000 clowns are on display in this one room Museum. Clowns dating from the 1940s to present day adorn the walls, shelves and floor of this unique space. Visitors will find everything from porcelains statues and dolls, children's toys and original clown artwork in oil, pastels and watercolor. Grampa Jerry even boasts the world's smallest clown which measures a mere 3/8" tall and dates back to the 1940s. The tallest clown on site stands five feet tall.
Arriba Museum (Free Admission to This Museum New This Year)
317 Lincoln Street, Arriba, CO 80804
Open daily 8 a.m. - 5p.m.
Distance from Denver: 2 hours
This museum is in a tiny, 100-year-old home at the northeast corner of Arriba's city park, and it's full of local history including unique artifacts from LincolnCounty, antique furniture and a look at life on the prairie.
Flagler Hospital Museum & Hal Borland Room -- 311 Main Avenue, Flagler
Open Year Round, Monday - Friday, 9 - Noon - 1 - 5 p.m.
Distance from Denver: 2 hours on I-70 east
Many travelers know Hal Borland as the author of 30 books, hundreds of magazine articles and nearly 2,000 nature essays. But folks on Colorado's Central Plains know Hal Borland as the son of local farmer and
Flagler News publisher Will Borland. Visitors to the town of Flagler often stop to visit the Hal Borland Room. Located within the Flagler Library, the room includes a reading area, samples of Borland's published works and photographs taken during his days growing up in the community. The FlaglerHospitalMuseum is housed within the same historic building. Renovated in 1995, the hospital includes several rooms with antique hospital equipment, memorabilia and photographs taken of the hospital during its 25 years of operation from 1937-1963.
SecondCentralSchoolMuseum -- 404 4th Street, Flagler
Open by appointment only - Call 719-765-4571 or 719-765-4603
Distance from Denver: 2 hours on I-70 east
KitCarsonMuseum -- 200 Park Street, Kit Carson
Open Daily 9-5 p.m., Memorial Day - Labor Day
Distance from Denver: 2 hours and 15 minutes on Highway 40 south of Limon
In 1968, Union Pacific Railroad announced plans to demolish the Kit Carson train depot. Thanks to the fast action of a local citizen, the depot was saved and in 1971 opened as a museum in the town park. The complex now includes a UP signal maintainers house and a caboose both listed on the State Register of historical places. In addition, the complex includes a 20-foot-tall lighthouse without a light, an Aroya, Colorado landmark for nearly 50 years that was constructed by the late Owen "Red" Moreland. The train depot houses the main KitCarsonMuseum artifacts including the original safe from the Alfalfa Valley State Bank in Wild Horse and a vintage broom making machine. Visitors see a representative sample of the heritage of the great Colorado prairie.
CheyenneCountyOldJailMuseum -- 85 West 2nd Street, Cheyenne Wells
Open Memorial Day to Labor Day, Monday-Friday 1-4 p.m., Saturday-Sunday 2-5 p.m.
Distance from Denver: 2 ½ hours on Highway 40 southeast of Limon
Visitors to Cheyenne Wells get to spend a little time in "jail" when they visit the CheyenneCountyMuseum. Built in 1894 by noted Denver architect Robert S. Roeschlaub, the jail was a stout brick structure with several rooms to house the sheriff and his family as well as a single large room that housed two barred cells. The building includes a tower with a window overlooking the cells where you could see for miles in every direction. The jail was placed on the National Register for Historic Places in 1988 and is maintained today by local historical society volunteers.
For more information, log on to
www.ourjourney.info or call 1-800-825-0208 to request a free
"Our Journey," kit.
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ABOUT COLORADO'S CENTRAL PLAINS
Cheyenne, Elbert, Kit Carson and Lincoln counties and 15 incorporated municipalities have worked together on regional planning and programs through the East Central Council of Local Governments since 1973. When the Prairie Development Corporation was created by ECCOG in 1986, the entities continued this regional approach through PDC for Economic Development and general tourism development/promotion. This traditional and well-established working relationship among the towns and counties within the region in combination with shared travel routes, geography and history resulted in the Prairie Development Corporation's decision to begin development of a regional Heritage Tourism program. The region includes 28 State Register Properties, eight of which are also listed on the National Register. Historic trails crisscross Colorado's Central Plains including the Starvation Trail, the Butterfield Route, the Leavenworth, the Pikes Peak stagecoach route, the Texas-Montana Cattle Trail and the Old Military Trail.