Telluride Historical Museum Inc

As a journalist who has covered Telluride's cultural economy for nearly 20 years, I have intimate knowledge of the inner workings of all of the region's key nonprofits, including institutions like the Telluride Historical Museum. The Museum is a microcosm of the town, a special place staffed by special people, who deftly juggle traditional roles with thinking out of the box. Yes, the traditional stuff of museums is there: room after room housing the history of the region are meticulously preserved. But the place also acts as a community center, where people come together to celebrate learning, and many activities orchestrated by the Museum happen off campus: historic bar crawls to Christmas at a traditional ranch where generations of Schmids have worked and played. The Telluride Historical Museum is a place that makes my brain smile.

The Telluride Historical Museum has done a wonderful job with which they have to work. The staff is very dedicated to the museum and give 110%. Be sure to stop by and see their exhibit "History of Law Enforcement in San Miguel County", very interesting!!

Whenever one of my friends or family come to visit me in
Telluride I always take them to the museum. It tells so many stories in such interesting ways and the programs I've attended have always been informative. The staff have helped me in my own historic research on several occasions helping me get in contact with local historians, and sharing their knowledge

I really love the staff, the building, thier displays, and all the great events the museum puts on. The very fact that the building has been moved and is a historical building ads a lot of awe to the whole experince. The museum is second to none in my experince of small town museums.

Keep up the great work!

I had the genuine pleasure of visiting this museum this past weekend while my husband enjoyed the fresh powder on the mountain. I absolutely adored my experience. The history and knowledge given by Barbara as I walked in, as well as the displays around the museum, were all top notch. I especially loved the Telluride Blanket and the Tellurider exhibits, but my favorite part was the small reconstructed cabin of Harriet Fish Backus. I had read Tomboy Bride several years ago and loved the story of Backus' many adventures. But to see a small portion of her life in the museum made my reading that much more tangible. I highly recommend a visit to this museum for anyone who is in town. You won't regret it!

Its a well all around view of the times and its people.
Found particular interesting the indian period and a few more stories would be super. Any connecting points.
This is my second time here and i came back as i found it so informative and wanteds to be reminded again. Also the story telling of peoples staing why they stayed is great....
next time, i already know what i want to visit next..like mining tours, horse adventure etc,
GREAT

The museum provides a fascinating history of the area around Telluride. I particularly enjoyed the displays of old household products and things that the miners used. There were some really interesting displays about the transport to the mines. A well done history. There were some great "fun facts".

Great and professional exhibit !!!! this is very well done. I would highly recommend

we returned to telluride after 30 years. my husband and i celebrated our honeymoon here in feb. 1981. we went upstairs and were pleased to see the display from the iron ladel. during our week stay we ate there many times. at times we would see our waitress sometimes working at the lift, sometimes at the ladel and also at the bakery. enjoyed seeing the photos and it brought back memories not only of that week but the styles and trends that i had forgotton. enjoyed it a lot

A wonderful local museum full of interesting information about the topography, history and characters that make Telluride what it is today. I had no idea there had been so many mines operating in the area. The transition to a resort community is fully documented here.

Really enjoyed the museum...found the Indian history very interesting. Enjoyed learning about Butch Cassidy and his first robbery in Telluride. I loved looking at the old log cabin that was a replica of the real one, complete with stove, dining room table and chairs, utensils, etc. Also enjoyed the transition to the ore mining industry and then to the skiing frenzy. I liked how you could get close to all the exhibits as well.

This is our first visit to Telluride and we strongly advise any visitor to take the short stroll up the hill to experience The Telluride Museum. The beautiful historic stone building houses comprehensive and fascinating exhibits that give you an understanding of this unique town.
Give yourself a couple of hours to soak up the rich history of Telluride.

As a journalist who covers Telluride's cultural economy, the Telluride Historical Museum is part of my beat. Like the town, the institution is unique. Rather than fill days dusting off shelves filled with collectibles from the past, our Museum's imaginative staff works hard to keep history alive with an interesting, often surprising mix of in-house and off-site programs from on-mountain ski tours to pub crawls. None of this may be surprising for museums in large cities with lots of worker bees earning their pay. But in a town the size of Telluride? Impressive, no?

Museum is great. We come every year with friends. The history and pictures are wonderful.

Starting out as a hospital and ending up as a very fine small museum, THM,inc. is now a wonderful part of Telluride. Wherever one looks you'll see evidence of its vitality, the newspapers, the store fronts, scheduled events, something for everyone, young and old.

Its programs, in house, cover the everything from a pre historic indian blanket, one of a kind, to present day events. Newly assembled movies and videos of recent events as well as hikes to still existing, but not working mines and 4X4 drives over old mining trails to present day events at other old mining Towns.

The museum is alive and well offering events and special tours for all ages while attempting to educate in the process. Two wonderful young ladies come up with something new pretty near every week and include historic ski tours, heath care on the 70's, history and hamburgers, Bust to Boom lectures; Historic Pub Crawls and Old Fashioned Christmas tours complete with horse drawn sleigh rides and Santa Claus. Never a dull moment around this Telluride Historical Museum, Inc.

The Telluide Historical Museum not only has interesting historical displays about the history of this region, it also sponsors fascinating events that help people to interact with history. For instance, in the summer the museum sponsors jeep and hiking trips to old mining sites, accompanied by a historian and a geologist to explain why mining in this region was successful and to tell detailed stories about specific mines, labor strife, and other details. The museum also sponsors historic pub crawls where the guests learn about Telluride's boom town mining history and its renaissance as a ski town in the 70s. This year, the museum has begun offering historic skiing tours, where guests learn the history of the region while skiing to different sites where the historical events took place. All of these events are fun, educational, and innovative, and my husband and I have thoroughly enjoyed them.

I am a bit unusual in the fact that I have had a life-long association with the Museum having been born in the institution that is now a museum. I have been heavily involved with the identification and research of the Telluride Blanket, volunteered with the first caretaker Arlene Reid. I have watched the floundering of the museum and finally support by the town of Telluride. Nothing has made more of a difference than the vision and management presented by Lauren Bloemsma. Her ability to work with and within the community has created a gem in the rockies. I would also like to add that many of the "old timers" had a difficult time transitioning from a "ma and pa" Museum to a thematic approach. Lauren has healed many wounds and involved those families in planning while blending with the new. I fully support the direction the museum has now taken and feel privileged to remain a small part of it's direction. I would change only one thing and that is to hope that more of the Telluride Community understand the uniqueness of what they have and that a concentrated effort be made to curate, identify and care for the artifacts in storage.

I have seen the museum grow and improve over the past 10 years and they were kind enough to host a recent private tour with Telluride Cub Scout Pack 500. The exhibits are surprisingly educational, informative and professionally presented and range from videos of the history of trains in the area to interactive hands on models and videos of the workings of electricity, its origin in Telluride and Ames and its impact on the world. A must see for anyone interested in the history of Telluride.

As a new resident of Telluride, I have been extremely interested in our local history. I've been fortunate enough to visit the Telluride Historical Museum on two occasions and enjoyed them both thoroughly. The building itself has a fascinating history and the exhibits are obviously updated regularly. The staff was incredible and they even welcomed our local scout pack by opening exclusively for our visit. I intend on making it a habit to bring newcomers to the area through the museum to share Telluride's innovative history.

The Historical Museum is a must-see for any new visitor to Telluride AND any resident as well. It has been fun to see the museum evolve in the past 12 years. The volunteers are so proud of their museum and anxious to share the exciting history of Telluride with anyone who walks through the door. Their events and tours are a great way to experience Telluride too! I recommend the cemetary tour and Fourth of July festivities. We like to bring new Telluride visitors to the museum before thrilling them with a ride up to the old mining ruins of Tomboy!

I have lived in Telluride since 1988. I loved the fact that the miners hospital was still here and that the Museum would be housing it. There are so many wonderful exhibits. The lectures offered are very educational and fun to attend. I love the doctors room and all the history behind that. I love the rugs. I love the museum!

GREAT experience when visiting Telluride! They have done an incredible job at capturing the history and spirit of Telluride.

I came to this area on holiday and was recommended a visit here to discover more about the area. It is a fascinating museum housed in an old hospital serving the now defunct mining industry. Not too large but well laid out with clear information about the various areas. It has given me a much better idea of the history of what you might now consider to be just a ski resort. There is so much more and where else could you see hand woven rug some 850 years old and in such amazing condition!

This museum is the heart and soul of our community! Certainly, it has been the defining institution in terms of my relationship with this town. My memory is hazy, but I think I’ve been visiting the museum since I was a kid back in the 60’s. Initially, my fascination with the museum was a consequence of my sense of connection with Telluride (my grandfather was born here—his christening gown used to be on display—and my great, great grandfather, Charles Painter, was Telluride’s first mayor (his picture during a late-19th century picnic provides the backdrop for one exhibit). More recently, though, as a teacher at Telluride High School, I’ve come to value the consistent support the museum has provided me in delivering a dynamic curriculum. To borrow from my students’ discourse, this museum rocks!

We were attracted to the area for the skiing and are impressed to learn that Telluride has such an interesting historical museum.

The exhibits flesh out the what your imagination conjures up as you walik around the town and enjoy the architecture and the charming interiors.

The pride of the locals is evident in the referrals to visit this museum while we were here.

We've visited historical museums in Gunnison, South Park and Crested Butte as well as this one in Telluride. The Telluride Historical Museum is by far the most pleasingly arranged with a nice flow through the building and excellent, informative exhibits.

In addition, we were greeted cordially and offered water ---a welcome gift for a visitor still coping with the altitude.

This being a former hospital, the room recalling those days is spectacular.

And finally, this town is so small, that in the room commemorating the 1970's, we saw a photo of the woman who lead us cross-country skiing this week. Wow!

Wonderful museum. It covered many aspects of the area from Native American culture, to Pioneer life, to mining, and of course skiing!

happened upon the museum while on a walk. What a pleasant surprise. I thoroughly enjoyed the history and will recommend it to family and friends.

If the mention of a History Museum gives you visions of dark, dusty, mothball smelling newspaper clippings and antiques, you'll be amazed at the sunny, vibrant, and interactive Telluride Historical Museum. The Museum staff and board have done an amazing job making this a place you want to spend time in and want to return over and over. If you love the beauty and magic of Telluride, you'll love the Historical Museum!

This museum is a vital part of Telluride. We have so enjoyed learning about Telluride's history at the museum. Additionally, the museum puts on many very interesting special events, evenings, and tours. A visit to Telluride is not complete without a visit to this gem of a museum.

Being a volunteer for the museum is such an amazing expirience. It has allowed me to meet new people and gives me a tremendous amount of satisfaction being a part of an incredible team that tells the story of Telluride. I recommend the museum to everyone new to Telluride especially for the cemetary tours, pub crawls and the historic ski tours. My wife and I also had our rehearsal dinner at the Museum the night before our wedding and our friends and family were so impressed not only with the structure and displays but with the obvious care and attention to detail of the staff.

This is a really cool museum. I was extremely surprised that Telluride had such a rich past. Telluride and the surrounding area not only were rich in minerals, but inventors like Tesla and bank robbers like Butch Cassidy.

We at Schmid Ranch have been working with the Telluride Historical Museum to share the heritage and history of Telluride with all! They are outstanding to work with. The staff are openminded, community minded and very professional. Their outreach and vision are amazing!

I absolutely LOVE the Telluride Historical Museum. Telluride is an incredibly special place and without the Telluride Historical Museum to preserve and share its rich history the specialness of its past would be lost to, well, history.

I don't get the opportunity to visit Telluride as much as I would like, but when I do, you better believe the Historical museum is as important to my trip as Misty Maiden or the Steaming Bean.

My whole family loves the Telluride Historical Museum. We always bring our visitors there, so they can learn something about the history of mining, electricity, and day-to-day living in historic Telluride.
We especially love the Anasazai blanket, and the story of how it was found rolled in a ceramic pot which had been 'forgotten' in storage.
There is usually an interesting floating exhibit...once it was Federico Fellini's paintings of his dreams.
The museum staff are always knowledgable and helpful. They let us celebrate my father-in-law's 80th birthday in the exhibition gallery.
One of the very best programs the museum puts on are the 'Fireside Chats' where they invite interesting people to come and share their take on local and Colorado history. I've learned about the making of the ski resort, and about Ute tribal leaders.
Another interesting program is the "Pub Crawl" where participants get to visit the local bars and learn about the building's historic character! You can imagine how fun that is!

I love the museum programs. They are so interesting and informative. I always learn something new about Telluride's history. Some of my absolute favorites are the guided hikes with Rudy Davidson to the high country learning about the Smuggler/Union Mine strikes. The Pub Crawl is fun to join and learn about Telluride's history in the 1970's during the transition from a rough and ready mining town with a gun slinging sheriff to a hippie ski resort. I love the 4th of July root beer floats and the Fireside Chats with Telluride born and raised citizens. The museum displays are excellent.

As a educator the Museum has provide many opportunities for professional growth as well as curriculum support for our students.
The museum is a local treasure!

I am impressed with the outreach agenda of the Telluride Historical Museum - sending tantalizing information concerning programs to me here in Virginia via email. They have to know that I might not be there "tomorrow" - but I surely will be someday, and the museum is first on my to-do list when I get there!

I love all of the variety of seminars the Museum hosts. The Summer Fireside chats presented by knowledgable historians are fabaulous. Many of the speakers actually lived the life they are relating so it makes the conversation much more lively. Lots of questions are generated and acurately answered. The in house museum displays give a panorama of life in early mining Telluride. The tenacity and grit posessed by the early settlers is truly inspiring.

The museum visit was recommended to me by my seat mate on the plane ride from Los Angeles. I am happy to say she was correct in saying that the museum "was not to be missed."

A very through and thoughtful display of the important periods of Telluride. The displays are interesting and the historical perspective encompassing.

Our Docent of the day was very informative and gracious.

The Telluride Historical Museum has wonderful informative exhibits and a world class Indian blanket and a wonderful restored building. But what makes the museum so impressive is the way it is manged.

This museum is endlessly inventive in creating collaborations with any number of wildly different entities. The result is that the presence of the museum is felt throughout the region all through the year in many varied ways.

This museum is not just sitting there waiting for people to come through the door. Lauren Boesma has created an entity that is woven through the entire community's consciousness.

Robert Weatherford

Informative and interesting. I well presented and in depth look at the history of the town and people of Telluride.

I have worked with the museum in conjunction with the telluride film festival to put up some exhibits and they have always been wonderfull to work with and delivered the highest quality product. As a long term resident I have enjoyed the many programs they put on and the friendly and helpful staff. Whenever I send friend sup to see the museum they have an enjoyable time.

The Telluride Historical Museum provides fun, entertaining, and educational events to compliment the wonderful collection in the building. Our community greatly benefits from this vital institution. All ages share in the Museum's programs.

The museum was a wonderful educational experience. The staff was very helpful. The collection has grown over the years and has become an invaluable record of Telluride History. Everyone should visit it multiple times!

In May 2006, I was privileged to have an art exhibit at the Telluride Historical Museum. It was a lovely experience, and the museum itself was inspiring to say the least. Tucked against the gorgeous Telluride hillsides, this museum is full of amazing artifacts and narratives that describe the history of Telluride and its surroundings. From the earliest days of the Ute Ancestors to the modern day, Telluride has shared an amazing history that continues to live on through innovative programs such as the Fireside Chats. The museum staff are personable, and it is clear that they relish the history of their region, and have found wonderful ways to spread the joy of learning about history. Exhibits are beautifully arranged, and evoke a sense of time travel, as you move from one room to another. It truly is a wonderful experience. Don't miss this opportunity to find out what made, and still makes, Telluride so magical.

My art exhibit and book signing was a huge success, as well as my own Fireside Chat in 2008.

The interactive qualities of the exhibits draw the attendee into the experience that was (is)the history of Telluride. From the ages of geology (the youngest mountains in Colorado), to the era of the first people (prime summer camp) through the boom and bust and boom again. The culture is rich and the visual and audio resources are solid.

The Historical Museum in Telluride provides a view into the colorful past of our town and region. As the Mayor of Telluride, I support fully what this community gem does for our tourism based economy as well as what it provides our homeowners and their guests. The Museum allows visitors and locals alike to take a step back into what has made Telluride so very special. From the facility itself to the staff and finally to the displays that allow all of us feel the sense history and the character of our town.

The Telluride Historical Museum is a fantastic, cornerstone of life in Telluride. Keeping in touch with our long and illustrious past is really cool! I especially like the old pictures shown in the local papers. The staff headed by dedicated Director Lauren Bloemsma does an incredible job of keeping us all aware of the past and coming up with unique events that make Telluride a better place to live! Keep up the great work and keep our history alive for future generations!!!

An entertaining and informative collection, the museum provides a great overview of the town and its history. My husband and I enjoyed it very much.

The Telluride Historical Museum is a gem in our old mining town. The staff is amazing in consistently hosting engaging events. This institution far exceeds any museum experience I had before moving to Telluride. I know more funding would go to very good use for the museum and get them the attention and awareness they so deserve.

I brought ten women from throughout the country to Telluride for one of the summer festivals, hiking, and other activities. The absolute HIGHLIGHT of the visit was our visit to the Telluride Historical Museum. We did our visit on the first day and the guide gave us wonderful stories and historic context so that we could enjoy our explorations to the Lone Cone Cemetary and other sights around town.

One of my friends went back to Telluride this year for skiing and took her guests to the museum so they could appreciate and understand the rich history of Telluride.

It is a well-run, well-curated, museum serving its community and the many many visitors to that part of Colorado.

Many wonderful artifacts on display! Historical explanations are succinct and interesting. The Telluride Blanket is a must see for anyone.

I love this museum. It's small, but incredibly interesting and captures the vast amount of history of the region. Who knew that Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid robbed their first bank in Telluride? The museum puts on a first rate reinactment every year at the Heritage Festival, replete with cowboys and villains storming down mainstreet Telluride with guns a'blazin. I gots goosebumps.

Also had the chance to participate in a murder mystery night at the museum, where we re-enacted a famous murder in Telluride and patrons (encouraged to wear full-on western period regalia) had the opportunity to solve the murder with cleverly placed clues. What an incredible night.

The Telluride Museum is a delicious collection of geological, anthropological, medical, innovations, sport (Skiing of course) and eclectic western Americana. Housed in a restored hospital that served the miners back in "the old days" this is a MUST SEE for any traveler to the area. Miss Brenda is a font of interesting and useful information and can answer most any question put to her. Thanks a million!

As a visitor from Miami Fl, this museum experience has enlightened me about the rich history and inspires me to return and spend more time investigating every nook and cranny of this beautiful region.

In visiting the museum-I have found it to be very informative of the history of Telluride and the area; It is a wonderful experience that I would suggest for everyone who visits here. I find the local involvement unbelievabe.

I have been going to Telluride since 2000 and went to the Telluride Museum for the first time last summer. I must say it was very interesting - to say the least. It was elegantly presented and offered something for all ages. It especially did a great job of paying homage to the native peoples and give a true feeling to what life was like in the mining town over 100 years ago. Not to be missed!

My first experience with the museum was in 2005 when the museum unveiled The Blanket - a very well preserved textile artifact from the Pueblan II period - and one of a few remaining in the U.S. All I could think of was - this small community and local region has incredible history - electricity. Butch Cassidy, mining technology, spider web of aerial trams, railroads and galloping goose(s). The museum reflects the history with the exhibits in the old Miners Hospital building and the staff makes history come alive for visitors and community members with their outreach programs such as hikes into history; school events; four wheeling tours and fireside chats. The museum continues to be a wonderful institution for this community.

Excellent museum, very interesting and informative.
Well structured with thorough information which flows from one exhibit to the next.
Overall very good

Wow! What a historical experience!! The museum shows many parts of history - from the Native American local tribal history to the mining and medical past. What a cool town Telliuride is.

The Telluride historical museum was a great experience. It was nice to learn about several different pieces of history in this town. I would highly recommend visitors and locals to spend time at this museum.

I wandered into the Museum in 2007 when I spent a month skiing in Telluride. It was so lovely that I was pleased to continue my membership in the society for the years when I did not visit Telluride. My sister knew how fond I was of the Museum so that she purchased a family membership for me for 2011 when I am currently spending two months here.

I attended my first event sponsored by the Historical Society last week, The Pub Crawl. It did a great job of illustrating the bawdy history of this little mining town. If anyone thinks museums are stuffy, they have not attended a Pub Crawl!

I have enjoyed my associations with the staff and volunteers of the Historical Society. It seems to be the centerpiece of the community and I am very happy to support it.

The Telluride Historical Museum, as might be expected, well represents the history of Telluride with its many artifacts, vignettes and interactive exhibits of its Native American and mining heritage, including an outdoor, interactive exhibit of local mining activities and equipment. However, the Museum is also mindful of the more recent history of Telluride - that of the development of the ski industry and many festivals for which Telluride is deservedly renowned. The Museum also sponsors many activities in the Museum, the town, and in the surrounding countryside which bring the community together and develop a sense of the origins of Telluride today. Therefore, the Museum has "something for everyone" and is a warm, welcoming , and enlightening place for all, visitors and residents alike.