Museums in Colorado

Tomorrow, May 18, is International Museum Day. Many museums will have free admissions or other enticements, so check your favorite museum online to see what’s happening!

Whether you’re interested in history, art, or science, Colorado has some terrific museums. Wherever you find yourself in our state, you can probably find a museum – from large institutions to tiny local spots. Check out the book Colorado Museums and Historic Sites from our library to get a listing of museums and other sites of interest across Colorado. Also, for a listing of museums in historical buildings, see Museum Buildings, Sites and Structures on the Colorado State Register of Historic Properties.

HISTORY MUSEUMS
You can find many resources in our library dealing with Colorado’s museums. History Colorado (formerly the Colorado Historical Society) just opened a brand-new museum in downtown Denver, but they also have a number of regional museums across Colorado. In-depth information on these museums and their histories can be found in publications such as the “Capsule History and Guide” series of books, which cover the Ute Indian Museum, the Fort Vasquez Museum, the El Pueblo Museum, the Fort Garland Museum, the Trinidad History Museum, and the Georgetown Loop Historic Mining & Railroad Park. For hours and locations of these and the other regional museums, visit their webpage. In our library collection you can also find historical publications on the Historical Society’s old museum buildings, and a historical publication on the regional museums entitled A Journey Through Time: The Regional Museums of the Colorado Historical Society. 

ART MUSEUMS
A wonderful publication found in our library collection is Masterpieces of Colorado: A Rich Legacy of Landscape Painting, a catalog from a traveling exhibition sponsored by the Colorado Council on the Arts. Also in our collection are some historical publications from exhibits at the University of Colorado Museum, including Native American Ceramics of Eastern Colorado; A Thread Through Time: The Textiles of China; Textiles of Eastern Persia and Central Asia; and Caucasian Textiles, 16th-20th Century.

SCIENCE MUSEUMS
The Denver Museum of Nature and Science recently collaborated with the Colorado Geological Survey to produce Notes on the Denver Basin Geologic Maps. Also, we have in our library a series of scientific publications from the University of Colorado Museum; search our web catalog for titles.