Cripple Creek’s history can be seen in many different facets: historic buildings, former rail service, ore assaying, and cultural offerings. This variety can help you decide what to focus on as you plan your trip. Would you like to learn primarily about historic sites and their specific functions, are you interested in exhibits about the gold camp and its surroundings, or would you also like to include an evening at the theater in your stay? These themes offer different ways to explore the town.
Buildings, Railroads, and Ore
Cripple Creek was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1961. The historic building complex of the Cripple Creek District Museum comprises five historic buildings. The Midland Terminal Railway Depot offers a different focus in terms of time period and function: It was in operation from 1895 to 1949 and received an average of ten passenger trains per day. The dates indicate the period of operation, while the average number gives a sense of daily passenger traffic. The museum complex’s historic buildings and the former rail service can thus be viewed as different aspects of the town’s history.
The Cripple Creek District Museum’s Assay Office is a functioning assay office for ore samples. Miners brought their ore there to have its gold value determined. Unlike the depot, the focus here is not passenger traffic but the testing of ore. This shift makes different historical themes tangible: the transportation of people on the one hand and the assaying of ore samples on the other.
Exhibits About the Gold Camp and Its Surroundings
The Cripple Creek Heritage Center broadens the focus beyond individual buildings and technological history. Its hands-on exhibits about the gold camp use interactive, tactile, audio, and video techniques. Other exhibits cover the geology, flora, fauna, and regional recreational opportunities of the surrounding area. Nature and recreation thus complement the historical gold camp theme. The center is also a comprehensive information center for Cripple Creek. If you are planning your visit around a particular exhibit topic, check what is currently on display before you go: exhibit content may change.
Cells, Records, and Historic Furnishings
At the Cripple Creek Outlaws and Lawmen Jail Museum, visitors can experience historic conditions of confinement in the original cells. Examples of police records from the early 20th century add written documentation to this perspective. Two types of historical evidence are thus presented side by side: an original room and examples from police records.
The Old Homestead House offers a different focus. Handcrafted furniture and velvet bedspreads were used in its restoration. The furnishings draw attention to the materials and textile details of a historic house—a different approach from the themes of transportation, ore assaying, or conditions of confinement.
Tour and Stage Program
For a look at a route passing through several places, there is the Gold Belt Tour: It goes through historic Cripple Creek and Victor. This route thus covers two historic towns, while museums and buildings explore individual themes.
The Butte Theater adds a stage-based option to the cultural offerings. It preserves the style of classic American melodrama and presents plays, musicals, comedy performances, concerts, and melodramas year-round. The theater’s historic style is paired with a program featuring a variety of formats. Since performance schedules can change, check the dates for your travel period in advance.
For the broader travel overview: Teller County.
