History Colorado Center facts for kids
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| Established | 2012 |
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| Location | 1200 Broadway Denver, Colorado |
| Type | History museum |
| Owner | History Colorado |
The History Colorado Center is a cool museum in Denver, Colorado, USA. It's all about the history of the state of Colorado. The museum building cost $111 million to build. Construction started on August 19, 2009.
The museum officially opened its doors on April 28, 2012. You can find it at 1200 Broadway. This spot is just one block south of where the old Colorado History Museum used to be. The center is managed by an organization called History Colorado.
Contents
Exploring Colorado's Past
The History Colorado Center has six main exhibits that are always there. These are called Living West, Colorado Stories, Denver A-Z, Destination Colorado, Time Machine, and Denver Diorama. All of these exhibits let you get hands-on. They are great for kids to learn and interesting for adults too.
Living West: People and Nature
The Living West exhibit is a huge space, about 7,000 square feet. It shows how people in Colorado have lived with their environment. The exhibit is split into three parts. Each part looks at a different natural area in Colorado's history. A big idea throughout this exhibit is how important water is.
The three areas in Living West are Mesa Verde, the Dust Bowl, and the Mountains.
Mesa Verde: Ancient Life
The Mesa Verde section teaches you about the daily lives of the Ancestral Puebloans. These were people who lived in this area a long time ago. You can see cool models and real items like pottery and tools they used.
Dust Bowl: Facing the Storm
In this part, you can experience what the Black Sunday storm felt like in the 1930s. This was a huge dust storm. You'll see how hard life was for people living on the plains during the Dust Bowl era.
Mountains: Wild and Wonderful
This exhibit area lets you see some of the amazing wildlife found in Colorado's mountains. You'll also learn how roads and rivers through the mountains have shaped life across the state. The museum shows how important it is to protect Colorado's natural resources. It uses a hands-on water model and examples of trees affected by the Mountain pine beetle.
Destination Colorado: A Town's Story
Destination Colorado focuses on a former town called Keota, Colorado. This town was started in 1880. It was a place where many homesteaders tried to build new lives. The town faced tough times like drought and hunger. But it was also full of kindness and community spirit.
As you walk through the exhibit, actors pretend to be real people from Keota. They tell stories about the town. You can explore places like the general store and the school. Some of Keota's original residents and their families are still around today.
Colorado Stories: People Who Shaped the State
Colorado Stories takes a close look at some of the people who helped make Colorado what it is today. One fun part is a ski jump simulator. There's also a short video about the challenges faced by Japanese-Americans who were moved to the Granada War Relocation Center. This was a place in southeastern Colorado during World War II.
You can walk through a model of their living quarters. It shows how small and crowded they were. Other parts of the exhibit show a silver mine in Silverton, CO. You can also learn about rangers working in Rocky Mountain National Park. There's even a section about the successes and difficulties faced by African-Americans in Colorado.
Time Machine: Journey Through History
When you first enter the museum, you'll see a giant map of Colorado. It's 40 by 60 feet! A famous artist named Steven Weitzman designed this map. He used special concrete tiles he created himself.
Visitors can move a large "steam punk" style time machine over different parts of the map. When they do, screens on the machine light up. They go back in time to tell amazing stories from different periods in that area's history.
Denver A-Z: Capital City Fun Facts
This unique exhibit is all about Denver, Colorado's capital city. You go on a journey through the alphabet. Each letter reveals interesting facts about Denver. You might learn about big blue bears or even the city's interest in zombies!
The Denver Diorama: City Then and Now
A favorite among visitors, the Denver Diorama shows what this big city looked like a long time ago. It shows Denver when it was just a small town on the Colorado plains in the 1800s.
See also
