The Baldpate Inn facts for kids
The Baldpate Inn is a special hotel found in Estes Park, Colorado. It's so important that it's listed on the National Register of Historic Places, which means it's a historic landmark!
This unique inn was started in 1917 by two brothers, Charles and Gordon Mace, along with their families. Charles Mace was a photographer, taking pictures in wars and for businesses.
Contents
What Makes The Baldpate Inn Special?
The Baldpate Inn is famous for two main reasons. First, its name comes from a very popular mystery story called Seven Keys to Baldpate by Earl Derr Biggers. The author even agreed that this hotel was the "real" Baldpate!
The Amazing Key Collection
The second reason the inn is so well-known is its incredible collection of keys. At first, the hotel gave away keys as souvenirs. But now, it has gathered over 20,000 keys! These keys are all kinds, from everyday ones to very unusual ones, and even "figurative" keys (like keys to a city).
People from all over the world, including visitors, guests, and important leaders, have given their keys to the inn. It's like a museum of keys!
How Are the Keys Organized?
All these keys are carefully recorded in a special computer system. This project gets help from a group called American History Savers. Experts called curators take turns looking after the collection. They also share interesting facts about the keys through talks and online articles.
Surviving Challenges
The Baldpate Inn is strong! It managed to survive the big floods that happened in 2013. Even though the hotel building itself was okay, the road leading to it was badly damaged. This road is also important because it connects to many hiking trails nearby.
The inn received help from organizations like History Colorado State Historical Fund and Colorado Preservation to fix the road and recover from the floods.
