Fremont County Museums and the Arts

The Royal Gorge Community has a rich history dating back over 150 years, well before Colorado was a state. Zebulon Pike camped in the area as he explored the area. Cañon City has one of the largest, intact historic downtown districts in Colorado. The community was the site of the territorial prison that has since evolved into an extensive complex of federal and state prisons. About the time Colorado became a state, dinosaur fossils were found north of the community yielding fossils currently in museums all over the world. Four community museums celebrate this rich heritage.

The Fremont Center for the Arts is located just off Main Street at 505 Macon Ave in the historic post office building. The Fremont Center for the Arts is a non-profit art center, proud of its heritage as the oldest community arts council in the United States. The works of local artists as well as traveling exhibits are featured. Recent exhibits have included the original works of Christo and Jeanne-Claude. The summer of 2008, the gallery will feature exhibitions and displays in Fiber Arts and Photography. August and September will open the "Trapping of the West" exhibit featuring traditional American Western art including saddle making, bits and spurs, boots, hats and traditional fine art. Saturday, May 10, 2008 rolls in the 4th Annual Brew Ha Ha Microbrew and Comedy Festival. June 21 & 22 celebrate the 27th Art on the Arkansas fine art and craft weekend - both events take place in Cañon City's beautiful Veteran's Park on Highway 50 at the west end of town. As you visit the Royal Gorge Region be sure to check with the Fremont Center for the Arts for its current scheduled exhibits.
See www.fremontarts.org.

The Museum of Colorado Prisons is a popular attraction located at 210 N. First Street. It is adjacent to the site of the original territorial prison and is located in a former women's prison operated by the State of Colorado. Exhibits include the last gas chamber and the hangman's noose plus 30 cells each displaying different aspects of prison life.

The Museum of Colorado Prisons offers Ghost Tours of historic downtown Cañon City Memorial Day through Labor Day. Guides dressed in period costumes, will lead you through the City's streets and alleys and entertain you with stories of haunted buildings, lynchings, and the frontier years in Cañon City. See www.prisonmuseum.org for additional information on the Ghost Tours as well as information about the Museum.

The Royal Gorge Regional Museum and History Center located at 612 Royal Gorge Boulevard offers both exhibits and research materials that portray and interpret the history of the region and its people. Located in the former municipal building, built in 1927, the museum was initially designed to include exhibits of artifacts related to community leader and naturalist William Dallas DeWeese and western artist Robert Wesley Amick. As municipal operations moved elsewhere exhibit spaces were expanded and the Local History Center was moved to the facility. Be sure to see "Turn up the Volume: the History of the Phonograph" one of the largest phonograph and Victrola exhibits anywhere. The History Center is ready to help you research family histories and more. Also located on the site is an 1860's log cabin and 1880's stone house built by Anson Rudd, the first warden at the territorial prison.

The Dinosaur Depot Museum is located in the historic firehouse at 330 Royal Gorge Boulevard. The Dinosaur Depot Museum houses dinosaur fossils from the Garden Park Fossil Area which has produced world-class fossils since 1887. The Museum includes an active laboratory where visitors can view the preparation of fossils and talk to volunteers and professionals that are very knowledgeable about the 120 year history of dinosaur excavation in the area. The Museum Store can satisfy your needs for dinosaur and fossil related gifts, books, etc. The Museum can provide self-guided tour pamphlets describing both the Garden Park Fossil Area and the Skyline Drive Trackway Site. Both of these sites are easily assessable. Additional information is available at www.dinosaurdepot.com.

Community Heritage Passes provide a single ticket at a low price to all of these four great locations. The Passes are available for purchase at each of
the facilities.