10 best small museums and roadside attractions in Colorado
Photo by Tom Peck via Flickr
Cano's Castle
Museums serve as the grand repositories of our cultural history; they help us tell the unfolding tale of our understanding of the world, of its machinations and its shifting values. As such, we have come to rely on the quantity and quality of museums as a rubric for judging the relative merit of cities. At the other end of the institutional continuum, roadside attractions maintain a lasting place in American culture (especially in the West), crafted without the consensus involved in a museum but borne of a similar fascination in a sharing of our culture and how it’s told. The great boom of consumerism in the ’50s was linked inextricably to the highway infrastructure that spread across the landscape of America like an infection, and as cities and towns became connected across the wide open spaces, intrepid artists and inventive entrepreneurs created points of interest that would give passersby a reason to stop and perhaps drop a dime or two.
Colorado boasts an impressive array of museums and roadside attractions alike. From world-class galleries and institutions that host high-profile traveling exhibitions to the kitsch and flair of the personable roadside attractions, our state has much to offer anyone with even a passing curiosity of the geologic, natural, social, and political forces that have shaped the Colorado experience. As a way to celebrate the ongoing narrative of our state, The A.V. Club is pleased to present a list of 10 of the finest small museums and roadside attractions in Colorado, for use in augmenting the experience of their larger, better known institutional cousins.
10. James Brown Soul Center Of The Universe Bridge: Yampa County
The James Brown Soul Center Of The Universe Bridge is an unremarkable hunk of concrete and steel that spans the Yampa River on the outskirts of Steamboat Springs. The story of how the bridge was christened is a quirky tale of Western politics, essentially a prank that took on a life of its own, and although the bridge itself isn’t much to look at, its name (and the appearance of The Godfather Of Soul at its unveiling) lends our state a cool credibility that allows us to scoff at lesser named roadway features elsewhere. Do you have a James Brown Soul Center Of The Universe Bridge, Kentucky? No? Pssh, get the fuck out.
9. Forney Museum Of Transportation: Denver
The fare on display at the annual Denver Car Show is generally referred to as “car porn,” a shiny, overwrought fantasy of steel and glass, tits and ass, luxury-class desire, and the guttural rumblings of high-powered machinery. Sticking with the metaphor, a visit to the Forney Museum Of Transportation is more like stealing away with a box of faded daguerreotypes of vintage car smut. Cars, trains, motorcycles, and other personal conveyances of yesteryear are on display in this museum, which contains in its collection a car that belonged to Amelia Earhart and a handful of amazing vintage motorcycles.
8. National Mining Hall Of Fame And Museum: Leadville
Colorado mountain towns are rapidly changing. Since the establishment and spread of ski resorts, the towns have become playgrounds for the rich, their showy slope-side mansions slowly squeezing out the ski bums and, more importantly, the working class that established these former rough-and-tumble outposts. It’s hard to imagine that some of these havens of affluence were once the most dangerous places in the West: mining towns. For an education in the contributions of mining to our culture, from our foundation to our fortunes, a visit to Leadville will provide a new found appreciation for the work of the subterranean gatherers.
7. Cano’s Castle: Antonito
Colorado’s answer to The Watts Towers, Cano’s Castle is a lifelong work of self-actualization through art, the architectural creation of Donald Espinoza. After returning to the small town of Antonito after the Vietnam War, Espinoza has been slowly erecting the series of interconnected towers as a tribute to his old pal Jesus Christ, who spared his life during his tour of duty. Pieced together with scrap metal, beer cans, found materials, and painted with slogans proclaiming a fondness for God’s only son and God’s favorite drug (marijuana), Cano’s Castle stands as a perfect example of folk art.
5. The Black American West Museum: Denver
Shining a light on the underrepresented contributions of blacks in the settlement of the western U.S., this museum works to promulgate a narrative thread that is too often seen as a footnote. Housed in the cozy home of Colorado’s first black female doctor, the various rooms contain themed exhibits, including photos and artifacts focusing on the work of black cowboys and an exhibit that tells the story of Dearfield, Colorado, a black settlement around the turn of the century that faded from existence after the ravages of The Great Depression.
4. Frozen Dead Guy: Nederland
The story of the frozen dead guy in the Tuff Shed outside of Nederland defies brevity, but it’s enough to simply relay the fact that there is a dead guy on ice who is maintained in that state on his son’s property. The town of Nederland, which fought tooth and nail against the presence of the home-based cryogenic operation, has come to embrace the dude and created an annual festival to celebrate the oddity. Frozen Dead Guy Days provides the public with an opportunity to tour the Tuff Shed where the old guy lies in repose, and stages coffin sled races for prizes.
3. Museo de las Americas: Denver
One of Denver’s hidden gems, this museum features some of the best arts programming the city has to offer, from a past exhibit of Diego Rivera sketches to exhibits that explore themes of Latina femininity. The Museo deftly presents modernists works alongside traditional art of the Americas, creating a well crafted continuum that allows visitors to follow aesthetic branches all the way to their roots.
2. Movie Manor Motel: Monte Vista
It’s truly sad to consider the fate of the drive-in movie theater. Once held as a marvelous convenience, drive-ins have all but gone extinct, with only a few stragglers clutching at relevance. The Movie Manor Motel in Monte Vista provides an experience unique enough to justify its prolonged stumble into an uncertain future. Combining the campy, retro fun of actually going to a drive-in with an eradication of the need to sit in your car, the Movie Manor Motel has a drive-in screen that faces its rooms so you can watch a first-run feature and fiddle your faddle without the threat of prosecution.
1. Casa Bonita: Denver
Our crown jewel of kitsch, Casa Bonita is a veritable wonderland of weirdness. At its heart, it’s a Mexican restaurant, but one that features cliff divers within the cavernous interior, caricature artists, vintage video games, caves to explore, a gaudy facade that erupts like a fountain of excess in the strip mall where it resides, and wandering musicians to serenade the love struck. Coloradans seem proud of the establishment for its quirky appeal, but you’d be hard pressed to talk one into eating there. If you haven’t been, pack your pockets full of anti-diarrhea meds and make the pilgrimage. It’s the equivalent of getting hazed into the Fraternal Order Of Colorado Lovers.
