Hinsdale Museum Tours, Book Signing, Lectures Celebrate Local History

Visitors from all over the world come to Lake City during the summer months for a variety of reasons: the beautiful weather, the breathtaking scenery, the endless recreation possibilities, and to learn about the history of this legendary mining town.
There is no better place in Lake City to learn about the colorful, storied history of the town than at the Hinsdale County Museum, and there are numerous Museum-hosted events upcoming in the next few weeks that summer visitors won’t want to miss.
On Saturday, July 5, at 2 p.m., join Dr. Mette Flynt as she connects past to present with the Lost Lake City tour. This tour explores forgotten people and places erased by fire, flood and social change. Learn about early African-American entrepreneurs, Jewish Community leaders, the railroad, red light district, and more on this 1.5 hour walking tour.
This tour meets at the Hinsdale County Museum at 1:45 p.m., and tickets can be purchased at the door, or at lakecitymuseum.com. Prices are $10 for adults and $2 for children.
Sunday, July 6 from 10 a.m. until noon, explore Lake City’s collection of intact mining buildings and the prime economic force that resulted in the establishment of Lake City with the Ute-Ulay mine tour. This tour meets at the mine, up Henson Creek, and attendees must sign up for the tour beforehand.
Offered for the second time this summer, the Ute-Ulay mine tour takes visitors through one of Hinsdale County’s most significant mining complexes. The tour explores the history of the Henson Community, the infamous 1899 strike, technology of mining and more.
This is a walking tour with steep inclines, please make sure to wear proper attire for the tour and don’t forget – tickets must be purchased in advance and the tour meets at the mine. Tickets can be purchased at the Hinsdale County Museum, or by visiting lakecitymuseum.com.
Wednesday, July 9, take a bite out of history with Mike Harrington as he leads the Alferd Packer lecture and courthouse tour at 2 p.m. This tour begins at the museum, and participants are asked to meet at the museum at 1:45 p.m.
Attendees will learn about the entire lifetime of Alferd Packer from birth through the Civil War, his times and trials in Colorado, his hardships with survival and starvation, and his trial and punishments for cannibalism.
Tickets are $25 per person and can be purchased at the door or at lakecitymuseum.com.
Also Wednesday, July 9, at 6 p.m., join esteemed photographer Kristen Breeden for a book signing event for her book “The Inspiring Nature of Hinsdale County – Flora, Fauna, Earth and Sky in the San Juan Mountains of Colorado.”
Breeden’s book contains vivid, inspiring photos from the Hinsdale County portion of the San Juan Mountains, an area close to the author’s heart for the past 35 years. This is a free event.
Next Saturday, July 12, Hinsdale County Museum hosts an evening “white glove event” as historical society president Grant Houston delves into the museum’s extensive collection of late 19th Century stereoptican card photographs.
Beginning at the museum at 5:30 p.m. and limited to a maximum of 16 people, the stereoptican viewing — as the title implies — imparts rare, three-dimensional time travel utilizing a half dozen or more late 19th Century stereoptican viewers with dual lenses. Each viewer is equipped with an adjustable card mount which, when properly adjusted, provides a startling realistic, three-dimensional view of buildings, posed people, and geographic landmarks dating back upwards of 150 years ago.
Stereoptican cards were a wildly popular form of parlor entertainment in the late 19th and early 20th Century, and thousands of the viewing cards were massed produced.
The collection of stereoptican cards in Hinsdale County Museum’s collections, however, concentrate on Lake City area views from the 1870s and 1880s which were produced by local photographs. Necessarily wearing white cotton gloves to protect the rare photos from contaminants, attendees at the July 12 stereoptican viewing — the museum charging $20 per person — will view stereoptican views produced by Thomas Hine of Chicago-based Copelin & Son — including the first known photograph of newly named Lake San Cristobal — in 1873, together with rare views of Lake City, the upper Lake Fork Valley including Tellurium and Whitecross, Capitol City, Rose’s Cabin, and Wagon Wheel Gap Hot Springs which were the work of local photographers Thomas Barnhouse and Danforth Wheeler in the late 1870s and early 1880s.
WORLD will keep readers apprised of additional upcoming museum events – and don’t forget, every Friday night at 7 p.m., Jesse Kendall and Laurel Darren host the ever-popular Ghost Tour.
For any questions about any of the above events, email [email protected], or drop by Hinsdale County Museum at 130 Silver Street.