The Museum is now open for the winter season.  We are open every day from 11am- 6pm.  See you at Tony's!

What is the Crested Butte Mtn. Heritage Museum all about?
People used to hang out at Tony's Conoco, and to this day, you'll always see people occupying our front benches in good weather.  When you visit Crested Butte, you're likely to see photos of our revered "old-timers" hanging out with the the next generation of locals.  That said, our largest exhibit is our historic building.  Tony’s, or "The Hardware," closed in 1996 and was the longest running business in Crested Butte, beginning as a blacksmith shop in 1883 and later becoming a garage and hardware store. All items in the front portion of the Museum are the exact items that were for sale throughout the years of Tony’s Conoco, serving as a memorial to a beloved local hang out.  Don't mind the dust...it's vintage too!

Our exhibits are always evolving and capturing forgotten pieces of local history, even though the themes remain the same.  Each season when you visit, you'll see new items in every exhibit.  We like to keep things fresh and pride ourselves for being a trusted repository for material culture. 

Can you say, choo choo?!
Kids and adults both love our growing train diorama depicting the town of Crested Butte in the 1920’s.  The most recent addition to the diorama is the highly-recognizable Old Rock School, which is now the Crested Butte Library.  If you think the town of Crested Butte is minature, you should see our model town!  The train will take several trips around the town for just a quarter! 

Home is Where the Heart Is...
Our Home Life exhibit features a variety of items that were used by residents, including a beautiful stove, gramophone, furniture, shopping catalogs, dinnerware and more.  This exhibit changes the most throughout the year, because we have received generous donations of household items.  We also feature two, locally-made mannequin cases displaying vintage clothing- these are updated on a seasonal basis.  This spring's installation includes two wedding dresses from Rozman and Sedmak families- one of which celebrates its 100 year anniversary on June 11, the day of our opening!  The Rozman dresses will be removed from the Textile Exhibit at the season's end, so visit them now before they go back into their archival storage!

Like our Steep and Deep?
The ski area is celebrating its 50th Anniversary this year, but skiing has always been a part of our local history.  Our ski exhibit has an authentic Crested Butte Mountain Resort Gondola, wonderfully restored from the early 1960’s- great fun for the kiddos to experience.  Gear is ultimately important to those of us who get out almost every day of the season, but it hasn't always been so technologically advanced.  See how skis, popular ski hills and ski area branding have changed over the last 100+ years.  This summer, we featured the summer side of Crested Butte Mountain with a recent donation from the Adaptive Sports Center.  Not only that, but this winter, we will be installing some epic, old-school snowboards along with great stories of the first, brave snowboarders in the Butte.

Colorado Mining
Crested Butte originally served as a supply town for small mining camps throughout the region.  But it was coal, not silver, that put Crested Butte on the mining map.  Our life size mining exhibit allows visitors to get a feel for the working conditions for early coal miners, complete with a tunnel, a keeper canary and a surprise.

Did Mountain Biking start in Crested Butte?
A question we don't mind hearing!  The Mountain Bike Hall of Fame resides in our Museum, and incorporates the history of mountain biking in and around Crested Butte, local mountain biking folks and the development and growth of this enormously popular sport in Crested Butte.  This summer, we were proud to be a host city for the USA Pro Cycling Challenge and Crested Butte Bike Week.  Thanks to all the racers and fans who visited the Mountain Bike Hall of Fame.

Do they ever NOT dress up?
Our town if full of colorful characters and events like Vinotok, the Red Lady and Black & White Balls, Halloween, and, of course, Flauschink!  Our costume boxes, bins and closets are always accessible and "dress-up" parties are always encouraged for most events.  For this reason, in 2007, we installed the Flauschink Exhibit to help honor our tradition of flushing out winter and welcoming spring.  Where else are "Has-Beens" revered?

The Museum also contains exhibits on historic hardware, the Denver Rio Grande Railroad, geological finds in the area, historical time lines (to keep things in perspective), honorable and local war and military veterans, children’s life experience, and more.  From ceiling to floor, and everything in between, our Museum should certainly be on your list of things to do in Crested Butte.  And, our Museum is fully wheelchair accessible!