Salida Museum

The Salida Museum is located at 406 ½ West Highway 50, behind the Salida Chamber of Commerce building on I Street.  It’s open most days in the summer and occasionally in the winter. They may be contacted for hours 719-539-7483.

A locomotive and caboose sit behind the museum, in the park beside the Salida Aquatic Center.  “Dinky,” a 0-4-0T 24-inch Porter industrial engine, was donated by a local creosote company.  The caboose came from the narrow-gauge Denver and Rio Grande Railroad and probably often travelled to Gunnison and Leadville.  A train signal shares the enclosure.  The display is outside and visible at any time.

Inside, the museum has a variety of local artifacts, from household goods to farm and mine equipment.  Salida, being in the geographic center of Colorado, is referred to as the Heart of the Rockies so the museum has several historic heart-shaped souvenirs.  One section has Native American artifacts.  The second room has multiple detailed model ships.  The museum has an excellent collection of historical photographs, with some of the best railroad images for sale in the museum store as post cards and poster-sized prints.

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