The Creede Historical Society is dedicated to the preservation of the history of Creede and Mineral County. The Museum is housed in the Historic Depot and boasts a wonderful collection of memorabilia from the area. Local history books, note cards, playing cards, postcards, and photos for sale.

Creede Historical Museum & Library Housed in the Old Denver & Rio Grande Railroad Depot in downtown Creede next to Basham Park, the museum reflects the efforts of an active and dedicated local historical society. Creede’s first hand-drawn fire wagon, early pioneer utensils, a horse-drawn hearse, gambling equipment and devices, a large photo collection, early newspapers, and troves of memorabilia and other artifacts comprise the Creede Historical Society’s collections. The museum and library archives provide casual visitors, historians, and genealogical researchers with opportunities to examine the daily lives of the homesteaders, prospectors, miners, entrepreneurs, lawmen and notorious characters who helped shape Creede/Mineral County’s colorful history. 

The Creede Historical Library is located in a small cabin next to the museum. The Library provides research information, books and photos of Creede, Mineral County and Western Colorado. The Library’s photo collection contains thousands of photos. To help archive and maintain the photo collection, copies of individual photos are sold for personal or publication use.

Museum Hours:  Memorial Day to Labor Day  10am - 4pm Mon-Sat • 1pm - 4pm Sunday
September  10am-4pm Friday-Monday
Open by appointment in the off-season

Library Hours: Library open for photograph information only 9:00 a.m. to Noon 

Events

Throughout most of the year, with a concentration in the Summer, the Creede Historical Society brings locals and visitors together to learn about the area’s rich history. With presentations on family histories, historic events, and more, the Creede Historical Society offers a wide variety of presentations, often coupled with a dinner or auction. Thursday nights play host to most of these public gatherings at the Creede Community Church, with most starting at 7:00pm.

Creede Historical Society

Jan Gillis, a former Creede High School social studies teacher, was the force behind the formation of the society in 1984. He, along with Creede High School social studies teacher Jan Jacobs and long- time mining family member Claudia Walker, signed the Articles of Incorporation. These three and Ed Hargraves made up the  first board. Suzanne McClure was the first president of the society. The Creede Historical Society now consists of more than 200 members, who all help to maintain the Historic Museum and the Library. The gift shop sells, among other historical items, several Creede Historical Society publications, including the ‘Ribs of Silver, Hearts of Gold’ series, with volumes on the first years of Creede and Spar City; homesteading, ranching and dude ranching; Fisher Mountain; and the area’s natural resources. The society has also produced Walking Tour of Creede, an edited diary of a former dance hall girl, note cards with drawings of scenes from historic Creede, post card reproductions of early photos of Creede, a flag, and a variety of matted copies of archived photos.