The Loveland Lodge #1051 of the Benevolent and Protective Order of the Elks (the Elks) has been located at the northeast corner of North Railroad Avenue and 4th Street in Loveland since 1927. The lodge has been part of the history of downtown Loveland for so long, many may not know that when the building was first constructed in 1913 it served as a hotel and looked different from how it looks today. When it was the Lovelander Hotel, the west elevation once had a porte cochere, a second light well, and a different fenestration (window arrangement). The south elevation originally had a different type of storefront with awnings.

Over one hundred years ago, Margaret Gessing, a model for the Daniels and Fisher department store, was widely known as Denver’s most beautiful model. She not only modeled for individual customers and in fashion shows, but also was in high demand by newspaper photographers for fashion-page articles. After Margaret married a well-known and colorful mortician, Joseph E. Bona, they had a reputation for hosting great parties. Her story involves a number of notable, historic buildings of Denver's past.

Each year, History Colorado honors historic preservationists and advocacy groups with the Stephen H. Hart Awards for Historic Preservation. At the 2017 event, Lee Merkel received an award for over forty years of public service as a tireless advocate for historic resources in Colorado’s southeast region. Lee’s perspective is that preservation should be a union between the recognition of history and viable use of those resources for public good. Saving “old buildings” can have a direct and positive impact on everyday Coloradans.

The National Register of Historic Places and Colorado State Register of Historic Properties is one tool that recognizes National Hispanic Heritage Month, celebrated from mid-September to mid-October.

The National Park Service National Register of Historic Places program celebrates August as Archaeology month. Given the weather, it’s a great time to get outside and take advantage of the last of summer before school. There are many publicly accessible sites that speak to Colorado’s rich archaeological heritage and all these sites can reveal to us about the past.

On a lonely stretch of highway about 100 miles north of Denver, there’s a sign for a town where no town exists: Virginia Dale, Colorado. There’s a boarded-up post office, a tiny community church, and a Colorado historical site marker that may or may not catch your eye as you drive by on US Highway 287 at seventy-five miles an hour.

One of the many advantages of living in Colorado is the easy access to Rocky Mountain National Park and its eastern “gateway” town, Estes Park. While Estes Park’s proximity to the National Park is certainly a major draw, there are many sights worth seeing in the downtown area, especially if you’re interested in a bit of history.

What better way to celebrate National Great Outdoors Month than to explore some of Rocky Mountain National Park’s National Register-listed trails? Many of the Park’s buildings, resources, and trails are historic.

Imagine that your grandfather was a San Francisco ferryboat captain who transported the notorious gangster Al Capone to Alcatraz Island, and that, as a memento of the occasion, he quietly pocketed the key to Capone’s handcuffs. Now imagine that this small key—this tiny piece of history—stayed in your family for a few generations, until one day you got the idea that perhaps it should be rescued from your sock drawer and sent to a museum somewhere. But where should it go? Is there a museum for keys?