Colorado Preservation, Inc. is a 501(c)3 nonprofit charitable organization, Federal Tax number 74-2403583
Every small town has its gathering place where memories live on long after the lights go out. For Buena Vista, that place is the Pearl Theater. Before the popcorn and the projector lights, this building served as a mercantile. Built in the 1880s, it sold everything...
Imagine this: It’s a crisp morning in 1988 in the quiet town of Antonito, nestled in Colorado’s San Luis Valley. Residents step outside to an unexpected sight—cameras rolling, actors rehearsing, lights flashing, and crews bustling around town. Hollywood had arrived to...
Included in the rebuild after the 1900 Victor Fire was Ketelsen Grocery, a small store serving the local residents. By the late 1930s,new owners had transformed the interior into a four-lane bowling alley. The venue held and hosted many bowling tournaments throughout...
Tabor Opera House was built in 1879 by Horace A. W. Tabor in just 100 days and quickly became one of Leadville’s most important landmarks. Constructed at the height of the silver boom, the three-story stone, brick, and iron building brought art, culture, and...
With great fanfare and more than 1,500 valley residents in attendance, U.S. Vice President Charles G. Dawes placed the cornerstone of the American Legion Hall in Alamosa on July 27, 1925. The Legion Hall – to become the Rialto Theater two years later –...
After a devastating fire in 1888 destroyed more than 30 buildings in Salida, a group of local businessmen organized an Opera Association and spent $30,000 to construct the Salida Opera House. The building was dedicated on January 1, 1889, at which point the local...
Victor, Colorado, has a rich architectural heritage and a colorful and bawdy past, to put it mildly. The Isis Theatre, located in the heart of the small downtown and its former Red Light district, epitomizes this wildly entertaining past as it serves as a panorama of...