As mentioned yesterday, Golden’s History Museum began as a WPA (Works Progress Administration) project in 1938. Its original home was in the old North School, at 6th and Washington. That school had been closed when the Central School (later called Mitchell Elementary) opened in 1936. The County purchased it for use as a “Courthouse Annex,” and assigned one of the former classrooms for use as a Jefferson County Museum.
The primary goal of the WPA was to provide employment for people, so the initial allocation of $6,880 was expressed as “work for 17 people for six months.”
County residents were generous in giving or loaning both archives and artifacts to the new museum. As the May 4, 1939 Transcript reported, “There is scarcely a family in the county which has not some article of this kind stored in the basement, attic, or out in the garage in danger of being lost or destroyed.” Staff was kept busy cataloging and arranging the incoming stream of relics. They soon found that they had more artifacts than could be exhibited at any given time.
Because the museum was attracting so much interest (and so many artifacts), they were granted an additional $8,400 in May of 1939. This grant also encompassed “preparation of display materials.”
In addition to the collection of artifacts, the project had a staff artist, who painted portraits (based on old photos) of some of the county’s early residents. She also created a series of dioramas, some of which are still in the museum’s collection. WPA staff also built tables and display cases.
According to a 1953 Transcript article, the total allocated to the museum by the various Roosevelt-era agencies was $75,000. The same article said that at one time “some ten or twelve persons” were working at the museum.
Most of the WPA projects saw cutbacks as time went by, and the museum was no exception. It was closed through parts of 1940 and 1941. The County tried to keep it open a few hours a week by connecting it with a rural circulating library and having a single staff person in charge of both programs.
Once World War II began, the museum was closed for the duration. It remained closed until 1953, when the local chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution offered to run it as volunteers. The county had built a new courthouse by then, so the museum was moved from the North School into a larger space–the former district courtroom in the old (1878) courthouse.
The City of Golden acquired the old courthouse from the county in 1957, with the stipulation that the City would maintain the museum. The City decided to sell the old courthouse and build a new city hall and municipal building. Space for the museum was included in the plans for the new buildings.
The Daughters of the American Revolution continued to manage the museum for more than 50 years–first inside the municipal building and later in the building next door, the former library. During that time, it was called the Golden Pioneer Museum.
The City took over management of the museum in 2007. It is now called the Golden History Museum. A full-time staff operates the Museum and the Clear Creek History Park, manages the City’s collections, and offers summer camps for schoolchildren.
The Golden History Museum is open Tuesday through Saturday, 10AM-4:30PM. Admission is free. The Golden History Park is open every day from 5AM-11PM with no admission charge.
