Events
Upcoming Events and Programs
Museum Collection Storage Tour
This is a prerecorded, virtual program. You will receive an emailed link prior to the event starting at 11 a.m. Registration is required.
Join Curatorial staff for a rare behind-the-scenes tour of offsite collection storage. Hear about the Legacy Collection Inventory Project and get a better understanding of what we are doing to create the best City of Golden collection ever.
Membership
Membership pays for itself with just a few programs for your family. Join us.
Facility Rental
Learn how a Golden Museum Rental offers unique experiences that range from rustic to ritzy.
Homestead Open House
Homestead Open House is a series of open days that will allow you to experience 1800s homesteading life. It’s held on summer Saturdays at Golden History Park, adjacent to downtown Golden.
Activities
Homestead Open House may include the following fun, volunteer-led activities:
- woodstove cooking
- cabin exploration
- schoolhouse lesson
- blacksmithing
This event is drop-in style; there is no registration. Come any time between 10 am and 2 pm.
Each event will be unique based on how many and which volunteers are available to interpret their craft.
The History Park is home to many of the original buildings from the old Pearce Ranch in Golden Gate Canyon. Stroll through the park and imagine yourself growing potatoes or raising chickens as part of a homesteading family. Peek through the windows of real 1800s cabins and see other buildings from the ranch like the barn, chicken coop and two-seat outhouse. Also, see the 1876 Guy Hill schoolhouse which was originally located in the canyon too, but on a different property. It served the needs of canyon locals until 1951.
We reserve the right to cancel any occurrence with short notice.
Location and Pricing
Golden History Park
10 am – 2 pm; drop in anytime
Free for all
Membership
Membership pays for itself with just a few programs for your family. Join us.
Facility Rental
Learn how a Golden Museum Rental offers unique experiences that range from rustic to ritzy.
Our rustic three-acre park is ideal for those with a “Do It Yourself (DIY)” mindset. Whether you are interested in having your wedding ceremony and/or reception with us or intent on hosting a large event such as family reunion or a corporate retreat, Golden History Park offers a unique experience for your guests. It’s only a short walk from downtown Golden which features shopping, restaurants, and more.
Homestead Open House
Homestead Open House is a series of open days that will allow you to experience 1800s homesteading life. It’s held on summer Saturdays at Golden History Park, adjacent to downtown Golden.
Activities
Homestead Open House may include the following fun, volunteer-led activities:
- woodstove cooking
- cabin exploration
- schoolhouse lesson
- blacksmithing
This event is drop-in style; there is no registration. Come any time between 10 am and 2 pm.
Each event will be unique based on how many and which volunteers are available to interpret their craft.
The History Park is home to many of the original buildings from the old Pearce Ranch in Golden Gate Canyon. Stroll through the park and imagine yourself growing potatoes or raising chickens as part of a homesteading family. Peek through the windows of real 1800s cabins and see other buildings from the ranch like the barn, chicken coop and two-seat outhouse. Also, see the 1876 Guy Hill schoolhouse which was originally located in the canyon too, but on a different property. It served the needs of canyon locals until 1951.
We reserve the right to cancel any occurrence with short notice.
Location and Pricing
Golden History Park
10 am – 2 pm; drop in anytime
Free for all
Membership
Membership pays for itself with just a few programs for your family. Join us.
Facility Rental
Learn how a Golden Museum Rental offers unique experiences that range from rustic to ritzy.
Our rustic three-acre park is ideal for those with a “Do It Yourself (DIY)” mindset. Whether you are interested in having your wedding ceremony and/or reception with us or intent on hosting a large event such as family reunion or a corporate retreat, Golden History Park offers a unique experience for your guests. It’s only a short walk from downtown Golden which features shopping, restaurants, and more.
Confection Perfection: Jolly Rancher Company
This is a virtual program via Cisco Webex Meeting. You will receive an emailed link prior to the event’s start. Registration is required.
One of the world’s most iconic candies—the Jolly Rancher kiss—was invented in Golden. Join Director Nathan Richie to learn about the history of the company from its founding as a mom-and-pop ice cream shop on Washington Avenue to a booming international sensation.
Membership
Membership pays for itself with just a few programs for your family. Join us.
Facility Rental
Learn how a Golden Museum Rental offers unique experiences that range from rustic to ritzy.
Homestead Open House
Homestead Open House is a series of open days that will allow you to experience 1800s homesteading life. It’s held on summer Saturdays at Golden History Park, adjacent to downtown Golden.
Activities
Homestead Open House may include the following fun, volunteer-led activities:
- woodstove cooking
- cabin exploration
- schoolhouse lesson
- blacksmithing
This event is drop-in style; there is no registration. Come any time between 10 am and 2 pm.
Each event will be unique based on how many and which volunteers are available to interpret their craft.
The History Park is home to many of the original buildings from the old Pearce Ranch in Golden Gate Canyon. Stroll through the park and imagine yourself growing potatoes or raising chickens as part of a homesteading family. Peek through the windows of real 1800s cabins and see other buildings from the ranch like the barn, chicken coop and two-seat outhouse. Also, see the 1876 Guy Hill schoolhouse which was originally located in the canyon too, but on a different property. It served the needs of canyon locals until 1951.
We reserve the right to cancel any occurrence with short notice.
Location and Pricing
Golden History Park
10 am – 2 pm; drop in anytime
Free for all
Membership
Membership pays for itself with just a few programs for your family. Join us.
Facility Rental
Learn how a Golden Museum Rental offers unique experiences that range from rustic to ritzy.
Our rustic three-acre park is ideal for those with a “Do It Yourself (DIY)” mindset. Whether you are interested in having your wedding ceremony and/or reception with us or intent on hosting a large event such as family reunion or a corporate retreat, Golden History Park offers a unique experience for your guests. It’s only a short walk from downtown Golden which features shopping, restaurants, and more.
Homestead Open House
Homestead Open House is a series of open days that will allow you to experience 1800s homesteading life. It’s held on summer Saturdays at Golden History Park, adjacent to downtown Golden.
Activities
Homestead Open House may include the following fun, volunteer-led activities:
- woodstove cooking
- cabin exploration
- schoolhouse lesson
- blacksmithing
This event is drop-in style; there is no registration. Come any time between 10 am and 2 pm.
Each event will be unique based on how many and which volunteers are available to interpret their craft.
The History Park is home to many of the original buildings from the old Pearce Ranch in Golden Gate Canyon. Stroll through the park and imagine yourself growing potatoes or raising chickens as part of a homesteading family. Peek through the windows of real 1800s cabins and see other buildings from the ranch like the barn, chicken coop and two-seat outhouse. Also, see the 1876 Guy Hill schoolhouse which was originally located in the canyon too, but on a different property. It served the needs of canyon locals until 1951.
We reserve the right to cancel any occurrence with short notice.
Location and Pricing
Golden History Park
10 am – 2 pm; drop in anytime
Free for all
Membership
Membership pays for itself with just a few programs for your family. Join us.
Facility Rental
Learn how a Golden Museum Rental offers unique experiences that range from rustic to ritzy.
Our rustic three-acre park is ideal for those with a “Do It Yourself (DIY)” mindset. Whether you are interested in having your wedding ceremony and/or reception with us or intent on hosting a large event such as family reunion or a corporate retreat, Golden History Park offers a unique experience for your guests. It’s only a short walk from downtown Golden which features shopping, restaurants, and more.
Homestead Open House
Homestead Open House is a series of open days that will allow you to experience 1800s homesteading life. It’s held on summer Saturdays at Golden History Park, adjacent to downtown Golden.
Activities
Homestead Open House may include the following fun, volunteer-led activities:
- woodstove cooking
- cabin exploration
- schoolhouse lesson
- blacksmithing
This event is drop-in style; there is no registration. Come any time between 10 am and 2 pm.
Each event will be unique based on how many and which volunteers are available to interpret their craft.
The History Park is home to many of the original buildings from the old Pearce Ranch in Golden Gate Canyon. Stroll through the park and imagine yourself growing potatoes or raising chickens as part of a homesteading family. Peek through the windows of real 1800s cabins and see other buildings from the ranch like the barn, chicken coop and two-seat outhouse. Also, see the 1876 Guy Hill schoolhouse which was originally located in the canyon too, but on a different property. It served the needs of canyon locals until 1951.
We reserve the right to cancel any occurrence with short notice.
Location and Pricing
Golden History Park
10 am – 2 pm; drop in anytime
Free for all
Membership
Membership pays for itself with just a few programs for your family. Join us.
Facility Rental
Learn how a Golden Museum Rental offers unique experiences that range from rustic to ritzy.
Our rustic three-acre park is ideal for those with a “Do It Yourself (DIY)” mindset. Whether you are interested in having your wedding ceremony and/or reception with us or intent on hosting a large event such as family reunion or a corporate retreat, Golden History Park offers a unique experience for your guests. It’s only a short walk from downtown Golden which features shopping, restaurants, and more.
Off alone on my tramps: On the Trail of Women Botanists in the U.S. West
This is a virtual event. Register on eventbrite.
Join presenter Dr. Tina Gianquitto to uncover the stories of women plant collectors in the mountain west as told by the letters they wrote to friends and fellow botanists. Plant collecting attracted a host of rugged western women in the late nineteenth century. Some took to the activity as a way to ease the loneliness of frontier life, while others turned to professional collecting as a way to supplement often meager household incomes. In all cases, plant collecting brought women together and into various networks of people who shared their passions for plants. These women played important roles in identifying and mapping the native plants of the western U.S., but their letters also give us a glimpse into the unique challenges they faced as women in frontier spaces.
About the presenter: Tina Gianquitto
Tina Gianquitto is an associate professor of literature at the Colorado School of Mines. She has published a book on women, nature and science, ‘Good Observers of Nature’: American Women and the Scientific Study of the Natural World, 1820-1885 (2007), a co-edited collection America’s Darwin: Darwinian Evolution and U.S. Literary Culture (with Lydia Fisher; 2014), as well as articles on Darwinian botany, evolutionary science and women’s social reform, and women’s participation in botanical correspondence networks. She has been awarded fellowships from The Huntington Library, the National Endowment for the Humanities, the American Council of Learned Societies, and the U.S. Fulbright Scholar Program. Current projects include a digital site Herbaria 3.0: What is your plant story? (www.herbaria3.org) and a book that examines Darwin’s plant studies and evolutionary theory in the late 19th century U.S. Tina received her degrees in literature from Columbia University (Ph.D., 2002; M.Phil., 1996; M.A., 1993; B.A., 1991).
Pricing
Free for members; $10 plus online registration fee for non-members
Membership
Membership pays for itself with just a few programs for your family. Join us.
Facility Rental
Learn how a Golden Museum Rental offers unique experiences that range from rustic to ritzy.
Homestead Open House
Homestead Open House is a series of open days that will allow you to experience 1800s homesteading life. It’s held on summer Saturdays at Golden History Park, adjacent to downtown Golden.
Activities
Homestead Open House may include the following fun, volunteer-led activities:
- woodstove cooking
- cabin exploration
- schoolhouse lesson
- blacksmithing
This event is drop-in style; there is no registration. Come any time between 10 am and 2 pm.
Each event will be unique based on how many and which volunteers are available to interpret their craft.
The History Park is home to many of the original buildings from the old Pearce Ranch in Golden Gate Canyon. Stroll through the park and imagine yourself growing potatoes or raising chickens as part of a homesteading family. Peek through the windows of real 1800s cabins and see other buildings from the ranch like the barn, chicken coop and two-seat outhouse. Also, see the 1876 Guy Hill schoolhouse which was originally located in the canyon too, but on a different property. It served the needs of canyon locals until 1951.
We reserve the right to cancel any occurrence with short notice.
Location and Pricing
Golden History Park
10 am – 2 pm; drop in anytime
Free for all
Membership
Membership pays for itself with just a few programs for your family. Join us.
Facility Rental
Learn how a Golden Museum Rental offers unique experiences that range from rustic to ritzy.
Our rustic three-acre park is ideal for those with a “Do It Yourself (DIY)” mindset. Whether you are interested in having your wedding ceremony and/or reception with us or intent on hosting a large event such as family reunion or a corporate retreat, Golden History Park offers a unique experience for your guests. It’s only a short walk from downtown Golden which features shopping, restaurants, and more.
Homestead Open House
Homestead Open House is a series of open days that will allow you to experience 1800s homesteading life. It’s held on summer Saturdays at Golden History Park, adjacent to downtown Golden.
Activities
Homestead Open House may include the following fun, volunteer-led activities:
- woodstove cooking
- cabin exploration
- schoolhouse lesson
- blacksmithing
This event is drop-in style; there is no registration. Come any time between 10 am and 2 pm.
Each event will be unique based on how many and which volunteers are available to interpret their craft.
The History Park is home to many of the original buildings from the old Pearce Ranch in Golden Gate Canyon. Stroll through the park and imagine yourself growing potatoes or raising chickens as part of a homesteading family. Peek through the windows of real 1800s cabins and see other buildings from the ranch like the barn, chicken coop and two-seat outhouse. Also, see the 1876 Guy Hill schoolhouse which was originally located in the canyon too, but on a different property. It served the needs of canyon locals until 1951.
We reserve the right to cancel any occurrence with short notice.
Location and Pricing
Golden History Park
10 am – 2 pm; drop in anytime
Free for all
Membership
Membership pays for itself with just a few programs for your family. Join us.
Facility Rental
Learn how a Golden Museum Rental offers unique experiences that range from rustic to ritzy.
Our rustic three-acre park is ideal for those with a “Do It Yourself (DIY)” mindset. Whether you are interested in having your wedding ceremony and/or reception with us or intent on hosting a large event such as family reunion or a corporate retreat, Golden History Park offers a unique experience for your guests. It’s only a short walk from downtown Golden which features shopping, restaurants, and more.
A Virgin Soil Epidemic – the 1918-1920 Flu
This is a virtual event via Zoom. You will receive an emailed link prior to the event starting at 6 p.m. Registration is required.
The 1918 Flu killed 675,000 Americans – no vaccine, no real treatment. Join Dr. Geoff Hunt to see how American reacted.
About the presenter: Geoff Hunt
Presenter Geoff Hunt earned his Bachelors of Arts in History at the University of Wyoming, Masters of Arts in Museum Studies at Cooperstown, NY, and Ph.D. in History from the University of Colorado Boulder. Hunt was the Founding Director of Wings Over the Rockies Air and Space Museum, and just retired after 22 years as Professor of History at the Community College of Aurora.
Location and Pricing
6:00 p.m. – 7:30 p.m.
Free for members; $10 plus online registration fee for non-members
Membership
Membership pays for itself with just a few programs for your family. Join us.
Facility Rental
Learn how a Golden Museum Rental offers unique experiences that range from rustic to ritzy.
Homestead Open House
Homestead Open House is a series of open days that will allow you to experience 1800s homesteading life. It’s held on summer Saturdays at Golden History Park, adjacent to downtown Golden.
Activities
Homestead Open House may include the following fun, volunteer-led activities:
- woodstove cooking
- cabin exploration
- schoolhouse lesson
- blacksmithing
This event is drop-in style; there is no registration. Come any time between 10 am and 2 pm.
Each event will be unique based on how many and which volunteers are available to interpret their craft.
The History Park is home to many of the original buildings from the old Pearce Ranch in Golden Gate Canyon. Stroll through the park and imagine yourself growing potatoes or raising chickens as part of a homesteading family. Peek through the windows of real 1800s cabins and see other buildings from the ranch like the barn, chicken coop and two-seat outhouse. Also, see the 1876 Guy Hill schoolhouse which was originally located in the canyon too, but on a different property. It served the needs of canyon locals until 1951.
We reserve the right to cancel any occurrence with short notice.
Location and Pricing
Golden History Park
10 am – 2 pm; drop in anytime
Free for all
Membership
Membership pays for itself with just a few programs for your family. Join us.
Facility Rental
Learn how a Golden Museum Rental offers unique experiences that range from rustic to ritzy.
Our rustic three-acre park is ideal for those with a “Do It Yourself (DIY)” mindset. Whether you are interested in having your wedding ceremony and/or reception with us or intent on hosting a large event such as family reunion or a corporate retreat, Golden History Park offers a unique experience for your guests. It’s only a short walk from downtown Golden which features shopping, restaurants, and more.
Golden Cemetery Tour 2020
Visit the graves of legendary Golden characters. Hear stories about their lives from famous storyteller, Dennis Potter, Museum volunteer since 2008 and retired Jefferson County Sheriff’s Department Captain. Read Dennis’s profile.
Tours begin and end at the Golden Cemetery. This program sells out every year, so get your tickets early. This is a rain-or-shine event; weather will not force a cancellation.
You will select your tour time on the Eventbrite page.
Two tours are available:
-
10:00 a.m. – 11:30 a.m.
-
12:00 p.m. – 1:30 p.m.
Registration is required. Program will be canceled if minimum attendance number is not reached 24 hours prior to start time.
Pricing
$0 members; $10 non-members, plus online registration fee
Membership pays for itself with just a few programs for your family. Join us.
About Golden Cemetery
The City of Golden owns and operates the Golden Cemetery. Among the historic notables buried here is George West. West, a Golden founder, started the Colorado Transcript newspaper in 1866.
Additionally, Seth Lake, builder of Astor House in 1867, is buried in the Golden Cemetery. Many other pioneers and characters of the early west are at rest here.
Membership
Membership pays for itself with just a few programs for your family. Join us.
Facility Rental
Learn how a Golden Museum Rental offers unique experiences that range from rustic to ritzy.
Place and Identity in Contemporary Indigenous Literature
This is a virtual event. Register on eventbrite.
Join us on Indigenous Peoples’ Day to explore the fluidity of place as Indigenous writers demonstrate the survival and flourishing of their communities through literature. This presentation is based on Dr. Paula Farca’s book, Identity in Place: Contemporary Indigenous Fiction by Women Writers in the United States, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand (2011). Dr. Farca will focus on how Indigenous peoples survive in a postcolonial world, heal, regain homes and rituals, and subsequently build new homes and create new traditions.
About the presenter: Paula Farca
Paula Farca received her PhD and a second MA from Oklahoma State University. Her research focuses on two main areas: 1. contemporary, indigenous, and women’s literature and 2. literature on energy and the environment. Along with numerous articles and book chapters, Paula has published Identity in Place: Contemporary Indigenous Fiction by Women Writers in the United States, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand (2011), Make Waves: Water in Contemporary Literature and Film (2019), and coauthored A Student’s Guide to Nature and Human Values (2010 and 2013). Paula also edited two anthologies: Energy in Literature: Essays on Energy and Its Social and Environmental Implications in Twentieth and Twenty-First Century Literary Texts (2015) and Speculations: An Anthology for Reading, Writing, and Research (2006). Since 2008, when she joined HASS, she has tried to introduce our future engineers to the joy and intellectual excitement of reading and critical thinking and inspire them to become competent writers. Paula is currently a teaching professor at the Colorado School of Mines.
Pricing
Free for members; $10 plus online registration fee for non-members
Membership
Membership pays for itself with just a few programs for your family. Join us.
Facility Rental
Learn how a Golden Museum Rental offers unique experiences that range from rustic to ritzy.
The Other June Six – A Story about the 1894 Cripple Creek Miners’ Strike
This is a virtual event. Register on eventbrite.
Cripple Creek, Colorado, circa 1900, embodied American business. Mine owners attempted to take immense riches from the ground by investing enormous capital to fund expensive machinery, industrial treatment, and men to pull the ore and run the machines. Laborers and owners shared some interests but often disagreed over pay, hours, safety, and management practices. Inevitable frustrations mounted on both sides until finally, in 1894, laborers in the Western Federation of Miners fought the Cripple Creek Mine Owners Association. This struggle was ruthless and bloody with numerous miners and other citizens caught in the melee. Join presenter Stan Moore in this presentation about the Cripple Creek miners’ strike, which is based on his historical novel Mister Hamlin’s List.
About the presenter: Stan Moore
Stan Moore is a husband, father, and grandfather; a third generation Coloradan; a graduate of the University of Colorado; an author and historian; a Vietnam veteran; a retired small business owner; an amateur blacksmith, and an avid mountaineer, backpacker and desert rat. Moore and his wife make their home near Denver with a cat that lets them stay there. More information can be found at stanmoorewriter.com.
Pricing
Free for members; $10 plus online registration fee for non-members
Membership
Membership pays for itself with just a few programs for your family. Join us.
Facility Rental
Learn how a Golden Museum Rental offers unique experiences that range from rustic to ritzy.
How to register
Click the green ticket button in the upper left of each event to buy tickets online. 
Click “read more” in the lower right of each event for details. 
Event and Program Ticketing Policies at Golden History Museum & Park
(updated 11-20-18).
Please note: Tickets will only be available at the door if the program reaches its preregistration minimum.
Weather: All events are rain or shine. Tickets will not be refunded for any inclement weather including but not limited to snow, wind, rain or extreme temperatures.
Cancellation: GHM&P reserves the right to cancel a program for any reason. A full refund will occur automatically and notification sent if GHM&P cancels a program for any reason.
Refunds: Participants will not receive a refund except in the event that GHM&P cancels the program.
Facilities: Restrooms are not available on-site at the Golden History Park or Golden Cemetery. If at the Golden History Park, participants may use public restrooms located on 12th Street. Please call ahead to ask about accessibility concerns and mobility recommendations.
Additional details: Please note the minimum age requirements of some of our programs. Excessive disruptive behavior and any safety risks may result in a participant being asked to leave a program at the instructor’s discretion. Pets are not permitted at programs; service animals are permitted.
To purchase tickets, cancel your registration, or learn more about our events and ticketing policy, please call the Golden History Museum front desk during business hours at 303-278-3557.