Events
Programs and Events
Did you miss any of our live programs?
Some recordings are available to the general public at no cost, while some are only available to members. Now is a great time to join, as we’re constantly releasing new and exclusive material. Call 303-278-3557 if you have any questions or if you want to join by phone. You can also reach us electronically.
After enjoying story time presented by the Golden Library on the grass outside the museum, visit the museum for free hands-on activities from 10:30 a.m. – 12:00 noon! Activities are free, as is admission to the museum. Stop by and enjoy playing and learning!
Please visit the Golden Library’s website to sign up for story time which opens two weeks prior to each date. No sign-up required to visit the museum.
Photo: Povy Kendal Atchison
Pricing
Free
Membership
Membership pays for itself with just a few programs for your family. Join us.
More Golden history
Check out the Golden History Museum & Park blog for the latest behind-the-scenes videos and stories, personal memoirs, and history tidbits about Golden.
Homestead Open House
Interested in seeing sparks fly at the blacksmith shop, taking a lesson at schoolhouse, or watching the Pearce/Helps Cabin woodstove in action? Visit the Golden History Park, adjacent to downtown Golden, the second Saturday of each month from 10 a.m. – 2 p.m. from June – August to see all that and more!
During these three family-friendly events, you will be able to participate in hands-on activities, learn about pioneer history from our interpreters, and see special demonstrations. Homestead Open House is free and drop-in style; there is no registration. Experience history in action!
What’s in Golden History Park?
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. You’ll also see the 1876 Guy Hill schoolhouse at the park. It was moved to Golden in 1976. Read more here.
Location and Pricing
Golden History Park
10 a.m. – 2 p.m.; drop in anytime
Free for all
Membership
GHM&P membership pays for itself with attendance at just a few programs. Memberships start at $40 and all levels include a 10% discount at our gift shop, which features books about Golden as well as crafts from local artisans. The best value starts at the Patron level ($125) and includes reciprocal admission and benefits at hundreds of North American museums from both of these networks: North American Reciprocal Museums (1,170 participating museums) and Reciprocal Organization of Associated Museums (more than 410). Join us today.
More Golden history
Check out the Golden History Museum & Park blog for the latest behind the scenes videos and stories, personal memoirs, and history tidbits about Golden.
This summer, the Golden History Museum & Park is introducing “Evening at the Museum.” During June, July, and August, the museum will be open late on the fourth Thursday of each month. Stop by the museum those evenings.
As always, museum admission is free. We look forward to welcoming you!
Evening of Painting on the Patio
Stop by the Golden History Museum patio from 4 to 7 p.m. to learn how to paint a card using watercolors. The event is free.
You will learn how to paint a note card with a few fun techniques with Janet Nunn with the Foothills Art Center. One card will be a flower made with plastic wrap or wax paper. The other card will be a landscape created with a plastic card. The last card is created by a trip to the dart board to explode paint from a balloon.
This will be a great way to enjoy an evening of art and history in Golden.
Advance registration is encouraged.
About the artist: Janet Nunn
The bright color and blending Janet uses, creates detail and feeling in her paintings. Capturing the Colorado landscape is one of her favorite compositions. There is so much to paint in Colorado from changing colors, varied landscape and the great people. Janet uses a paint made in Colorado, Dr. Ph. Martin’s Hydrus Liquid Watercolors. This paint keeps the brightness and consistency in the paintings. Janet’s paintings will be featured in Watercolor Artist in the February 2014 magazine. The books Splash 14 and 16 have paintings by Janet. And recently in the Spring issue of Rocky Mountain Gardening.
As an instructor, Janet enjoys teaching in a positive way. Guiding students to uncover their own style of painting while they learn many watercolor techniques. You can follow some of her lessons online at:
http://www.ustream.tv/channel/dr-ph-martin-s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rqe6tftYEzo&t=293s
Janet has produced three ”How Do You Paint That” books of 41 step-by-step lessons in each book, available on her website:
Pricing
Free
Membership
Membership pays for itself with just a few programs for your family. Join us. Memberships start at $40 and all levels include a 10% discount at our gift shop which features books about Golden as well as crafts from local artisans. The best value starts at the Patron level ($125) and includes reciprocal admission and benefits at hundreds of North American museums from both of these networks: North American Reciprocal Museums (1,170 participating museums), and Reciprocal Organization of Associated Museums (more than 410).
More Golden history
Check out the Golden History Museum & Park blog for the latest behind-the-scenes videos and stories, personal memoirs, and history tidbits about Golden.
Golden: Then & Now
Hybrid virtual and in-person event. Register on eventbrite.
This is a rescheduled event from January 2022.
“Then,” for the most part, is the last quarter of the 19th Century; “now” is the first half of 2021. While perusing historical photos of Golden online, Stuart Sipkin came across a collection of photos that were mostly taken during the last quarter of the 19th Century. The variety and number of photos were perfect for a project he had been thinking about for a while – trying to recreate historical photos as precisely as possible in the modern day. Given the changes in the urban landscape, finding the exact location that the original photographer stood to take each photo was sometimes easy, but sometimes quite challenging. Join us at the museum to learn how Stuart used modern mapping and Geographic Information Systems to determine some of these locations and see the finished images of Golden’s changing landscape.
About the presenter: Stuart Sipkin
After working for the U.S. Geological Survey as a Research Geophysicist for 30+ years, Stuart retired to pursue a second career in photography. For the last dozen years, he has worked as a freelance photojournalist representing several European news agencies. While many of his photos have been licensed for use in print and online publications around the world, his likely most viewed photo appeared in Hillary Clinton’s book “What Happened.” Since the beginning of the COVID-19 Pandemic, he has been scaling back professional activities to devote more time to personal projects.
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.
More Golden history
Check out the Golden History Museum & Park blog for the latest behind the scenes videos and stories, personal memoirs, and history tidbits about Golden.
After enjoying story time presented by the Golden Library on the grass outside the museum, visit the museum for free hands-on activities from 10:30 a.m. – 12:00 noon! Activities are free, as is admission to the museum. Stop by and enjoy playing and learning!
Please visit the Golden Library’s website to sign up for story time which opens two weeks prior to each date. No sign-up required to visit the museum.
Photo: Povy Kendal Atchison
Pricing
Free
Membership
Membership pays for itself with just a few programs for your family. Join us.
More Golden history
Check out the Golden History Museum & Park blog for the latest behind-the-scenes videos and stories, personal memoirs, and history tidbits about Golden.
Homestead Open House
Interested in seeing sparks fly at the blacksmith shop, taking a lesson at schoolhouse, or watching the Pearce/Helps Cabin woodstove in action? Visit the Golden History Park, adjacent to downtown Golden, the second Saturday of each month from 10 a.m. – 2 p.m. from June – August to see all that and more!
During these three family-friendly events, you will be able to participate in hands-on activities, learn about pioneer history from our interpreters, and see special demonstrations. Homestead Open House is free and drop-in style; there is no registration. Experience history in action!
What’s in Golden History Park?
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. You’ll also see the 1876 Guy Hill schoolhouse at the park. It was moved to Golden in 1976. Read more here.
Location and Pricing
Golden History Park
10 a.m. – 2 p.m.; drop in anytime
Free for all
Membership
GHM&P membership pays for itself with attendance at just a few programs. Memberships start at $40 and all levels include a 10% discount at our gift shop, which features books about Golden as well as crafts from local artisans. The best value starts at the Patron level ($125) and includes reciprocal admission and benefits at hundreds of North American museums from both of these networks: North American Reciprocal Museums (1,170 participating museums) and Reciprocal Organization of Associated Museums (more than 410). Join us today.
More Golden history
Check out the Golden History Museum & Park blog for the latest behind the scenes videos and stories, personal memoirs, and history tidbits about Golden.
Reimagining Post-Industrial Golden
Register on eventbrite.
In the late twentieth century, cities that were once home to industrial hubs had their populations decline as more Americans moved to the suburbs. To entice tourists back into post-industrial places, city planners, business leaders, and political actors began a decades long process of reimagining industrial zones. Tourists wielding cameras, parking meters, and gift shops replaced smelters, factory workers, and mills. This conversation addresses how Golden repurposed some its own industries into tourist attractions and transformed itself from a thriving but smaller town to a preferred tourist destination.
About the presenter: Bianca Barriskill
Bianca Barriskill is a public history graduate student at the University of Colorado Denver. Her academic focus is American capitalism, and her working thesis is a history of the environmental justice surrounding Denver’s Elyria-Swansea neighborhood. This year Bianca is looking forward to co-publishing a paper with her brother, Jay, who is also a graduate student of the sociology department at the University of Colorado Denver.
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.
More Golden history
Check out the Golden History Museum & Park blog for the latest behind the scenes videos and stories, personal memoirs, and history tidbits about Golden.
This summer, the Golden History Museum & Park is introducing “Evening at the Museum.” During June, July, and August, the museum will be open late on the fourth Thursday of each month. Stop by the museum those evenings from 5 – 7 p.m. for hands-on activities, artifact highlights, and the chance to chat with a curator.
As always, museum admission is free. We look forward to welcoming you!
In the meantime, check out the free online collection and look for some of your favorite artifacts to discuss in-person that evening. Come prepared with your best questions and we’ll see if we can find some answers!
Pricing
Free
Membership
Membership pays for itself with just a few programs for your family. Join us. Memberships start at $40 and all levels include a 10% discount at our gift shop which features books about Golden as well as crafts from local artisans. The best value starts at the Patron level ($125) and includes reciprocal admission and benefits at hundreds of North American museums from both of these networks: North American Reciprocal Museums (1,170 participating museums), and Reciprocal Organization of Associated Museums (more than 410).
More Golden history
Check out the Golden History Museum & Park blog for the latest behind-the-scenes videos and stories, personal memoirs, and history tidbits about Golden.
After enjoying story time presented by the Golden Library on the grass outside the museum, visit the museum for free hands-on activities from 10:30 a.m. – 12:00 noon! Activities are free, as is admission to the museum. Stop by and enjoy playing and learning!
Please visit the Golden Library’s website to sign up for story time which opens two weeks prior to each date. No sign-up required to visit the museum.
Photo: Povy Kendal Atchison
Pricing
Free
Membership
Membership pays for itself with just a few programs for your family. Join us.
More Golden history
Check out the Golden History Museum & Park blog for the latest behind-the-scenes videos and stories, personal memoirs, and history tidbits about Golden.
Homestead Open House
Interested in seeing sparks fly at the blacksmith shop, taking a lesson at schoolhouse, or watching the Pearce/Helps Cabin woodstove in action? Visit the Golden History Park, adjacent to downtown Golden, the second Saturday of each month from 10 a.m. – 2 p.m. from June – August to see all that and more!
During these three family-friendly events, you will be able to participate in hands-on activities, learn about pioneer history from our interpreters, and see special demonstrations. Homestead Open House is free and drop-in style; there is no registration. Experience history in action!
What’s in Golden History Park?
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. You’ll also see the 1876 Guy Hill schoolhouse at the park. It was moved to Golden in 1976. Read more here.
Location and Pricing
Golden History Park
10 a.m. – 2 p.m.; drop in anytime
Free for all
Membership
GHM&P membership pays for itself with attendance at just a few programs. Memberships start at $40 and all levels include a 10% discount at our gift shop, which features books about Golden as well as crafts from local artisans. The best value starts at the Patron level ($125) and includes reciprocal admission and benefits at hundreds of North American museums from both of these networks: North American Reciprocal Museums (1,170 participating museums) and Reciprocal Organization of Associated Museums (more than 410). Join us today.
More Golden history
Check out the Golden History Museum & Park blog for the latest behind the scenes videos and stories, personal memoirs, and history tidbits about Golden.
This summer, the Golden History Museum & Park is introducing “Evening at the Museum.” During June, July, and August, the museum will be open late on the fourth Thursday of each month. Stop by the museum those evenings from 5 – 7 p.m. for hands-on activities, artifact highlights, and the chance to chat with a curator.
As always, museum admission is free. We look forward to welcoming you!
In the meantime, check out the free online collection and look for some of your favorite artifacts to discuss in-person that evening. Come prepared with your best questions and we’ll see if we can find some answers!
Pricing
Free
Membership
Membership pays for itself with just a few programs for your family. Join us. Memberships start at $40 and all levels include a 10% discount at our gift shop which features books about Golden as well as crafts from local artisans. The best value starts at the Patron level ($125) and includes reciprocal admission and benefits at hundreds of North American museums from both of these networks: North American Reciprocal Museums (1,170 participating museums), and Reciprocal Organization of Associated Museums (more than 410).
More Golden history
Check out the Golden History Museum & Park blog for the latest behind-the-scenes videos and stories, personal memoirs, and history tidbits about Golden.
Autumn Fest 2022
Autumn Fest is a free celebration of Golden featuring hands-on activities for the whole family, including crafts, big trucks, and even farm animals. Join us to welcome the fall season at Golden History Museum (923 10th St.), proudly sponsored by:
O’Sullivan Personal Injury Law Firm
Golden Downtown Development Authority
Golden Kids Dental and Orthodontics
Free and Low-Cost Family Activities
- chalk art
- hourly puppet shows (plus hands-on stations to make your own show)
- 4-H petting zoo
- craft stations
- BIG TRUCKS (Streets, Fire, and Police Departments)
- costumed Civil War interpretation
- karate demonstration
- hands-on paper-making station
- Westernaires pony rides ($3 per ride)
2022 Partners
- Colorado Volunteer Infantry Group
- Westernaires
- 4-H
- GoFarm
- Mines Museum of Earth Science
- Golden Library
- Foothills Art Center
- Golden Street, Police, and Fire Departments
- Golden Public Art Commission
- Lane Academy of Martial Arts
2022 Sponsors
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Autumn Fest Gallery
Location and Pricing
Golden History Museum and Golden History Park
Free
Registration
Unlike most GHM&P programs, there is no registration for Autumn Fest.
Membership
Membership pays for itself with just a few programs for your family. Join us.
More Golden history
Check out the Golden History Museum & Park blog for the latest behind the scenes videos and stories, personal memoirs, and history tidbits about Golden.
History Trivia Night
In-person event. Register on eventbrite.
Build a team and join us at the museum for a special history trivia night! There will be themed categories about both Golden and Colorado.
Teams (of no more than 4) will test their knowledge and vie for the title of champion.
Advance registration is required. Light refreshments and snacks will be provided.
Pricing
$20 per team for members, $30 per team for non-members
Membership
Membership pays for itself with just a few programs for your family. Join us.
More Golden history
Check out the Golden History Museum & Park blog for the latest behind the scenes videos and stories, personal memoirs, and history tidbits about Golden.
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.