Trinidad, Colorado
Trinidad History Museum

The museum is a unique complex overlooking the Santa Fe Trail. Historic photographs, family possessions and commercial goods evoke the lifeways of the early inhabitants of south-eastern Colorado in the Santa Fe Trail Museum, which extends behind two distinguished hilltop residences.

The Baca House was built in the adobe style toward the end of the Santa Fe Trail era in 1870 by Frank Hough, manager of the Prowers & Hough Mercantile. In 1873 he sold the house to Felipe and Maria Dolores Baca for $7,000 worth of wool. The Bacas paid an additional $1,500 worth of wool for the furnishings. The present day museum/home blends Hispanic folk art with Victorian furniture.

Next door stands the Bloom Mansion, the home of cattle baron Frank Bloom and his wife Sarah. Constructed in 1882, the Victorian rococo house is now filled with ornate furnishings from the period.

Brick pathways wind through a landscape of century-old trees, historic gardens filled with herbs and vegetables of the Hispanic Southwest, and recreated Victorian flower beds.

The museum store features distinctive Southwestern and Victorian gifts as well as books on Colorado and the West.

Part of the museum complex contains the Pioneer Museum: a collection of covered wagons, implements and other memorabilia from the Santa Fe Trail and early pioneer days.

The Trinidad History Museum is located on East Main Street in Trinidad, Colorado, on US Highways 350 and 160 East, Exit 13B off Interstate 25. Hours are 10:00 am to 4:00 pm daily from May 1 through September 30 and October 1 through April 30 by appointment only. Admission is charged. Colorado Historical Society members admitted free. For information or appointments for off-season tours, call (719) 846-7217.

For more information: The Colorado Historical Society