San Juan County Historical Society Mining Heritage Center - Silverton, CO

d B.

Wonderful museum full of interesting artifacts and history. The detail put into the displays are amazing and the staff members we met had stories to add. 100% all should see it. Bonus we got to take our fur member thru it also. She too enjoyed it.

gnishihira

Stumbled upon this gem of a museum without knowing about it. What a great and unexpected surprise! In addition to mining history it's replete with pieces of Americana from days gone by. Docent Gary is very enthusiastic and very knowledgable about the artifacts of the center. Thought we would spend a half hour exploring but was there for well over an hour.

Kelly L.

This museum is one of the best museums that I've ever been to. It's so packed full of interestingly neat stuff. No way to look at everything and read every single information board, in a single day! They have such a wide variety of items that there's something for everyone to enjoy! I took lots of pictures so I could go back and take a better look. Will be back every time I come to Colorado

Benjamin W.

I don't know where to begin, this is positively one of the best museums I have visited. I could have stayed hours on hours enjoying the exhibits and artifacts on Silverton and San Juan Mountains mining history. The history is presented in a beautiful, intriguing and mysterious way almost. Absolutely wonderful!

Shawn B.

Such an amazing piece of history. All the mining and minerals were crazy.
Completely worth the tour!! Silverton amazes me at every turn.

Ashley S.

After years of driving by, we finally stopped to check out this museum. I’m so glad that we did. At first the price of admission seems steep ($10/adult, $3/child)… but it proved to be well worth it. From the road it looks unassuming, but there are multiple buildings, floors, basements… it is quite large.

It covers Victorian age and the restored old county jail. There’s lots on mining and equipment, even a fully dressed mock-up mine that looks very similar to a real one. There’s town and railroad history.

The rooms are huge with tall ceilings and well-lit exhibits. We could tell that a ton of time, effort, and money went into to this place. The number of historical artifacts is overwhelming. If there was a negative, it would be that not all if the pieces are explained, so are just displayed.

Very well done and worth the stop!

Garry T.

Having some time to kill in Silverton before I board the Durango-Silverton Railroad for my trip to Durango, I had the opportunity to walk about the town. It was during my walk that I happened upon the San Juan County History Museum. I assumed that this would be a typical small-town museum and I could easily complete my tour in 30 minutes or less. Boy was I ever wrong. The gentleman manning the gift shop where I bought my ticket was very helpful and informative and gave me a brief overview of what to expect. I began my tour in an adjacent building that was once the county Jail. There are jail cells, artifacts and medical equipment used to treat ill or injured prisoners. From the old jail you make your way down some stairs to an even larger part of the museum which deals with the rich mining history of the area, starting from the early days when mining was largely performed by manual labor all the way up to the largely mechanized mine of the late 20th century. This museum is larger than it appears, and I ended up spending the better part of 90 minutes in the museum. Needless to say, this museum was more than I expected but I highly recommend taking the self-guided tour.

Heather B.

Give yourself time, there is so much to see! extremely well done!