Discover 9 hidden attractions, cool sights, and unusual things to do in Montrose (United States). Don't miss out on these must-see attractions: Ute Indian Museum, Montrose County Historical Museum, and Montrose Botanic Gardens. Also, be sure to include Methodist Episcopal Church of Montrose in your itinerary.
Below, you can find the list of the most amazing places you should visit in Montrose (Colorado).
Table of Contents
Ute Indian Museum
Museum in Montrose County, Colorado. The Ute Indian Museum is a local history museum in Montrose, Colorado, United States. It is administered by History Colorado.
The museum presents the history of the Ute tribe of Native Americans. It was built in 1956 and expanded in 1998. The museum building is located on the 8.65-acre (3.50 ha) homestead of Chief Ouray (c.1833–1880) and his wife, Chipeta (1843/4–1924). The grounds of the museum include the Chief Ouray Memorial Park, Chipeta's Crypt, and a native plants garden.[1]
Address: 17253 Chipeta Rd, 81403-4748 Montrose
Montrose County Historical Museum
Museum in Montrose, Colorado. The Montrose County Historical Museum is located in Montrose, Colorado, USA, founded in 1973 by the Montrose County Historical Society. The society's mission is to preserve, display and interpret the historic and cultural legacy of Montrose County and its surrounding region. Its building, the Denver and Rio Grande Depot, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.[2]
Address: 21 N Rio Grande Ave, 81401-3467 Montrose
Montrose Botanic Gardens
Botanical garden in Montrose, Colorado. The Montrose Botanic Gardens are located at 1800 Pavilion Drive, Montrose, Colorado, south of the Montrose Pavilion.
While in the gardens, you can view the San Juan Mountains to the south.
Open dawn to dusk. Free entry, but donations are always appreciated.[3]
Address: 1800 Pavilion Drive, 81401 Montrose
Methodist Episcopal Church of Montrose
Church in Montrose, Colorado. The Methodist Episcopal Church of Montrose, also known as the United Methodist Church of Montrose, is a historic church in Montrose, Colorado, United States. It was designed circa 1909 as an Akron Plan church by Thomas P. Barber, but it was not completed until 1920. A 1991 addition was designed by Parik Davis.[4]
Address: 19 S Park Ave, Montrose
Adams Vacuum & Sewing building
The Montrose Masonic Temple in Montrose, Colorado is a historic building constructed in 1911. Built as a meeting hall for Montrose Lodge No. 63, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, the building is in the Classical Revival style. The Masons met in the upper two of the building's three stories, while the ground floor was rented out as commercial space. Its commercial space has been rented to the Adams Vacuum and Sewing company, to a printing and office supply store, and to a funeral home. The lodge no longer meets in the building. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2004.
The "defining feature" of the building is its five-bay window area divided by four Tuscan stone columns.
As of 2021 the building is home of Precedence Productions, which uses the second floor area for musical events open to the public, and operates a music academy.[5]
Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks Lodge
The Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks Lodge, also known as the Elks Civic Building, is a historic building in Montrose, Colorado, United States. It served as an Elks lodge from construction in 1927 until 1969, and has since housed a college and city offices. In 2017 it was, and in 2019 still is, the location of the city's Visitors' Center. The building is listed on the Colorado State Register of Historic Properties and the National Register of Historic Places.[6]
Montrose County Courthouse
The Montrose County Courthouse stands three stories high in downtown Montrose, Colorado and was built in the Classical Revival style from locally quarried sandstone. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1994.
Denver architect William Norman Bowman designed the building, which was completed in 1923 and has undergone only minor alterations. The building features a projecting central bay of smooth-faced sandstone, stairs rising from street level, Roman Doric columns supporting a lintel engraved with the county's name, and three sets of double doors with grillwork transoms at the main entrance. The roof is made of red tile, and walls flanking the entry are made of rough sandstone.
A foyer inside the entrance has a vaulted ceiling with wainscotting, Doric columns, and marble pilasters. A bronze tablet lists 34 World War I veterans and a nurse from the county who died in the war or from war-related injuries.
The courthouse dominates the block, with only a small, two-story jail built in 1936 in a similar style.
The courthouse was built at a cost of $225,000 and was dedicated on Dec. 7, 1923. It replaced a courthouse converted from the town skating rink in 1885. The county's first courthouse after its creation in 1882 was an adobe building.[7]
Thomas B. Townsend House
The Thomas B. Townsend House, on the corner of Townsend Street and S. 5th St. in Montrose, Colorado, was built in 1888. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980.
According to its NRHP nomination, it is "one of the oldest permanent residences in the valley" and had "'running water'" from a system of rain troughs and a cistern in its attic. The house "is an excellent example of the American Victorian style of architecture." The house is built of brick from a brick plant that may have been used only to make bricks for this house.[8]
U.S. Bureau of Reclamation Project Office Building
The US Bureau of Reclamation Project Office Building in Montrose, Colorado is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It has also been known as the Uncompahgre Valley Water Users Association Office. The NRHP listing included five contributing buildings.
It was built by contractor J.J. Kewin.[9]