It looks like
the famous Wild West showman, Buffalo Bill Cody, is enjoying a ride on the back
of this vehicle. Note the miniature vehicle in the foreground.
In 1915, a man named George Turner decided to build a
wonderland for his daughter on a steep hillside near their home on the site of
the Denver-Leadville Stage Coach line . Christening it "Turnerville,"
George chose the embankment above the small channel of water called Turkey
Creek to construct child-sized replicas of the buildings one would find in an
Old West Town such as a barbershop, hotel, bank, saloon, and a grocery store.
Seemingly taken with this new hobby, George continued to add
buildings to his small metropolis until 1920, at which time public interest grew
so keen that he decided to open his budding city to the community and he renamed
it, "Tiny Town." Families looking for a pleasant mountain outing were
able to park alongside the dirt road after an adventurous trek up the mountain
to walk and picnic amongst the miniature structures.
With 125 buildings to see and growing, more than 20,000
visitors per year drove up from Denver to view the intricate "play houses"
until the popularity of the site became a bit too much for George and he sold
it to an interested buyer in 1927 who continued to add sporadically to the now
famous site.
Floods damaged some of the buildings in 1929 and 1932 and,
in 1935, a fire destroyed much of George's most important pieces while leaving
many of the houses and businesses standing. In 1948, car traffic had grown to
the point that the state decided to reroute U.S. Highway 285 above the blissful
little metropolis, and Tiny Town started to fall into disrepair.
Then, in 1965, two families purchased Tiny Town and renovated
the remaining structures. However, the work was for naught and the site is put up
for sale. There aren't any interested buyers this time.
In 1969 a massive flood wiped out the restored buildings and
Tiny Town is devastated.
Enter Lyle Fulkerson
in 1972 who, along with his family, lovingly resurrected and improved the tiny
city until his death in 1977.
Once again the buildings of Tiny Town suffered the onslaught
of time, opening in 1980, closing in 1983, and finally in 1987, the Northern
Chapter of the Institute of Real Estate Management assumed the dilapidated
buildings as a civic project. Plots of land where the once beautiful "play
houses" stood were leased to the community and, under the IREM policy and
codes, Tiny Town once again rose on the shore of little Turkey Creek.
The grand opening was held on July 4, 1988 with 150 new
structures with over 10,000 people visiting the new and improved town.
Tiny Town is reborn. Again.
As a child, I remember visiting Tiny Town many times,
walking around and crawling into the tiny houses and businesses, pretending I
was the mayor of the buildings whose roofs stretched as far as I could see. I
so enjoyed the stage coach rides with the prancing horses and I took deep
breaths to capture the smell of the coal as the miniature train took me on a tour
of the grounds.
This Stanley Hotel is not haunted. At
least I don't think so...
They were joyful times, as I claimed each discovered
structure as my own play land with the infamous Stanley Hotel as my throne.
And, over the ensuing years I have brought my children, my
step-children, and my grandchildren to Tiny Town so they, too, could claim it
as their own.
May Tiny Town thrive for all the future childhoods to come!
