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Overland Trail Museum

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1936, WPA. 1965, addition. 1989, addition, Baer and Hickman Architects. I-76 and U.S. 6, in Centennial Square

Commemorating the emigrant stream that traveled the Platte River Road, WPA workers constructed this museum as a replica of Fort Sedgwick in Julesburg. They used local sandstone for the uncoursed rubble walls and corner towers with gunports. The same fieldstone was used for 1965 and 1989 additions, the latter designed by a Denver firm. Myriad outbuildings are filled with farm equipment, lawn mowers, and many other artifacts, including a stagecoach. Also on the grounds are the Carpenter's Gothic Stoneham Evangelical Lutheran Concordia Church (1915) and the one-room frame Stony Buttes School (1911) with accompanying outhouses, all moved from rural sites. Exhibits of native grasses are featured in the landscaping.

Writing Credits

Author: 
Thomas J. Noel
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Data

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Citation

Thomas J. Noel, "Overland Trail Museum", [Sterling, Colorado], SAH Archipedia, eds. Gabrielle Esperdy and Karen Kingsley, Charlottesville: UVaP, 2012—, http://sah-archipedia.org/buildings/CO-01-LO11.

Print Source

Buildings of Colorado, Thomas J. Noel. New York: Oxford University Press, 1997, 258-259.

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