The Visitors Center and Historical Society will host a garage sale for locals from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, June 15 in Idaho Springs.
Booths or tables will be available to locals for a $25 rental fee ahead of the sale.
The goal is twofold, according to Executive Director Jan Boland, first to raise some funds for the Historical Society but second and more importantly, Boland said, is to raise awareness of what it has to offer to locals.
“We’re looking to draw more local people in to view their museum. There are a lot of people in town who have not been in the museum since they think it’s the visitor center,” Boland said. “It’s a great opportunity for people to come through and take a look at their museum. We have people come in from around the world who exclaim to us what a wonderful museum we are for such a small town.”
The museum is constantly updating or adding to its collection, including a taxidermy mountain lion recently provided by Colorado Parks and Wildlife that Boland refers to as “cute.”
Historic photos and mining artifacts fill the museum and visitor center at 2060 Miner St. in Idaho Springs.
An original mining cart filled with raw ore, some of which Boland said still contains some gold particles sits center-stage in the museum.
Items from the original 10th Mountain Division, which trained in Clear Creek County and fought in World War II are also on display.
At this point, 16 vendor spaces are available and you can reach Boland at (303) 567-4382 to reserve a retail space in the parking lot.
“We have a lot of history here, so we just want people to come in and see it,” Boland said.