Programs & Events
Additionally, check out the schedule of guided tours and visit the Wheeler/Stallard Museum, featuring the exhibition Decade by Decade: Aspen Revealed. The Holden/Marolt Mining & Ranching Museum and the ghost towns of Ashcroft and Independence will open in mid-June.
Image: Fall Classic Sports Car Race in Woody Creek in 1964. Aspen Historical Society, Aspen Times Collection
Holden/Marolt Hoedown
Friday, June 9, 4 – 7 p.m.
Holden/Marolt Mining & Ranching Museum
Free admission
The community is invited to kick off summer with AHS and celebrate our 60th anniversary! The beloved annual event features FREE admission with picnic dinners and ice cream available for purchase on site. Guests of all ages will enjoy live music by Buffalo Joe’s Bluegrass Band, and activities and games for all ages including visiting farm animals and pony painting with Smiling Goat Ranch, face painting and balloon animals with Kidtoons, and more! Guests can ride the inflatable mechanical bull and try to win big at chicken poop bingo with Farm Collaborative!
Don’t miss demonstrations of the steam engines and other historic machinery and the unveiling of the new exhibit in the McMurchy/Zupancis buildings!
This year’s Hoedown is made possible by sponsors Alpine Bank, Event Rents, and Aspen Public Radio, and partners and vendors Smiling Goat Ranch, Farm Collaborative, Kidtoons Productions, The Dreamery CO, and others.
Please bus, bike, or carpool! There is no parking onsite (except ADA). Limited parking at Bugsy Barnard Park.
History Hike: Independence
Saturday, June 17, 9 a.m. – 12 p.m.
Meets at the Independence Ghost Town upper parking lot (16 miles east of Aspen on Highway 82)
Advance reservations required online
$15/Free for AHS Lixiviator level and above members
Please dress appropriately as the tour will go rain or shine
Explore the first mining site in the Roaring Fork Valley where, legend has it, prospectors struck gold on July 4, 1879. This moderate hike descends the ghost town trail including stops at remnant cabins, the “general store” and the Farwell Mill site.
NEW! History in Your Backyard: Jennie Adair Park
Monday, June 19, 12 p.m.
Jenny Adair Park, at the entrance to the Rio Grande Trail near the Post Office on Puppy Smith St.
$10/free for Lixiviator Members and above; registration required
Join AHS for a walk around one of the City of Aspen’s constructed wetlands at Jennie Adair park, the former site of a bustling saw mill adjacent to Hallam Lake and the Rio Grande Trail.
The History in Your Backyard series features short lunch-hour tours to explore the stories of familiar places in the Aspen area.
NEW! Authors of Aspen: Jill Sheeley, Those Were the Days: Memories of an Aspen Hippie Chick
Wednesday, June 21, 4 p.m.
Wheeler/Stallard Museum Patio
Free
Join local author Jill Sheeley for a talk, Q&A, and book signing for her latest work, a memoir of her life in Aspen interspersed with community history and recipes from Jill’s previous cookbooks.
Books will be available for sale with a portion of proceeds to benefit AHS.
SPECIAL! 60th Birthday Bash
Monday, July 10, 4 – 7 p.m.
Wheeler/Stallard Museum
Free, registration requested
The community is invited to celebrate Aspen Historical Society’s 60th anniversary! Don your favorite ‘60s attire for a free event to mark six decades of preserving and sharing the area’s past, from the defining mining era to the wild and crazy stories that make this community unique. Join us to kick up your heels in the groovy ‘60s tradition with food truck fare and snacks, refreshments, live music, free museum admission to view the exhibition Decade by Decade: Aspen Revealed, activities for kids, interactive displays highlighting our founders, and more. AHS will also honor the many community members who have been supporting AHS through membership for years and often decades! What started as a grassroots effort led by dedicated volunteers, visionaries, and community leaders has grown to include one of the largest public archives in the region, year-round history programming for all ages, four iconic historical sites, and much more. Join us to celebrate!
History Hike: Midland Railbed Trail
Saturday, July 15, 9 a.m. – 11 a.m.
Koch Lumber Park, corner of Cooper and Garmish
Advance reservations required
$15/Free for AHS Lixiviator level and above members
Please dress appropriately as the tour will go rain or shine
Experience Aspen mining and transportation history on an easy walk to the Holden/Marolt Mining & Ranching Museum alongside Aspen’s lesser-known railroad corridor at the base of Aspen Mountain.
NEW! History in Your Backyard: Glory Hole Park
Monday, July 17, 12 p.m.
Glory Hole Park, at the corner of Original St and Ute Ave
$10/free for Lixiviator Members and above; registration required
Join AHS for a walk around one of the City of Aspen’s parks, the site of a ground-source spring as well as a collapsed silver mine that formed a sink hole in 1918.
The History in Your Backyard series features short lunch-hour tours to explore the stories of familiar places in the Aspen area.
Water in the Age of Silver: Touring Aspen’s “Holden Works”
A program offered by Roaring Fork Conservancy in partnership with Aspen Historical Society and City of Aspen Parks & Open Space
Monday, July 17, 5:30 p.m.
Holden/Marolt Mining & Ranching Museum, Aspen
Free, advance registration with Roaring Fork Conservancy is required (opens June 26th)
Discover the largest industrial site in the history of Pitkin County: a then-state-of-the-art silver processing plant known as the Holden Lixiviation Works. Built on the banks of Castle Creek in 1891 by Edward Royal Holden, the plant led to innovative and sometimes destructive uses of water resources for hydropower and waste disposal. Explore the history, the museum, and the remnants of the “Works” (including the newly reconstructed cable derrick and flume) to learn how one of our most precious resources, freshwater, was utilized in a different era. We’ll also examine the effects of time on the riparian area along Castle Creek. Dress appropriately as this event will happen rain or shine. Please call Roaring Fork Conservancy at 970.927.1290 with questions.
NEW! Authors of Aspen: Bruce Berger’s Collection of Works with Laurel Catto
Wednesday, July 19, 4 p.m.
Wheeler/Stallard Museum Patio
Free
Join Laurel Catto, longtime friend of the late author Bruce Berger, for a presentation about his renowned works, including The Complete Half-Aspenite, Music in the Mountains, and more.
Books will be available for sale with a portion of proceeds to benefit AHS.
Annual Ice Cream Social
Saturday, August 5, 2 p.m. – 4 p.m.
Wheeler/Stallard Museum
Free ice cream bowls / $5 spiked “Aspen Crud” milkshakes
Guests of all ages are invited to celebrate the longstanding tradition of a community ice cream social in Aspen! The free event features music, a presentation of A Briefly Complete History of Aspen (a 45-minute crash course in Aspen history featuring song, dance, and character presentations), and most importantly, ice cream bowls replete with toppings! Boozy milkshakes for adults are available for a small fee. Since the mining era in Aspen, ice cream socials have been a popular summer gathering in the community. This year’s special 60th anniversary event featuring free ice cream is made possible by sponsors Obermeyer Wood Investment Counsel with ice cream provided by Paradise Bakery.
NEW! Authors of Aspen: Susan Dalton & Judy Haas, Aspen Journey – Past to Present
Wednesday, August 16, 4 p.m.
Wheeler/Stallard Museum Patio
Free
Join publishers Susan Dalton & Judy Haas for a talk, Q&A, and book signing of their latest publication that features the history of the Aspen area, including images from the AHS Collection.
Books will be available for sale with a portion of proceeds to benefit AHS.
History Hike: Hunter Creek
Saturday, August 19, 9 a.m. – 12 p.m.
Meet at the BLM parking lot off Hunter Creek Rd.
Advance reservations required
$15/Free for Lixiviator level and above members
Please dress appropriately as the tour will go rain or shine.
Adventure over the creek and through the woods on this moderate hike up to the Hunter Creek Valley above Aspen. Featuring several historical buildings, the valley was home to one of Aspen’s closest “camps” and features a rich history.
NEW! History in Your Backyard: McMurchy/Zupancis Buildings
Monday, August 21, 12 p.m.
Holden/Marolt Mining & Ranching Museum
$10/free for Lixiviator Members and above; registration required
Join AHS for a tour of the restored miner’s-cabin-turned-Victorian-era-home, shed, and barn that were moved from Main Street to the Holden/Marolt property and have been restored and interpreted to help tell the story of the Victorian era, the Quiet Years, and the immigrants who helped shape the community.
The History in Your Backyard series features short lunch-hour tours to explore the stories of familiar places in the Aspen area.
Twilight in the Cemetery: Stories from Aspen’s Ancestors
Thursday, August 31
Sign up for your preferred time slot: 6 pm, 6:15 pm, 6:30 pm, 6:45 pm, 7 pm, 7:15 pm and 7:30 pm (1.5-hour tours)
Red Butte Cemetery
$25, advance registration required
As dusk falls on Aspen’s storied Red Butte Cemetery, you’ll hear from some of the notable “residents” through researched museum theatre-style character performances. Guests will hear late Aspenites share their stories “in their own words,” while visiting graves from many eras. With characters performed by AHS staff, volunteers, and even a few direct descendants, this twilight tour offers a window into the area’s past through authentic personal histories.
NEW! History in Your Backyard: Ute Cemetery
Monday, September 18, 12 p.m.
Ute Cemetery
$10/free for Lixiviator Members and above; registration required
Join AHS for a walk around Aspen’s oldest cemetery, including personal histories of some of the locals who are buried there.
The History in Your Backyard series features short lunch-hour tours to explore the stories of familiar places in the Aspen area.
NEW! Authors of Aspen: Paul Andersen, Moonlight Over Pearl, Second Edition
Wednesday, September 20, 4 p.m.
Wheeler/Stallard Museum Patio
Free
Join local author and journalist Paul Andersen for a talk, Q&A, and book signing for the second edition of his collection of short stories about Aspen.
Books will be available for sale with a portion of proceeds to benefit AHS.
