Explore the Trinidad History Museum’s unique complex overlooking the Santa Fe Trail during your visit. Featuring the Barglow Building, Bloom Mansion, Baca House, Baca-Bloom Heritage Gardens and Santa Fe Trail Museum, Trinidad History Museum offers something that will spark every interest.
Barglow Building
Start your visit to the Trinidad History Museum in the Barglow Building, built in 1906 as a medical office and family apartment. Housing the Davenport Gallery, Book and Gift Shop, Ticket Office, Education Center and Colorado Byways and Tourist Information Center, the Barlow Building serves as a resource for information on the Trinidad History Museum and the surrounding area.
Bloom Mansion
Bloom Mansion was build for cattle baron and banker Frank Bloom and his wife Sarah in 1882. Bloom Mansion is an outstanding example of ornate Second Empire architecture. Step inside the home, decorated with an array of period furnishings, where friendly and knowledgeable staff will interpret the history of the Bloom family and the rooming house phase of the mid-twentieth-century.
Baca House
Adjacent to the Bloom Mansion is the Hough-Baca House. While the two-story adobe house with Greek architectural details was originally built for Santa Fe Trail entrepreneur John Hough and his family, the house was later exchanged for Felipe and Dolores Baca’s 22,000 pounds of wool. The Hough-Baca House evokes the lifestyle of a prominent period as the adobe structure blends Hispanic folk art with the Victorian opulence of its furnishings including a bed and piano from the original Hough-Baca trade, period furnishings from the region, Hispanic folk art and Baca family possessions.
Baca-Bloom Heritage Gardens
As you stroll beneath a canopy of century old trees, you can delight in the vivid colors of Victorian flowers, antique roses and grape vines that adorn the Bloom yard. Making your way through the Southwest Kitchen Garden and Annual Ethnic Garden, you will discover a selection of herbs and vegetables. Flowers, cacti and grasses native to Southern Colorado can also be spotted throughout the Baca-Bloom Heritage Gardens.
Santa Fe Trail Museum
Trinidad History Museum’s Santa Fe Trail Museum, once the living quarters of Baca family workers, explores the life and times from the Santa Fe Trail days through to Trinidad’s heyday as a commercial cattle ranching and coal mining center. Artifacts on display include historic photographs, family heirlooms, commercial goods and other local artifacts. Of particular importance is Kit Carson’s fringed buckskin coat.
Shopping in the Trinidad History Museum Book and Gift Shop
Be sure to stop by the Trinidad History Museum Book and Gift Shop in the Museum’s Barglow Building. Books related to the history of Trinidad and nearby communities, the Santa Fe Trail, Hispanic culture and gardening as well as a selection of cookbooks, southwestern literary classics and children’s books are available to purchase. In addition to its large selection of books, the Book and Gift Shop carries gift items made in Trinidad and in other parts of Colorado.
- The Trinidad History Museum is ADA complaint.
- Brochures are available in the Barglow Building and can help you make the most out of your visit to the Trinidad History Museum.
- The Trinidad History Museum Book and Gift Shop offers complimentary gift wrapping.