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Historic Walking Tour of Steamboat Springs
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The tour begins at the Tread of Pioneers Museum on 8th and Oak Streets where additional information can be found about the fascinating history of Steamboat Springs. You can obtain the most up-to-date walking tour in the Visitor's Guide, a tourist guide to Steamboat Springs produced by Steamboat Magazine. To connect to a printable PDF file of the tour, click here.
Guided Historic Downtown Walking Tours are offered weekly during summer months. FREE.
Call Tread of Pioneers Museum 879-2214 for 2007 schedule. After the tour, visit the Museum (discounted admission for all walking tour participants). Sponsored by Historic Routt County! Tread of Pioneers Museum and Yampatika.
Please note: A Historic Driving Tour CD is also available for $9.95 in the Tread of Pioneers Museum Store. Rental CDs are also available for a $10 refundable deposit (2 day rental).
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Tread of Pioneers Museum
St. Paul's Episcopal Church
Christian Science Church
Giamboni House
Willett House
Horizons / Schaffnit House
Routt County Courthouse
Old Town Pub
Pioneer Building
Rehder Building / First National Bank
Chief Theater
Howelsen Hill
Harwigs Saddlery/Grill
Lincoln Avenue Printers/The Pilot
Carver Power Plan / Centennial Hall
Lorenz Building
Hugus Building / Thiesen Mall
Maxwell/Squire Building / Lyon Drug
F.M. Light & Sons
Allen's Clothing
The Cantina
The Furlong Building
Routt County National Bank Building
Soda Creek Building / Steamboat Laundry
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Tread of Pioneers Museum
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1. Tread of Pioneers Museum
800 Oak Street
Constructed by Ernest Campbell in 1908, this was home to the Zimmerman family from 1913-1956. In 1959, the Tread of Pioneers Museum opened in this building. The Queen Anne-style house was once located at Fifth and Oak streets, and was moved to this location in 1988. The adjoined Utterback House was moved to the site in 1997 from its original location at Fourth and Oak. The museum features a period-furnished Victorian home and exhibits highlighting the history of skiing in the area, Native American arts, ranching, mining and pioneer heritage. A World War II snowcat travel sits in an outdoor exhibit space on the grounds. The Museum is open Tuesday - Saturday, 11am – 5pm.
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St. Paul's Episcopal Church
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2. St. Paul's Episcopal Church
9th and Oak Streets
Bishop Spalding started the Episcopal Church in Steamboat Springs prior to the turn of the century. The lot at 9th and Oak Streets was purchased in 1897. this one story, steep-roofed church, in the English Parish style of architecture, was built in 1913 and consecrated on December 7th of that year. The native sandstone used in the construction of this lovely little church came from the Steamboat Town and Quarry Company on Emerald Mountain behind Howelsen Hill. An old building in Mt. Harris was purchased in the 1940s to retrieve matching sandstone for an addition to the original building.
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Christian Science Church
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3. Christian Science Church
7th and Oak Street
Margaret Crawford, Steamboat’s pioneer mother, was a charter member of the town’s Christian Science Society organized in July 1908. The lot had been the site of the Onyx Hotel (Steamboat’s second hotel), built in 1901. The log building, which continues to house the Christian Science Church, was completed in November 1934.
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Giamboni House
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4. Giamboni House
646 Oak Street
Camillo Giamboni built this structure in 1889. Hidden under the siding is the original log building. This was home to two brothers from Switzerland who were shoemakers in Steamboat Springs for many years. Henry and Camillo Giamboni were the first to make skis commercially in Steamboat Springs.
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![Former Giamboni House [Click here to view full size picture]](media/history/tn_giamboni_house.jpg)
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Willett House
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5. Willett House
445 Oak Street
Doc Willett came to Steamboat from Laramie, Wyoming, in 1912 and took ownership of this house following World War I. The well-known doctor made house calls in a bear skin coat, which can be seen at the Tread of Pioneers Museum.
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![Willett House [Click here to view full size picture]](media/history/tn_willetthouse.jpg)
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Horizons / Schaffnit House
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6. Horizons / Schaffnit House
405 Oak Street
Henry Schaffnit, Sr. and his wife, known as "Auntie" Schaffnit, operated hotels in Colorado mining camps before moving to the Yampa Valley in 1884. Henry Schaffnit was born in Germany and a veteran of the Union army. He erected the Sheridan Hotel in Steamboat Springs in 1888, the first large hotel in this part of the state. For many years it was very popular with travelers because of its reputation for hospitality and the quality of its service. Their home on Oak Street has a unique style of architecture not widely replicated in Colorado, but resembling Dutch residential architecture of that time.
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![Horizons in the year 2002 [Click here to view full size picture]](media/history/tn_horizons_1.jpg)
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Routt County Courthouse
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7. Routt County Courthouse
522 Lincoln Avenue
Designed by noted Colorado architect, Robert Fuller, the cornerstone of the courthouse was laid on Sept. 9, 1922, and the three-story building was completed in December 1923 at a cost of $122,000. The exterior walls are constructed of cream pressed brick, trimmed with pulsichrome terra cotta. The floors are finished with terrazzo marble. Before this courthouse was built, the Lorenz building (928 Lincoln Ave.) housed the courthouse from 1912-1923 when the county seat was moved to Steamboat Springs from its previous locations in Hayden (1877) and Hahn’s Peak (1879-1912). A new justice center opened in Septemeber 2007 on the west side of Steamboat Springs.
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Old Town Pub
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8. Old Town Pub
600 Lincoln Avenue
Built in 1904 by Ernest Campbell, this structure was originally the Albany Hotel, one of the finest hotels catering to visitors arriving by train after 1909. From 1914-1921, the building was a hospital, remodeled and run by Dr. F.E. Willett. After the hospital relocated, the second floor became the popular Odd Fellows dance hall. The first floor served as a grocery, post office, electric store and public library from 1924-1967. In 1969 the building opened as the Cameo Restaurant, and in 1984 it became the Old Town Pub.
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![Old Town Pub [Click here to view full size picture]](media/history/tn_oldtownpub.jpg)
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Pioneer Building
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Pioneer Building
700 block of Lincoln Avenue
The Pioneer Building was in continuous use as a hotel from 1923, when it was built by J. W. Critchfield, until 1979 when it was converted to retail and office space. In its heyday the upstairs rooms were run as a classic western boarding house and the downstairs housed the colorful Pioneer Bar.
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![Pioneer Building [Click here to view full size picture]](media/history/tn_pioneer.jpg)
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Rehder Building / First National Bank
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Rehder Building / First National Bank
8th and Lincoln Avenue
The First National Bank of Steamboat Springs, chartered in 1902, occupied a small frame structure on this site until the present building was constructed in 1905. Dakota sandstone from Emerald Mountain and handmade bricks from Trogler’s local brickyard were used in the construction. The bank occupied this building from 1905-1919, when it moved across the street to a larger facility. The Rehder family who owned the building for many years, recently bequeathed the building to the City of Steamboat Springs.
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Chief Theater
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11. Chief Theater
813 Lincoln
The Chief Theater was the second motion-picture theater to open in Steamboat. It was built by Harry Gordon, a Miami Indian chief who came to Steamboat after making a fortune mining lead, zinc, and silver in Oklahoma. The Chief was the first theater equipped to project “talkies,” while its competitor, the Alden Theater (located in the present Allen’s Clothing store) was limited to showing silent films.
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Howelsen Hill
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13. Howelsen Hill
As seen from 9th and Lincoln Ave.
Rising up steeply from the south side of the Yampa River, this section of Emerald Mountain is named for Norwegian ski jumper Carl Howelsen, the “Flying Norseman” of Barnum and Bailey’s Circus. Howelsen arrived in Steamboat in 1913 and introduced the townspeople to ski jumping and recreational skiing. By the 1930s, Howelsen Hill facilities included slalom and downhill courses and a “boat tow” consisting of two sleds pulled up the mountain by a cable powered by a Model T engine and transmission. In 1947, a combination chair/t-bar lift to the top of Emerald Mountain was installed and was one of the longest lifts in the U.S. at that time. By 1950, a 90-meter jump was installed. Howelsen Hill is the only ski area in Colorado listed on the Colorado State Register of Historic Places.
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![Howelsen Hill on a summer day [Click here to view full size picture]](media/history/tn_howelsen.jpg)
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Harwigs Saddlery/Grill
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14. Harwig's Saddlery/Grill
911 Lincoln Avenue
This structure dates back to the 1890s. It was originally a drug store and then a meat market. In 1908, it became the Armstrong and Kemmer Saddlery and Harness Shop. Charles Harwig purchased it in 1916, and it became Harwig’s Saddlery and Western Wear, which was run by the Harwig family until 1984. Note the historic cowboy sign that still stands guard over the storefront. This sign was painted sometime in the 1950s or 60s by noted western artist Merrill Mahaffey one summer when he was attending college in Boulder and en route to work on a ranch up the Elk River Valley.
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Lincoln Avenue Printers/The Pilot
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15. Lincoln Avenue Printers/The Pilot
1009 Lincoln Avenue
James Hoyle began northwest Colorado’s first newspaper, The Steamboat Pilot, on July 31, 1885. It was printed in a small one-room log house near the Yampa River until Hoyle and his printing press moved to a sawed log building on this site. In 1905, Charles H. Leckenby, the paper’s typesetter, became an owner, and was the first of three generations of Leckenbys to run the newspaper. Four years later, the building and press burned down. This brick and stone building was constructed in fall 1909 for the newspaper printing office, which occupied the building until 1999.
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Carver Power Plan / Centennial Hall
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17. Carver Power Plant / Centennial Hall
10th between Oak and Lincoln Avenue
In 1900, a coal-powered plant was devised to make Steamboat Springs the first town in Northwest Colorado to provide its residents with electricity. The steam, a by-product of the system used to create electricity, was used to heat nearby schools and residences. In keeping with the City of Steamboat Springs’ award-winning historic preservation efforts, this building was rehabilitated to house City services.
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Lorenz Building
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18. Lorenz Building
928 Lincoln Avenue
This building was completed in 1893 and was originally a general store. In 1912 it became the courthouse when the county seat was moved from Hahn’s Peak. After 1921 the courtroom occupied the second floor, while the clerk, treasurer and jail shared the ground floor. When the present-day courthouse was completed in 1923, the building became the site of a dance hall called the Social Benefit Association or SBA. The property was purchased by Don Lorenz in 1958. It now houses offices.
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Hugus Building / Thiesen Mall
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19. Hugus Building / Thiesen Mall
912 Lincoln Avenue
Built in 1890, this was the site of J.W. Hugus & Co., one of the nation’s first chains of general stores. It sold farm equipment, furniture, stoves, feed and gasoline in barrels, among other items, in a facility equipped with electric lights, cash carriers and other labor saving devices. The store housed the first telephone in town in 1900.
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Maxwell/Squire Building / Lyon Drug
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20. Maxwell/Squire Building / Lyon Drug
840 Lincoln Avenue
Once known as the Maxwell Building, J.D. Maxwell built this building of local pressed brick from Trogler’s brickyard, stone trim and plate glass. It was originally heated by steam and was considered one of the finest buildings of its time. In 1947, Frank Squire became the owner. A post office occupied a room on the ground floor from 1909 to 1962. In 1920, Chamberlain-Grey Drug Store was the first drug store to occupy this site; it is now Lyon Drug.
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F.M. Light & Sons
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21. F.M. Light & Sons
830 Lincoln Avenue
The F.M. Light family moved from Hicksville, Ohio, to Steamboat in 1905. Soon after their arrival, they purchased the lot, erected the building and secured enough merchandise to open this clothing store. The building has grown over the years after being extended and widened with the purchase of the Boys Market grocery store, which occupied half of the present day store. Light family members traveled throughout northwest Colorado and southern Wyoming, displaying their merchandise and taking orders from ranchers for western wear, hats, boots, saddles and equipment. The retail store is still owned by family members, although they no longer travel to sell goods. Travelers from all directions can see the famous F.M. Light historic yellow signs.
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Allen's Clothing
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22. Allen's Clothing
828 Lincoln Avenue
The Orpheum, a silent movie house, operated in this building in the late 1920's. The name was later changed to the Alden Theatre, which went out of business when the Chief Plaza opened with talking pictures. Julia Fletcher played the player piano at intermission and background music during the pictures. Allen's established in 1949, moved into this building in 1956.
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![Allen's [Click here to view full size picture]](media/history/tn_allens.jpg)
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The Cantina
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23. The Cantina
818 Lincoln Avenue
This building was a meat market and grocery store, and L.B. Shelburne processed lard in the basement. A lift brought merchandise to the upper floors. In the 1930's it was the site of the Center Grocery, started by Clay Shaw. The basement was built from stone quarried locally.
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![The Cantina [Click here to view full size picture]](media/history/tn_cantina.jpg)
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The Furlong Building
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24. The Furlong Building
810 Lincoln Avenue
This building was erected in the 1920s using stone from the Emerald Mountain quarry to frame the windows. Norwegian ski jumper, Carl Howelsen, completed the brickwork and masonry. This structure first housed a store that sold hardware, skis and furniture.
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![The Furlong Building [Click here to view full size picture]](media/history/tn_furlong.jpg)
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Routt County National Bank Building
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Routt County National Bank Building
802 Lincoln Avenue
Built in 1918, with stonework by Carl Howelsen, this building is a unique landmark of two different periods. The Lincoln Avenue façade shows the rehabilitated 1918 exterior and the Eighth Street side displays the changes from the 1940s. Yet for over 30 years Howelsen’s handsome stonework was hidden under a stucco veneer and a shingle-covered mansard roof in an effort to “modernize” the building.
A 2001 restoration project successfully returned the building to its original appearance and has revitalized the historic character of Lincoln Avenue.
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Soda Creek Building / Steamboat Laundry
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Soda Creek Building/Steamboat Laundry
127 11th Street
The Steamboat Laundry was built in the 1920's by Everett Cole. The laundry was on the creek side of this building and R.M. Smith operated a dry cleaning shop on the other side. Al Nelson was the owner in the 1930's. After 1945, Pete Wither owned the laundry.
127 11th St.
Built over a 10 year period starting in 1910, this two story brick and river rock structure was constructed for the Steamboat Laundry, Dry Cleaning, and Pressing business. The laundry provided personal and commercial service for many years throughout Routt County because of its proximity to the Moffat rail line. It is a good example of 20th Century Commercial architecture.
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![Former Giamboni House [Click here to view full size picture]](javascript:showPic(new picObj('media/history/giamboni_house.jpg', 'Former Giamboni House',800,600));)
![Willett House [Click here to view full size picture]](javascript:showPic(new picObj('media/history/willetthouse.jpg', 'Willett House',800,600));)
![Horizons in the year 2002 [Click here to view full size picture]](javascript:showPic(new picObj('media/history/horizons_1.jpg', 'Horizons in the year 2002',300,262));)
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![Old Town Pub [Click here to view full size picture]](javascript:showPic(new picObj('media/history/oldtownpub.jpg', 'Old Town Pub',800,380));)
![Pioneer Building [Click here to view full size picture]](javascript:showPic(new picObj('media/history/pioneer.jpg', 'Pioneer Building',800,578));)
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![Howelsen Hill on a summer day [Click here to view full size picture]](javascript:showPic(new picObj('media/history/howelsen.jpg', 'Howelsen Hill on a summer day',269,242));)
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![Allen's [Click here to view full size picture]](javascript:showPic(new picObj('media/history/allens.jpg', 'Allen\'s',185,247));)
![The Cantina [Click here to view full size picture]](javascript:showPic(new picObj('media/history/cantina.jpg', 'The Cantina',800,600));)
![The Furlong Building [Click here to view full size picture]](javascript:showPic(new picObj('media/history/furlong.jpg', 'The Furlong Building',800,600));)