Once Upon a Town: The Building of Routt County’s Communities

On Display June 20, 2018 - May 2019

Discover the people and events that shaped Routt County's once wild western frontier outposts into today's beloved Rocky Mountain destinations. The county's main towns, Steamboat Springs, Hayden, Yampa, and Oak Creek, emerged as trading centers for goods and services in support of burgeoning ranching, farming and mining activities. But in this vast rural region, many more small communities rose up around scattered post offices, stage stops and schoolhouses that connected isolated homesteads and ranches to the outside world. Here, "community" also meant coming together as neighbors and friends inside one-room schools and churches that served as gathering points for every occasion. Paralleling the rivers and streams that flows through, Routt County has become a confluence of traditions, ideas,culture, spirit, and perseverance. In the Tread of Pioneers Museum's newest feature exhibit, we explore what connects Routt County's communities, what sets them apart, and how each developed into what they are today.