Colorado Archives, Societies & Publications

It is a good idea to familiarize personally with just about any repository in Colorado that you simply might travel to by communicating with to the best suited archive or library in advance.

Most, if not all, Colorado repositories have written and published content that present its collections as well as research policy.

Colorado archives and historical organizations usually have On-line sites that provide equivalent details. Several also contain down loadable data for some or parts of their collections.

Table of Contents hide
List of Colorado Archives
List of Colorado Libraries & Museums
List of Colorado Historical & Genealogical Societies
Regional and State Societies
County, Township and City Societies
Religious and Ethnic Societies
Colorado Newspapers & Publications
Newspapers
Periodicals
Books

List of Colorado Archives

List of Colorado Libraries & Museums

  • Berthoud Public Library, 236 Welch Ave, P.O. Box 1259, Berthoud, Colorado 80513;Tel: (970)532-2757, Fax: (970)532-4372
  • Boulder Public Library, 1000 Canyon Blvd., Boulder, Colorado 80302;Tel: 303-441-3100
  • Buena Vista Public Library, 131 Linderman Ave., Buena Vista, Colorado 81211;Tel: 719-395-8700
  • Carnegie Branch Library, Local History Research Center, 1125 Pine Street, Boulder, Colorado 80302;Tel: 303-441-3110
  • Colorado Historical Society, Stephen H. Hart Library, 1300 Broadway, Denver, Colorado 80203;Tel: 303-866-3682
  • Colorado College, Tutt Library, 1021 N. Cascade Ave., Colorado Springs, Colorado 80903-2165;Circulation: (719) 389-6184, Reference: (719) 389-6662, Fax: (719) 389-6859
  • Colorado State Library, 201 E. Colfax Ave., Denver, Colorado 80203;Tel: 303-866-6900, Fax: 303-866-6940
  • Denver Public Library, 10 West 14th Avenue Pkwy., Denver, Colorado 80204;Tel: 720-865-1111, Western History Genealogy Department: 720-865-1821
  • Edwin A. Bemis Library, 6014 S. Datura Street, Littleton, Colorado 80120;Tel: 303-795-3961
  • Estes Park Public Library, P.O. Box 1687, 335 East Elkhorn Ave., Estes Park, Colorado 80517;Tel: 970-586-8116
  • Fort Collins Public Library, 201 Peterson Street, Fort Collins, Colorado 80524;Tel: 970-221-6380 Reference, 970-221-6688 Local History
  • Golden Library, 1019 Tenth Street, Golden, Colorado 80401;Tel: 303-279-4585
  • Gunnison County Public Library, Ann Zugelder Library, 307 North Wisconsin, Gunnison, Colorado 81230;Tel: (970) 641-3485, Fax: (970) 641-4653
  • Lakewood Library, 10200 W. 20th Ave., Lakewood, Colorado 80215;Tel: 303-232-9507
  • Loveland Public Library, 300 N. Adams Avenue, Loveland, Colorado 80537;Tel: 970-962-2665http://www.ci.loveland.co.us/_library/libmain.htm
  • Montrose Public Library, 320 South 2nd Street Montrose, Colorado 81401http://www.colosys.net/montrose/#
  • Phillip S. Miller Branch Library, 961 South Plum Creek Boulevard, Castle Rock, Colorado 80104;Tel: (303) 814-0795, Fax: (303) 688-1942http://history.douglas.lib.co.us/lhcinfo/index.htm
  • Norlin Library, 184 UCB, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado 80309-0184;Tel: 303-492-8705;303-492-8834 (Government Publications Library), E-mail: libweb@colorado.eduhttp://www-libraries.colorado.edu/ps/nor/frontpage.htm
  • Penrose Public Library, 20 N. Cascade, Colorado Springs, Colorado 80903;Tel: 719-531-6333, Fax: 719-528-5289http://library.ppld.org/SpecialCollections/default.asp
  • Pueblo Regional Library, 100 Abriendo Ave., Pueblo, Colorado 81004;Tel: 719-543-9600
  • Salida Regional Library,405 E Street, Salida, Colorado 81201;Tel: 719-539-4826
  • Sisson Memorial Library, 811 San Juan, P.O. Box 849, Pagosa Springs, Colorado 81147;Tel: 970-264-2209http://www.frontier.net/~ruby/
  • Southern Peaks Public Library, 423 Fourth Street, Alamosa, Colorado 81101;Tel: 719-589-6592
  • Southern Ute Community Library, 330 Burns Avenue, Ignacio, Colorado 81137-0348;Tel: 970-563-0235, Fax: 970-563-0382
  • Stagecoach Library, 1840 S. Wolcott Ct., Denver, Colorado 80219;Tel: (303)922-8856
  • Standley Lake Library, 8485 Kipling Street, Arvada, Colorado 80005;Tel: 303-456-0806http://jefferson.lib.co.us/
  • Weld County Library, 2227 23rd Avenue, Greeley, Colorado 80634;Tel: 970-330-7691http://www.weld.lib.co.us/
  • Wellington Public Library, 3800 Wilson Avenue, Wellington, Colorado 80549;Tel: 970-568-3040
  • Animas Museum, 31st Street &West Second Avenue, Durango, Colorado 81301Mailing address:Box 3384, Durango, Colorado 81302;Tel: (970) 259-2402http://www.frontier.net/~animasmuseum/index.html
  • Aurora History Museum/Library, 15001 E. Alameda Drive, Aurora, Colorado 80012;Tel: 303-739-6660http://www.ci.aurora.co.us/index.cfm?fuseaction=sec_sub_articles&sectionid=1&SubSectionid=92
  • Boulder Museum of History, 1206 Euclid Ave., Boulder, Colorado 80302;Tel: 303-449-3464
  • Buena Vista Heritage Museum, 512 E. Main, P.O. Box 1414, Buena Vista, Colorado 81211;Tel: 719-395-8458
  • Colorado Springs Pioneers Museum, 215 South Tejon Street, Colorado Springs, Colorado 80903;Tel: 719-385-5990
  • Estes Park Area Historical Museum, 200 Fourth Street, Estes Park, Colorado 80517;Tel: 970-586-6256http://www.estesnet.com/Museum/
  • Fort Collins Museum, 200 Mathews, Fort Collins, Colorado 80524;Tel: 970-221-6738http://www.ci.fort-collins.co.us/museum/
  • Fort Morgan Museum, 414 Main Street, Fort Morgan, Colorado 80701;(970) 867-6331http://www.ftmorganmus.org/
  • High Plains Historical Society/Museum, 775 3rd Street, P.O. Box 122, Nunn, Colorado 80648;Tel: 970-897-2215http://highplainshistory.homestead.com/
  • Loveland Museum and Gallery, 503 N. Lincoln Ave., Loveland, Colorado 80537;Tel: 970-962-2410http://www.ci.loveland.co.us/museum.htm
  • Morrison Heritage Museum, 501 Highway 8, P.O. Box 564, Morrison, Colorado 80465;Tel: 303-697-1873http://town.morrison.co.us/historical/mhm.html, Historic Morrison website: http://town.morrison.co.us/historical/families.html
  • Salida Museum, Salida Chamber of Commerce, 406 W. Highway 50, Salida, Colorado 81201;Tel: 719-539-2068

List of Colorado Historical & Genealogical Societies

For almost every state there is a state genealogical society, a state genealogical council, or both.

In addition to their own work, Colorado groups many times help coordinate the efforts of local societies throughout the Colorado.

Their unique publications, newsletters and quarterlies, supplement those created through the area societies.

Regional and State Societies

County, Township and City Societies

Religious and Ethnic Societies

Colorado Newspapers & Publications

Colorado Genealogical publications (magazines, newsletters, periodicals, books, etc.) contain all types of invaluable information about specific ancestors, whole lineages and families, places in time, and about all sorts of genealogical records and repositories.

Newspapers

On April 23, 1859, the Rocky Mountain News published its first issue. That was an important event because it signified major settlement in the area. The Denver Public Library, the University of Colorado’s Norlin Library, and the Colorado Historical Society all have extensive collections of Colorado newspapers.

Obituary files from the Rocky Mountain News and the Denver Post can be found at the Denver Public Library. They are located in the library’s Western History and Genealogy Collection. Some earlier records are also included. Library staff can search those records for researchers with no charge. The Colorado Historical Society’s newspaper collection is on microfilm. However, copies of that collection must be paid for.

  • Colorado Historical Newspapers
  • Colorado Newspapers Directory Listings
  • Historical Newspapers from Colorado (1859–1978) – Immediately locate names and key phrases in over 450 million content articles, obituaries, marriage announcements, birth announcements and other items published in over 2,800 historic U.S. newspapers. Unique articles and other content added each and every month!
  • Donald E. Oehlerts, comp., Guide to Colorado Newspapers, 1859–1963 (Denver: Bibliographic Center for Research, 1964)
  • Walter R. Griffin and Jay L. Rasmussen, “A Comprehensive Guide to the Location of Published and Unpublished Newspaper Indexes in Colorado Repositories,” The Colorado Magazine 72 (Fall 1972): 328–39.
  • Colorado Newspaper List

Periodicals

Genealogical journals provide you with plenty of sources of information and facts, they are generally overlooked by genealogy and family history researchers and genealogist in looking around for family history.

Many regional and county genealogical and/or historical societies produce periodicals which have records relating to the region or vicinity they operate.

Frequently these publications have articles involving records that are not obtainable somewhere else.

  • The Colorado Magazine, published by the State Historical Society of Colorado from 1923, and called Heritage after 1979, contains excellent background material for understanding Colorado family history in the context of local history.
  • The Colorado Genealogist – The subject index for volumes 1–42 was compiled in 1982 by Kay R. Merrill and is very helpful in locating published county records. Every-name indexes to the journal are also available.
  • The Foothills Inquirer, published by the Foothills Genealogical Society
  • Telluride Tales – the Telluride Historical Museum’s annual journal

Books