Fairplay Area Historic Sites

Fairplay Area

DENNY HOUSE

Third and Front Sts. within South Park City Museum
Historic Landmark - designated 2/19/2009
The wood frame Denny house stands on its original site and serves as a remarkably complete representation of life for a well-to-do family of an 1880s Colorado mining town.

FAIRPLAY COAL COMPANY/LONGENBAUGH COAL AND ICE COMPANY

Third and Front Sts. within South Park City Museum
Park County Historic Landmark - designated 2/19/2009
These buildings once served as an office, storage area, and ice house, but now house a transportation display and an exhibit celebrating the important role burros played in the development of South Park's mining industry.

FAIRPLAY HOTEL

500 Main Street
National Register - designated 1/16/2008
This Rustic style hotel was built in 1922 after a previous 1870s hotel burned. Designed by prominent Denver architect William N. Bowman, the hotel has played an important role in business and social lives of Fairplay residents for over 90 years.

FAIRPLAY SCHOOL/EDITH TETER ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

639 Hathaway Street
State Register - designated 12/8/1999
Named for a beloved teacher and administrator who served for several decades, the Fairplay School is now known as Edith Teter Elementary and is among the oldest surviving schools in Colorado. Built at a cost of $5,000 in 1880, the 2-story red sandstone school houses offices of the Park County Re-2 school district.

FRED ADOLF SELL HOMESTEAD

Highway 285, south of Fairplay
Park County Historic Landmark - designated 8/16/2012
The Fred Sell Homestead, settled during a time of economic hardship in the United States, contributes to our understanding of the settlement of the South Park by providing a window into the hardscrabble way of life for many of South Park's homesteaders during the Depression Era.

MAYER HOUSE

Third and Front Sts. within South Park City Museum
Park County Historic Landmark - designated 2/19/2009
This house stands on its original site within what is now a historical museum complex. Col. Mayer, a locally famous buffalo hunter, writer, and adventurer lived here during his later years. Many of his possessions still remain in the home.

PARK COUNTY COURT HOUSE AND JAIL

418 Main Street
National Register - designated 5/25/1979
In 1874, local officials replaced a small log courthouse (now in South Park City Museum) with this impressive Italianate style structure constructed of native red sandstone. Along with the stone jail (northwest of the Courthouse), the building witnessed a parade of the famous, the notorious, and the ordinary, including Johnny Hoover who was hung by vigilantes from a second-story window in 1880. The building has continuously housed county services for over 135 years.

SMOKEHOUSE

Third and Front Sts. within South Park City Museum
Park County Historic Landmark - designated 2/19/2009
Associated with the nearby Summer Saloon, this stone smokehouse once processed meats sold at the saloon.

SNOWSTORM DREDGE

50928 CO 9, North of Fairplay
Park County Historic Landmark - designated 9/20/1999
Once a number of dredges plied the streams and rivers of Park County in search of gold. Built for the Timberline Dredging Company, the dredge began operations in 1941 and began recovering significant amounts of gold the following year. The Snowstorm is the only surviving intact example of its kind on Colorado.

SOUTH PARK COMMUNITY CHURCH/JACKSON MEMORIAL CHAPEL

6th & Hathaway Sts.
National Register - designated 11/22/1977
This Carpenter Gothic style board-and-batten chapel, built in 1874, was one of the many churches associated with itinerant minister Sheldon Jackson. It has been carefully preserved and is still in use as a church today.

SOUTH PARK LAGER BEER BREWERY

3rd & Front Sts. within South Park City Museum
National Register - designated 6/25/1974
Believed to be one of the first breweries operating in Colorado, this red sandstone building now serves as the central exhibit area for the South Park City Museum.

SUMMER SALOON

3rd & Front Sts. within South Park City Museum
National Register - 5/8/1974
Constructed of the same native red sandstone as the brewery in 1879, the saloon was a favorite gathering place for local miners and ranchers. It now is an exhibition hall for the museum.

TROUT CREEK RANCH/ANNEX/SETTELE RANCH

3074 Park County Road 7
National Register - 4/29/2008
Edward P. Arthur, an English rancher and investor, first settled in this area in 1874. He assembled land along Trout Creek, using homestead and cash entry patents and the purchase of adjacent acreage from earlier settlers, including the Sigafus Ranch. Fellow Englishman Dr. David Chalmers bought a half interest in Arthur's ranch in 1877, and the pair expanded the operation into the Trout Creek Ranch, the largest hay ranch in the proximity of Fairplay.