Mountain Connection donates $250 every month
to the local nonprofit featured on this page through the Mountain Connection Beneficiary Program. To date, Mountain Connection has donated over $88,000. Everyone who advertises, writes stories or reads the Mountain Connection is a part of this community-building publication. Thank you! Mountain Connection is YOUR PUBLICATION.

The historic Hiwan Homestead Museum, above, and kids with their masks, below.

—HIWAN HOMESTEAD MUSEUM—

Step into the past

Today’s technology has absorbed us into a virtual world that connects us to communication, relationship, business and commerce. Perhaps you’ve put down roots to live in the mountains to slow down your life and breathe in the past.

History lives on Meadow Drive in Evergreen, and I want to introduce you to our founding mother, Mary Neosho Williams, a wealthy Civil War widow who came to Evergreen in the 1880s and acquired land to build Camp Neosho. The camp provided overnight facilities for travelers going to and from local mines, and it also offered extended summer boarding opportunities. 

Mary’s daughter, Josephine, married Episcopal Priest Canon Charles Douglas in 1896, and they expanded the original homestead. Their only child, Eric Douglas, embraced his father’s interests in Native American arts and eventually served as the first curator for the American Indian wing in the Denver Art Museum, considered one of the finest collections in the country. Perhaps the hopes and dreams for this parcel of land so loved by Mary and her descendants at 4208 South Timbervale Drive still whispers in the pines as the land and buildings are now preserved by Jefferson County Open Space as The Hiwan Homestead.

The Hiwan Museum consists of a 17-room log lodge placed on the National Register of Historic Places because of its unique construction. It’s restored 1890-1930-era rooms illustrate a comfortable style of early mountain summer-home living. As a local history museum, it maintains active craft and interpretive school programs as well as changing exhibitions, which are sponsored by the Jefferson County Historical Society. 

Museum Administrator John Stienle said, “We’re not a dusty little museum with artifacts in cases. We’re a living museum that’s the destination for many school field trips. Fourth-graders cook on the kitchen stove, spin wool and guess the objects in Grandmother’s Trunk.

“Our Arts of the Tribal Southwest hosts third-graders who grind corn, make clay pots and have other hands-on pioneer opportunities.

“The  Halloween party on Oct. 30th from 4 pm to 7 pm offers non-scary stories for little ones, Halloween crafts for older kids along with Trick or Treat,” he said.

“Our after-school programs offer oldtime crafts and other activities; and times vary throughout the school year. We’re starting a series of adult craft classes with times yet to be determined. We participate with the community Holiday Walk on Dec. 1, with chestnuts roasting on an open fire and other Yule Tide cheer. 

“Currently, our large exhibit is the Katsinas in Clay, and we have the third largest Hopi Indian spirit figures on display that date from the 1880s to 1920s. There’s also a chapel inside the museum that we rent out for weddings, and neighboring Heritage Grove is also a popular spot to rent for weddings and other private functions,” he said.

With more than 8,000 pictures that portray people, moments and memories, Hiwan Museum has a paramount wish to preserve the past with the technology of the present to keep the heritage of the area alive for the future. 

Call John and his dedicated staff at 720-497-7650 so you can join the mission to keep Hiwan Museum and Heritage Grove alive for the generations ahead. And be sure to schedule a tour today.

Mountain Connection salutes Margo Hamilton for serving as its dedicated volunteer beneficiary coordinator. She has an extensive background working with nonprofit agencies and writes to help people better understand each other. Mountain Connection thanks you, Margo!

Click for website