By Kendra Walker
Longtime local Glo Cunningham has lived in Crested Butte for 50 years. She served as the executive director of the Crested Butte Museum for 14 years and has been involved in many local nonprofits over the years. She has been honored as a Red Lady, a Harvest Mother, a Flauschink Queen among other accolades. Glo still leads Museum walking tours and historic pub crawls recounting the town’s vibrant mining history and the buildings that add to Crested Butte’s quirky and charming character.
See some some of Glo’s favorite buildings in town throughout the next few pages.
Tony’s Conoco/Crested Butte Museum
The Crested Butte Museum located in the historic building at the corner of Fourth and Elk Avenue was originally a blacksmith shop, turned hardware store and gas pump. Built in 1883 by John McCosker, Tony Mehelich worked at the hardware store and eventually took over the business. Tony ran it for over 50 years until he died on Christmas Day in 1996, and he was recognized for being the longest sole owner of a Conoco in the world. In 2001, the Crested Butte Mountain Heritage Museum raised over $1 million to acquire the building and renovate it, opening it up to the public in 2003.
“This one is very important to me,” says Glo. “One of the things I love about it is that it has the original 1883 wood floor and potbelly stove. The old-timers used to sit around the stove and talk, telling tales and spending the afternoons with Tony. The storytelling connected to that building is part of the warmth and welcoming feel of it. It has such a great charm to it.”
the Depot
The Depot located at 716 Elk Ave was built in 1883 and served as the freight and passenger station for the narrow-gauge Denver and Rio Grande Railroad line. Every day, the train arrived with supplies and then left with coal from the mines located just outside of town. The Depot remained in operation until 1954 after the Big Mine closed abruptly in 1952. In the 1970s, the Crested Butte Society of the Arts repurposed the building to serve a host of events, weddings and meetings, and it was gifted to the Town of Crested Butte for rehabilitation work in 2012. Today it continues to serve as a space for the town, nonprofits and events.
“The railroad was the most important thing that’s happened to the Town of Crested Butte,” says Glo. “It helped the town become a thriving community because it brought all the supplies for all the mines in the area. The Depot was a vibrant, very important place. Kudos to the town for doing that renovation work and preserving the building. I love that it’s always remained that beige and brown color as a nod to its original railroad purpose.”
the Forest Queen
“This is truly one of my favorites,” says Glo. “That is the place I stayed when I first came to Crested Butte in 1975. I drove over Kebler Pass and checked into the Forest Queen.”
Constructed in 1881, the Forest Queen at 129 Elk Avenue was originally a brothel and is famously known as a hotspot for paranormal activity. Glo explains that a particular lady of the night named Elizabeth haunts the building. Legend has it that Elizabeth fell in love with a miner, only to discover that he had led her on and had a family back in Eastern Europe. Heartbroken, she jumped out of Room 4 on the second story and fell to her death in Coal Creek. Over the years many have experienced spooky encounters in the hotel, including construction workers today as the building undergoes its current major renovation.
“There is no doubt in my mind that I believe in spirits after living in Crested Butte,” says Glo. “I have experienced Elizabeth’s presence firsthand. Buy me a glass of wine or two and I’ll tell you all about it sometime.”
Two-Story Outhouse
The two-story outhouse located in the alley behind the Company Store/Secret Stash and the Fire Department was built in the 1880s. It was designed with a second-floor outhouse entrance for when the snowpack got too deep in the winter and the lower level was inaccessible. Though no longer in service, the structure is still intact with both levels and doors.
“In the summer you used the downstairs and in the winter you used the upstairs,” says Glo. “It was very practical. I love to take my walking tours that way and tell them, ‘Ok, I’m getting ready to talk sh**.’”
Od Town Hall
“This one is pretty iconic,” says Glo. The building at Second and Elk was the original city hall and fire hall. The town of Crested Butte was incorporated in 1880 and the Old Town Hall was built in 1883. Glo explains that the building has the only arched doorway in town, built to provide the egress for the fire department’s pump. The building was almost lost to the disastrous fire of January 1893 but was repaired and remained the fire hall until 1974.
The Old Town Hall has served many purposes over the years, even appearing in the town’s logo, and today is home to the Paragon Gallery and the Crested Butte Mountain Theatre upstairs. Glo remembers performing in plays at the Mallardi Theatre with fondness. “I have great memories there. It’s such a focal building right there in the middle of town.”
The Museum offers walking tours with Glo, and you can find more information at crestedbuttemuseum.org.
