Portraits of Manitou by Artist C.H. Rockey
The Manitou Springs Heritage Center and Museum and The Rockey Art Museum proudly hosted their exhibit “Portraits of Manitou by Artist C.H. Rockey.” Visitors learned about Manitou Springs’ legendary artist, writer and illustrator, Charles H. Rockey, through his series of paintings, drawings and etchings, shown in a gallery setting.
Own a copy of Rockey’s famous book entitled Love Songs of Middle Time Echoed through Illuminations and Fables.
Watch the video of our educational program presented by David Ball.
The Manitou Incline: From Utility to Attraction
This exhibit related the story of how the installation of a pipeline for a hydro-electric plant became a famous tourist amusement for 81 years and then was reincarnated into an even more famous location for people seeking an extreme physical challenge.
Learn more in our informative book, available online or onsite in our Museum store.
Watch our video about the Manitou Incline Exhibit.
The Shot
by Pulitzer Prize winning photo journalist, Bob Jackson
The image of Jack Ruby firing a pistol at Lee Harvey Oswald is one of the most iconic photographs of the 20th Century. Mr. Jackson, who is a Manitou Springs resident, was a photographer for the Dallas Times-Herald on that fateful day. This exhibit featured JFK’s visit to Dallas on one of the most shocking days in American history.
Red Mountain Incline – Manitou’s Other Incline
The Red Mountain Incline exhibit featured the history of this world-famous incline, without the hike and the strain. On display was a portion of the 12’ high sign that once graced the Red Mountain Incline, recovered from Manitou’s buried past. The exhibit covered our city’s link to one of the South’s Premier Railroads.
Manitou and Pike’s Peak Railway 1891-2016: 125 years on the Peak
In 2016, The Broadmoor’s Manitou and Pikes Peak Cog Railway celebrated 125 years of operation. In recognition of its many contributions to the City of Manitou Springs and the entire Pikes Peak region, the Heritage Center is presented the “Manitou and Pike’s Peak Railway 1891-2016: 125 Years on the Peak” exhibit. In 1891, the Cog Railway operated the first steam train to climb from Manitou Springs to the Summit of Pikes Peak, an altitude of 14,110 feet. Ever since it’s beginning, the Cog Railway’s trains have taken millions of passengers on a scenic and unforgettable journey to the top of America’s Mountain.
The Pikes Peak International Hill Climb Exhibit
The Hill Climb exhibit featured the photography of Pulitzer Prize winning photojournalist, Robert Jackson. Mr. Jackson, a photojournalist with the Colorado Springs Gazette from 1980-1999, has captured the excitement of the Pike Peak International Hill Climb for over 40 years.
This exciting collection of photographs captured the dangerous turns, the wheels turning and the dust flying. The photographs featured the Unsers, the Donners, the Sanborns and many other racers race to the clouds atop America’s Mountain, Pikes Peak.
Check out our informative books related to the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb, available online or onsite in our Museum store.
- The Peak of Racing by Chris Lennon, forward written by Bobby Unser
- Tall Tales from Pikes Peak by Lisa Haight
Manitou Springs – 150 Years Strong (1872 – 2022)
The Heritage Center’s 150th Anniversary exhibit explored 5 key themes: Host Nation, Health Resort, Attractions, Community Builders and Road to Revival. A brief history of the Ute Nation was presented, as well as how Manitou Springs evolved from its initial roots as a Health Resort to a center of Tourist Attractions. Key people who shaped Manitou Springs as a hometown Community were featured. The exhibit also told the stories of the town’s growth in the areas of architectural, business, environmental and artistic Revival. The onsite exhibit ran through December 2022.
Watch our video for the Manitou Springs 150th Anniversary Exhibit.
Eber Duclo and Manitou Go to War
This exhibit covered the founding of American Legion Post 39 and George Eber Duclo, a World War I veteran from Manitou who was killed in action. Our collection of WWI and WWII artifacts, photographs and memorabilia were on display. The collection included rare German and Japanese wartime artifacts, including one of the world’s remaining kamikaze talismen gifted by a surviving kamikaze.
Inspiration for the Soul: The Art of Stained Glass in Manitou’s Historic Churches
This exhibit featured the photography of Jared Thompson. Jared artfully captured the beautifully colored stained-glass windows of St. Andrews Episcopal Church, Our Lady of Perpetual Help and Community Congregational Church, These images gave visitors insightful windows into our town’s past and the people who made Manitou Springs their home.
Watch the video for our Art of Stained Glass exhibit.
Fred Barr: Pikes Peak Entrepreneur
Local historian and avid hiker Eric Swab has done extensive genealogical and historic research on Fred Barr. This exhibit provided a glimpse of the person behind the iconic trail that bears his name. Barr also operated a number of tourist sightseeing endeavors (like the burro rides at the top of the Manitou Incline) and was one of the original “Frozen Five” members of the AdAmAn Club.
The exhibit featured images of some of Barr’s businesses, vintage Barr Camp, AdAmAn photos/artifacts, and pictures of the man himself. The Heritage Center is very grateful to the Pearson Family, who are related to Barr and loaned several never-before seen images to this exhibit.
Learn more through our informative book available online or onsite in our Museum store.
Historic Bridges of Manitou Springs
This exhibit featured beautiful, modern images of the historic bridges found throughout Manitou Springs by Photographer Tim Plass. The exhibit told the stories of the role these structures have played in building the City of Manitou Springs. The exhibit also included the history of flooding in the area, providing an historic perspective on the 2013 floods that impacted the community.
Image by Tim Plasses
CC Parry Flower Exhibit
CC Parry Flower Exhibit Native wildflowers collected from Pikes Peak were on display at the Heritage Center, celebrating the 150th anniversary of CC Parry’s 1862 botany expedition up Pikes Peak. Charles Christopher Parry (28 August 1823 to 20 February 1890) was a British-American botanist and mountaineer. He studied medicine at Columbia University, and botany under several of the 19th Century’s preeminent botanists. He practiced medicine for a short time, but botanical studies proved to be his passion. Parry participated in several important early surveys of the West, including travels with founders William A. Bell and General Palmer, and his papers were widely published. In 1862, Parry documented Colorado’s flora, including species on Pikes Peak. For the rest of his life, Parry spent his summers on botanical explorations of the Western states and made extensive plant collections, many of which proved to be new species. In addition to focusing on Parry’s efforts, the exhibit also includes the watercolors and engravings of three women who furthered the field of botany with their art.
517
The 517 exhibit was named after the Manitou Springs Heritage Center & Museum’s address at 517 Manitou Avenue. The exhibit told the stories of our building’s history with photos and artifacts. Historic photos and business ownership of our building was shown on a timeline, along with a story about its address change from 115 Manitou to 517 Manitou Avenue. The exhibit showed the incredible journey of an A&A Garage wrecker and it’s amazing renovation by a Swedish car enthusiast. The exhibit featured stories about all the property improvements made by the Heritage Center throughout the years, ending with its amazing 2024 transformation. Visitors learned about the long history of 517 Manitou Avenue. Building artifacts from the A&A Garage and Adcom Transformers were on display, along with a Heritage Center floor model and even Archeological finds unearthed during our 2024 renovation! Videos featuring the 2024 renovation and the A&A Garage wrecker restoration were also shown as part of the 517 exhibit.
Image courtesy El Paso County Assessor (circa 1967)
Watch the video of our 517 exhibit.
Kiwanis Club of Manitou Springs: Serving Children of the World for 100 Years
The Manitou Springs Heritage Center and Museum proudly presented the 100th Anniversary of the Kiwanis Club of Manitou Springs exhibit. The exhibit covered Historical Highlights, Featured Presidents & 2021 Member Biographies, Scholarships & Boy Scouts, Builder’s Club & Key Club and Community Events & International Impact.
Watch our video of the 100th Anniversary of the Kiwanis Club exhibit.
Manitou Mineral Spring Water Bottles
The Manitou Springs Photography Club held a real-time contest photographing some of our precious Manitou Mineral Spring Water Bottles. The Manitou Springs Heritage Center and Museum houses the largest Manitou Mineral Spring Water Bottle collection around, dating from the late 1800s through the 1980s. The exhibit featured many different bottles from our collection and the photos that were selected from the contest.
Photographer Brian Borrero.
Old School Manitou
The Old School Manitou exhibit focused on Manitou Springs schools from 1872–1957. The collection of images and artifacts stopped at 1957 because this was the last graduating year from the old High School located on Duclo Avenue, before the current High School was built on El Monte Place. The exhibit featured memorabilia donated by school Alumni from these years that was once on display inside an area of the old High School called Heritage Hall.
The exhibit was created from our donated collection of over 1600 school-related items including ephemera, sports jackets and letters, a band uniform, a prom dress, wood and leather shop projects, championship banners and trophies and many more. Stories about the change in school mascots and school colors were included, as well as a history of school Superintendents since 1872. Alumni who served in the armed forces during WWI, WWII and Korea were also honored. The exhibit fondly remembered simpler times with Sadie Hawkins dances, rolled up t-shirt sleeves and bobby socks.
