Preserving Nederland’s rich history: Jeanette Smith, a dedicated volunteer and treasure trove of local history, showcases a student’s work board from the early 1900s. PHOTO BY CHRISTOPHER KELLEY[/caption]

On Saturday, June 10, 2023, the Gillaspie House Museum opened for the season. Jeanette Smith was available to lead an engaging and informative tour through the historic house and to talk about Nederland’s amazing, and sometimes unbelievable, history.

Smith’s intricate knowledge of Nederland’s early days combined with the authentic rustic surroundings of the nearly 120 year old cabin whisks visitors back to a time when the mines were much more alive, foot-powered dental drills were of common use, and land in Nederland could be purchased for $65.

Dr. Carbon Gillaspie, with assistance from William Loach of the Wolf Tongue Mining Company, built the house in 1905 so that the woman he loved, Grace Fairchild, would agree to marry him. For nearly a decade that house saw Carbon run his medical practice, run his campaign for the Mayor of Nederland, and witnessed the birth of Carbon and Grace’s son, John, in 1907.

Carbon ran for mayor on a “dry ticket” as a sober candidate during a time when saloons were practically on every corner in Nederland. He also witnessed the start of the construction of Barker Dam in 1907, before he moved his medical practice and his family down to Boulder.

John Gillaspie became a doctor, like his father, and he and his wife Caroline lived in the Nederland home as a summer residence after Carbon’s death in 1933. John had an extension made to the house which created additional space for a room and for an indoor bathroom.

The Gillaspie House was donated to the Town of Nederland in 1975 on the condition that it remains a museum open to the public. Today the Gillaspie House Museum is run by local volunteers and supported by the Nederland Area Historical Society.

The majority of the support for the museum comes from visitor donations, including donations of priceless items of historical significance to Nederland. Donated clothing, including the outfit of Nederland’s postmistress Marguerite Shellhaus, a wedding outfit, “christening gowns, bonnets, boots, trunks, and top hats.”

The house is strewn with these donated items, intentionally placed so as to create an accurate portrayal of the early 1900s in Nederland. An early washing machine, complete with its complicated series of gears for a hand-powered agitator, sits in one corner, while another corner houses a collection of early medical tools and bone saws, and a foot-powered dental drill that resembles torture equipment.

Everything in the house is rustic and steeped with a thousand stories from its one hundred year old inanimate existence; from the old telephone mounted on the wall, to an impressively massive and beautifully ornate wood-burning oven in the kitchen, next to shelves full of era-appropriate bottles of peppermint and orange extract, boxes of starch, and big jars of glycerine.

This wonderful time-machine of a house is obviously lovingly and painstakingly maintained by dedicated custodians of local history; and with expert tour guides like Smith who are a veritable wealth of Nederland history the experience of visiting the Gillaspie House is truly a remarkable one that stays with you long after you walk out its beautiful ornate door.

The Nederland Mining Museum is also open for the season to give visitors a free look at authentic historic mining equipment and get a bigger picture of how life was back in Nederland’s early mining days. The Nederland Mining Museum is located at 200 North Bridge Street and is open Friday, Saturday, and Sunday 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.

The James F. Bailey Assay Office Museum, located at 6352 Four-mile Canyon Drive in Boulder, is now open to visitors every third Saturday of the month from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.

The Agricultural Heritage Center provides information on the rich agricultural history of Boulder County within a 1909 farmhouse among the stunning mountain views of Longmont. Chickens, pigs, sheep, and other farm animals are on site during the busy season. The center is located at 8348 Ute Highway 66, northwest of Longmont, and is open Friday, Saturday, and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

The Gillaspie House Museum is located at 363-449 North Bridge Street in Nederland, just up the hill from the Mining Museum, and is open from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Sundays. For more information go to: https://www.nederlandareahistoricalsociety.org/gillaspie-house.