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Historic Structures and Tours

Heritage buildings landscape.

Explore Lakewood history with a visit to Heritage Lakewood Belmar Park. Tour historic buildings and artifacts, signup for a guided tour, view exhibits and attend educational programs.

Guided Tours

Tours are on hold until 2022.

Explore Lakewood's distinct past with a 60-minute guided tour of Heritage Lakewood historic structures. Stroll through historic Belmar Park, once home of The Denver Post heiress May Bonfils Stanton, as you hear about life in early Lakewood. An experienced guide will lead you through the museum’s historic structures such as the 1930s farmhouse, the 1948 Valentine Diner and the 1920s Country School.

Guided tours are on hold until 2022. After this time, tours can reserved online or over phone at 303-987-7850.

Reservations on Hold

Fees

$5 adults
$4 seniors age 65+
$3 Youth age 3-12
2 and under free

Walking Tours

Grounds are open to Camp Christmas attendees only until January 3.

Camp Christmas attendees are welcome to take a walking tour during their visit. Learn more about Camp Christmas.

The outdoor self-guided walking tour provides an easy way to learn more about local history, Heritage Lakewood buildings and the Belmar Park area. A brochure, including a map, is available free of charge at the Heritage Lakewood Visitor Center or you can download it below.

The inside of the structures can be viewed during guided tours only.

Download the Guide(PDF, 2MB)

Map

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Historical Luncheons and Happy Hours

History Happy Hour

Journey back in time with fellow history enthusiasts! This program is currently being offered virtually on Zoom.

View the Schedule

Historical luncheons (not currently offered)

Enjoy a delightful lunch and lecture in a Heritage Lakewood historic space. These luncheons are great ways to meet fellow history enthusiasts in fun and educational settings. Evening series lecture-only programs are also available throughout the year. To register online, follow the link below or register over phone at 303-987-7850.

View the Schedule

Museum Store Discount

The Emporium Museum Store offers luncheon attendees a 10% discount on all items in the gift shop, including consignment items. It must be used on the day of the luncheon program and cannot be combined with any other discounts.

Take a Virtual Tour

Historic Structures

Click on the listings below to view photo galleries.

Belmar Estate Center (1910s-1930s)

Auction House

Circa 1930s
Original to the hobby farm and mansion estate of May Bonfils, daughter of the Denver Post co-founder Frederick Bonfils, the Auction House was used as an office when May Bonfils and her husband, Charles Stanton, sold sheep and cattle.

Tractor Sheds

Circa 1930s or earlier
These two white pole buildings contain vintage vehicles and are original buildings from the Bonfils Estate.

Calving Barn

Circa 1930s or earlier
This barn is another building original to the Bonfils’ hobby farm. It was originally painted white to match the outbuildings that were once here.

Caretakers Cottage

Circa 1910
Although it was a farmhouse prior to the Bonfils’s era, this cottage was used to house the caretaker of May Bonfils’s farm. Restoration and interpretation of this building are in progress.

Belmar Gates and Mansion

1937
Although the Irongate Offices now sit where May Bonfils’s mansion, Belmar, once stood, the gates to the estate remain visible on the landscape.

Kountze Lake and Boat House

Kountze Lake is a long-lasting lake that was enlarged for May Bonfils’s boats, and now the paths around it are a popular place for dog-walkers and birdwatchers alike!

Farm Center (1910s-1930s)

Country School

Built 1860s, 1920s interpretation
Although first built as a Methodist Episcopal Church in Arvada, this building served for many years as a one-room school for students of various grades taught by only one teacher. In 1919, an additional classroom was added to accommodate the area’s growing population.

Glen Creighton Pump House and Matthews Water Tower

1919 and 1932
During the early 1900s it was important to acquire and store water for home and farm use because local water companies don’t exist

Farmhouse and Turkey Coop

Built 1880s, 1930s interpretation
This structure and the coop behind it demonstrate a Depression-era family home for turkey farmers.

Streer-Peterson House

Built 1880s, 1920s interpretation
Morris and Sophia Streer, a young Jewish immigrant family from Russia, lived in the house from 1918 to 1921. The Cason Howell Windmill (1922) cycled water from a well.

Red Barn

Built by the City of Lakewood in the 1990s
This barn is used to store vintage tractors.

Colfax Hub (1940s-1960s)

88¢ Variety Store and Ethel's Beauty Salon

1950s and 1960s
Built in 1948, this building was first used as a laundry/cleaners. During the 1950s it became a five-and-dime store, which is exhibited in the front room. Finally, it became a beauty parlor/barbershop operated by Gil and Ethel Gomez during the 1960s. Ethel’s Beauty Salon, with many of her original fixtures, is featured in the back room.

White Way Grill

1948
The White Way Grill, named for the bright lights of the nearby Fox Theatre in Aurora, seats eight customers and served people who moved to Lakewood or traveled Colfax to visit the mountains after WWII.

Peerless Gas Station

1940s or 1950s
After WWII, people increasingly traveled using gas-powered vehicles, making stations an important part of commercial Lakewood. Stations like this fell out of use after the construction of I-70, which diverted traffic from Colfax, forever changing the nature of the once-booming throughway. Restoration and interpretation of this building are currently being planned.

Wide Acres Interurban Stop

Built early 1900s, used until 1950
Previously located on the interurban rail line running from Denver through Lakewood to Golden, this shelter is representative of the numerous stops along the line.

Estes Motel

Built 1949
Many motels opened along Colfax after WWII for people traveling to the mountains before construction of I-70. This building was part of a larger motel complex operated by the Estes family during the 1950s.