Historic Carousels!
The Three Carousels of Elitch Gardens For more than a century, a carousel has turned at Elitch Gardens — but not always the same one. Three distinct machines have carried […]
Hopalong Cassidy Rides Into Elitch’s
The 1954 Kiddieland Celebration That Drew 30,000 Young Fans In the spring of 1954, Elitch’s Gardens hosted one of the largest children’s events in Denver history when western movie and […]
Mary Elitch Brings the Figure Eight & Old Mill to Denver
How Mary Elitch transformed Elitch’s Gardens forever. In the spring of 1904, Elitch’s Gardens unveiled two of the most ambitious attractions in its history — the “Figure Eight” roller coaster […]
1944 Old Mill Fire
“On July 16, 1944, fire roared through a ‘tunnel of love’ boat ride at Denver’s famed Elitch Gardens amusement park. A locked gate delayed fire engines from reaching the blaze. […]
WANTED
Theatre Programs!
The following programs are missing from our Archives! We would LOVE your help finding these missing programs! 1941 – Skylark1943 – Theater (by W. Somerset Maugham)1944 – But Not Goodbye1944 […]
The Return of Live Theatre
Following 20 years of restoration and preservation, on Saturday, August 17th, the Historic Elitch Theatre celebrated the grand return of live performances with the Elitch Encore series. Thirty-three years after […]
Opening Day of Elitch’s Zoological Gardens
The Elitch’s Farm “A sixteen-acre tract was purchased in the Highlands, adjoining, and now a part of Denver… Mary had found her trees; majestic cottonwoods…and an orchard of thriving apple […]
Mary’s Zoo
In 1896, the theatre program included an article about the Zoo at the theatre. The writer walks around the zoo and describes every “house” and enclosure, and shares the animals […]
Ivy Baldwin at Elitch’s Zoological Gardens
A very popular attraction at Elitch Gardens was Ivy Baldwin. From 1890 to 1907, he made a balloon ascent every Saturday and Sunday. He varied his balloon routine by doing […]
Edison’s Vitascope
The Vitascope made its Colorado premiere at Elitch’s the weekend of August 15, 1896.