Cheyenne County: Railroad and Local History

Union Pacific Railroad Caboose No. 25400 is a CA-7 type; only three cars of this type remain in Colorado. Kit Carson’s history is also connected to the Union Pacific: the town was once the railroad’s western terminus and became a trading center because of its location. Railroad history is just one way to explore the destination, however. Architecture, telephone technology, local history, and the vast prairie offer other perspectives.

Railroads and Technology

The Kit Carson Museum is located in the Kit Carson Union Pacific Railroad Depot, built in 1904. The Union Pacific Railroad Pumphouse in Kit Carson supplied water to steam locomotives; the Kit Carson Union Pacific Railroad Signal Maintainer’s House was built around 1930. Together with Kit Carson’s former role as the railroad’s western terminus, these buildings show different aspects of railroad history: the town’s development, a museum building, and the supply of steam locomotives.

The Mountain States Telephone and Telegraph Museum recalls the era of the country’s first radiotelephone system. It displays an original telephone booth and a 1920s switchboard, as well as a twelve-foot telephone pole and a telephone from before the introduction of the rotary dial telephone. The exhibits bring different aspects of telephone communication to life: switching, infrastructure, and individual telephone devices. This adds a distinct focus on communications technology to the railroad history.

Buildings and Local History

The Cheyenne County Courthouse is a red-brick building in the Georgian Revival style, located in the center of the courthouse square. The Cheyenne County Jail has a striking, fortress-like design. The contrast between the courthouse’s clearly defined architectural style and the prison’s fortified appearance offers two distinct architectural impressions.

In Wild Horse, the Wild Horse School was the town’s only school from 1912 to 1964. The Wild Horse Mercantile was the town’s longest continuously operating business. Together, these stories span education and commerce, drawing attention to different aspects of local history.

Prairie and Events

Kit Carson lies amid the vast prairie of eastern Colorado. The prairies in the eastern part of the state are among the last remaining shortgrass prairies in the United States. The landscape thus ranges from the specific setting of the town to a larger natural region. Visitors interested in landscapes will find a different emphasis here than in the historic buildings and technology collections.

Annual events in Cheyenne Wells include rodeos, fairs, and a Christmas parade of lights. If you’d like to plan your trip around one of these events, check the date in advance. The Kit Carson Museum is located at 202 W Hwy 40/287, Kit Carson, Colorado 80825; confirm the address locally before traveling.

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