History Colorado Center

About

History Colorado Center is Colorado's state history museum, at 1200 Broadway in downtown Denver. Exhibits cover Colorado's ancient cultures, the 1876 statehood story, and more recent chapters such as Denver's Little Saigon neighborhood and the Sand Creek Massacre. The collection changes over time: current shows run through 2026 and into 2027, including Keeping Place: Colorado Heritage for All and 38th Star: Colorado Becomes the Centennial State.

A visit means walking through gallery floors connected by elevators, reading interpretive panels, and stopping at interactive stations built for kids and adults alike. The museum also runs lectures and public programs in the Colorado Room, plus a rotating calendar of tours and speaker series. Cafe Rendezvous, just off the main lobby, serves breakfast and lunch on weekdays from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. and weekends from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., and the ground-floor gift shop stocks regional books, crafts, and souvenirs.

As of 2026, the museum is open daily from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., closed on Thanksgiving and Christmas, and closing at 3 p.m. on New Year's Eve. Adult admission is $20; children and museum members get in free, and groups of ten or more adults pay $18 per person. Tickets can be bought online in advance or at the front desk.

The building sits in Denver's Golden Triangle area, where several other museums and small businesses cluster within a few blocks. Buses stop on both Lincoln Street and Broadway right outside, and covered garage parking is available nearby at the Art Garage on Lincoln Street, though not in the lot directly next to the museum.

Accessibility

History Colorado Center is wheelchair accessible, with barrier-free entrances, elevators, and loaner mobility devices at the door.

Parking is the first decision to make. Covered parking is at the Art Garage on Lincoln Street, a block away, with daily fees and no validation from the museum; the covered lot right next to the building is not available for museum parking. Metered street parking surrounds the museum, and a car with a valid disability placard or plate can park at a meter for free, for up to four hours or the time on the meter, whichever is longer. Visitors who need it can use a loading dock ramp on 12th Avenue, between Lincoln and Broadway, that leads to the main entrance.

Getting in and around is straightforward. Barrier-free doors with push-button entry are at the main entrance on Broadway and the side entrance on 12th Avenue, and elevators on the north side of the building reach every floor. Restrooms on each floor have an accessible stall and ADA push-buttons, and family restrooms sit at the northeast corner of the first, second, and fourth floors. A nursing room is in the northeast corner of the third floor.

At the admissions desk, staff loan out manual wheelchairs (250 lb. capacity) and one motorized scooter (400 lb. capacity, able to hold an oxygen tank) on a first-come, first-served basis; bring photo ID. Service animals trained to perform a task are welcome throughout the museum, though pets and emotional support animals are not. For hearing loss, a hearing loop covers the Colorado Room, where most lectures and programs happen, and receivers with headphones are available at the technology booth for anyone without a telecoil-equipped hearing aid. Blind and low-vision visitors can use Aira, a free on-demand video interpreting service, for up to 30 minutes per session. Noise-canceling headphones can be checked out at admissions, and quiet spaces are available in the fourth-floor member's lounge and the third-floor nursing room. The museum also holds regularly scheduled Low Sensory Mornings, when it closes to the general public, limits attendance, and turns down sound in the galleries; admission is free but space is limited, so register ahead through the events calendar.

Call (303) 866-2394 or email the museum before visiting to confirm anything time-sensitive, such as scooter availability or the next Low Sensory Morning date.

Checked by Accessible America, August 2026. Report a change

More accessible places in Colorado

• Denver Museum of Nature & Science (Denver)
• Denver Art Museum (Denver)
• Denver Botanic Gardens (Denver)
• Denver city attractions (Denver)
• Cheyenne Mountain Zoo (Colorado Springs)
• Great Sand Dunes National Park (Great Sand Dunes NP)

Photo credits

• The History Colorado Center entrance shows a stone and glass facade with a banner over the doors.: Trueshow111, CC0 (source)
• The History Colorado Center's stone entrance has a covered doorway framed by a ramp and steps.: Trueshow111, CC0 (source)
• A History Colorado Center sign stands near the entrance with a metal handrail beside it.: Xnatedawgx, CC BY-SA 4.0 (source)
• The angular stone History Colorado Center faces a city street with ramped entry steps.: Trueshow111, CC0 (source)
• Colorado flags hang above the sunlit atrium inside the History Colorado Center.: thirdsphoto, CC BY 4.0 (source)
• Colorado flags hang from balconies in the sunlit atrium of the History Colorado Center.: thirdsphoto, CC BY 4.0 (source)