Family Fun at the Molly Brown House Museum
After our stop at the Colorado State Capitol we took a short walk to the Molly Brown House Museum. We love touring places that show how people lived in other time periods. Thankfully we arrived just in time for the last tour of the day.
The tour consisted of 3 floors and 16 rooms going up the front staircase and coming back down the servant’s stairs. The house is decorated with some original Brown family pieces as well as other original pieces from the period.
The desk below was owned by Henry Moore Teller, who was a United States Senator from Colorado. It was later possessed by a relative of Edwin Stanton, who served as Abraham Lincoln’s Secretary of War.
The house was originally built in the 1880s and had electric, indoor plumbing, heat and a telephone. James Joseph “JJ” and Margaret Brown bought the house in 1894 and lived there with their two children, Larry and Helen. The four-poster bed in the picture below was in Helen’s room.
The year before they purchased the house, JJ was working as a mine superintendent when he discovered gold which is what led to them becoming millionaires. Due to their great wealth they were also able to travel a lot. Margaret rented the house out when she traveled. During the Great Depression she turned it into a boarding house.
When she died in 1932 the house was sold. In the early 1970s the house was saved from demolition and restored to the way it looked in 1910 by using original photos, paint analysis and architectural research.
Margaret was known for being an advocate for social reform in Colorado as well as hosting lavish parties. In 1909 she separated from her husband, but kept the house and received an allowance that allowed her to continue traveling.
She is most famous for being a Titanic survivor and was later given the nickname the “Unsinkable Molly Brown.” She was aboard the Titanic in 1912 and was helping others onto lifeboats when she was encouraged to board lifeboat number 6. The boat was made to hold 65 people yet only 24 were on board. After they were picked up by the Carpathia, Margaret did what she could to help her fellow survivors and spurred other first-class passengers to donate money to help the second and third-class survivors.
Our tour guide was very knowledgeable and gave us a lot of great information. She also had great pride in the museum and wanted to make sure everyone was respectful of the home and its contents. Before we entered the house for the tour she went over all the rules which included no food, drink or gum. We entered the foyer and she started the tour. A few minutes into the tour she turned to one of our friends who was traveling with us and asked, “Sir, is there gum in your mouth?” To which he replied, “Yes, I’m so sorry.” The kids were so tickled that Mr. Scott “got in trouble” on our tour. But the excitement didn’t stop there. A few minutes later Rob was admiring the banister and running his hand along it, when she turned to him and said, “Sir, can you please not touch the banister?” The kids were all in disbelief now! Two adults in our group had gotten called out by the tour guide, while the kids were all following the rules! They thought it was hilarious and for the remainder of the trip we kept hearing, “remember when dad and Mr. Scott got in trouble?”
At the end of the tour there was an area for the kids to write down their thoughts and put it on a sticky note to leave for others to read.
No videotaping was allowed, so we do not have a video for our visit, but you can read about Day 1 of our trip and our visit to Red Rocks Park and Amphitheater and Casa Bonita, and Day 2 of our trip to Colorado Springs and our stops at the Garden of the Gods, the Manitou Cliff Dwellings Museum, the Manitou Springs Penny Arcade, the Colorado Springs Pioneers Museum, and Magic Town. You can also go back and read about the start of Day 3 at the Western Museum of Mining and Industry, the Money Museum and the Colorado State Capitol. This trip is the first trip of our “50 States Before Graduation Challenge.”
17 Comments
heather J jandrue
This looks like a great place to visit. I enjoy museums such as this.
Lisa Manderino
That is funny that the adults got called out and the kids noticed! I love stopping at historical places and learning!
Sara W
Oh yes it was the highlight of the trip. They still talk about it when they see Mr. Scott at worship services.
Shirley
I love touring places such as this. Adding to the travel wish list!
Sara W
Our tour guide did a great job. She was a wealth of information.
Cindy
I love exploring old homes and historic buildings and places. What a great visit!
Sara W
Me too. I love seeing how people lived in other time periods and in different places around the world.
Eva Keller
This place looks cool! I’ve always wanted to live in an old historic type of house, I love visiting them.
kmf
I’m all about history so I would love this!
Wiebke
Molly Brown truly was a fascinating woman and I had no idea she was from Colorado. And so funny that the adults got in trouble while the kids behaved perfectly.
Sara W
Yes, it was pretty funny for the kids. The guys got a kick out of it too.
Taylor Minaberry
Looks like you guys had a blast! My kiddos and I loved the pictures. Such amazing detail, I love the book case. What a jam packed trip you had, the challenge sounds awesome! I’m going to have to peek at the Garden of the Gods post next, very intriguing.
Sara W
My kids have gotten used to the jam packed days when we travel. I think they enjoy it as much as I do.
Ann
Wow, this is beautiful. I’ll def add this to my places to visit! Thank you for sharing
Sara W
I’m always amazed at how well-preserved things are.
Hope
How cool. Everything like that is still closed in the UK. Looking forward to getting back out again
Sara W
We are ready to get out and travel again too. Our next trip is in August and we are looking forward to it.