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Montezuma School House, historic fire bell to receive plaques at events

The Montezuma Schoolhouse opened in 1884 and was in operation until 1958. Tour the school on Sunday, Aug. 9, at an open house presented by the Summit Historical Society.
Summit Historical Society |

The Summit Historical Society will host several events in the next week to honor Summit’s history.

Montezuma SchoolHouse

On Sunday, August 9, at 1 p.m., the Summit Historical Society will formally dedicate a plaque indicating that the Montezuma Schoolhouse is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The schoolhouse opened in 1884, replacing the previous school that became too small because of the silver boom in the town of Montezuma and nearby Sts. John. Students attended classes there until 1958. Volunteers from the Historical Society used a $100,000 grant from History Colorado to restore the building. The building, sitting in its original site to the east of Main Street in Montezuma, looks much as it did in the 1950s, including the “boys” and “girls” outhouses attached to the rear of the building.



After restoration, the schoolhouse earned a place on the National Register of Historic Places, but the plaque indicating the designation was never purchased and hung. Thanks to a Society donor, the plaque will be unveiled by people who worked on the restoration project. The annual open house begins at noon and continues until 4 p.m. All are welcome, and light refreshments will be served.

Old Dillon fire bell



On Thursday, Aug. 20, the fire bell that alerted firefighters in old Dillon to a fire will be re-housed at the Lake Dillon Fire and Rescue Station No. 8 on Lake Dillon Drive in Dillon. The bell, which stood in a wooden frame on a side street in old Dillon, was replaced by a siren in the late 1940s. The bell was subsequently donated to the Historical Society. Firefighter Doug Beeler restored the bell and built a new framework to hold it.

Beginning at 10 a.m., a procession, led by the Society’s 1942 Sterling fire truck that belonged to the old town of Dillon, will walk from the Schoolhouse Museum on LaBonte Street to the Lake Dillon Drive Fire Station. The public is invited to join the procession.


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