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    Ouray Alchemist

    4.8 (16 reviews)
    Closed 10:00 am - 4:00 pm

    By appointment only

    Ouray Alchemist Photos

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    Ben H.

    Super fun tour through pharmacy history with a very pleasant gentleman who knows a lot about apothecaries and drugs. The collection here is really special, so many things you will never see anywhere else. Original pieces from drugstores of the past, snake oil posters, original bottles, paintings, pull making equipment. He even demonstrates how a pharmacist would prepare a medication 100+ years ago. There's also a history lesson on how drugs have been developed over time with lots of interesting anecdotes and insights. Definitely worth checking out when you're in town. Very unique and engaging.

    Just a few of the amazing pieces he has transported and resurrected....

    One of my all-time favorite pastimes is to spend time listening to anyone who has a passion for something and a compelling way to tell that something's story. Today, I enjoyed the company of Curt, who owns the Ouray Alchemist Museum. Two hours of a personal tour around his amazing collection of all things alchemy barely scratched the surface of his knowledge. He kept asking if I was bored. I kept encouraging him to go on. Brilliantly fascinating, and clearly a labor of love. Also, I cannot believe the frequency by which people ingested arsenic, opium, heroine, chloroform, laudenum, lithium, mercury and lead as a matter of common pharmaceutical practice. Do not hesitate to take this tour!

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    Curtis H.

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    Review Highlights - Ouray Alchemist

    What a fascinating fun "tour." Kurt has a story for each of the many items he has collected over the years.

    Mentioned in 7 reviews

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    Telluride Historical Museum - The room where the surgical area existed on the second floor.

    Telluride Historical Museum

    (9 reviews)

    Interesting displays, including audio features and a rotating special exhibit; broad range of…read morecultural, environmental, and economic stages touched on in a short time; and a very reasonable admission fee. If you can visit on a walking tour day, it's well worth the time (1.5 hours), and you are able to go inside some of the most historic buildings, like the opera house, and the "New" Sheridan Hotel and connected bar. Ours was by Ashley, and he was engaging, friendly, fielded every question with aplomb. It may be hard to engage small, active children but older kids and adults will find plenty of interest.

    I'm glad my friends who visit Telluride each year recommended I stop in this museum. It was the…read moreinitial hospital during the mining days, which was later converted into a museum. It had so many interesting displays and pieces of history, from the Native American Indians times, through the boom-and-bust mining days, to the present-day ski resort revitalization of this charming town. The exhibits are strategically placed to allow you to experience how the area evolved. It is easy to walk around, taking your time examining specific items that are of interest to you. The small gift shop is charming and has a number of books and periodicals of the town's history that may be difficult to find elsewhere. For a nominal entrance fee, you can easily spend an enjoyable hour or two learning the history of this great town. There is also a museum donation canister at the entrance way, which I gladly deposited additional money in as I finished my tour as it was definitely worth it!

    San Juan County Historical Society - Museum exterior

    San Juan County Historical Society

    (13 reviews)

    This place was very interesting. We were on a girls trip to Colorado and went on a drive from…read moreDurango to Silverton to see the trees changing colors. We stumbled upon this museum and we were interested in seeing what they had to offer. It was a mining museum that had collections of rocks and minerals, uniforms and tools used by the miners and other items that were interesting. For those folks that need it, they do have a small elevator. This is also next to the restroom on the lower floor. Besides the rock/mineral room, I found the assay section interesting, where they had scales and weights used to weight the gold or minerals mined. In the gift shop I found two rocks I liked and bought them and a few postcards. Included in the tour is a visit to the jail and the quarters for the acting sherriff. The sherriff quarters had glimpses of a typical bedroom and kitchen for the late 1800's. My sister went to the jail and she said it was an open room with an iron ball with lots of chains to connect the prisoners to. Outside the jail is caboose used to haul minerals from the mines.

    Tried to visit the museum but it was closed. The only small indication was a small notice on one of…read morethe building's doors. We tried to call the museum's number to see if they had an outgoing recorded message with more information, but no answering machine and no-one answered. While restaurants and shops in Silverton were open post COVID, doing business carefully with social distancing, mandatory masks, limited capacity and so forth, this museum is closed :(( I think it's a huge miss because tourists could bring some much needed funds, if they were only given a chance. While perusing around the museum's grounds we witnessed other 3 cars stopping by and trying to visit to no avail. I wish I could give them more stars, but I am literally giving them one star each for the two things we were able to visit...the train car from the Durango & Silverton railroad and the grounds we strolled upon.

    Ouray Alchemist - museums - Updated May 2026

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