Museums & Galleries in Aurora

Like a small-town railroad depot in the 1880s, the Colorado Railroad Museum’s main building features wide eaves and a bright-yellow exterior. The building reflects the Museum’s overall goal: to hark back to Colorado’s railroad era, a time when the state relied on its groundbreaking, narrow-gauge mountain railroads for supplies and information. Since 1959, the Museum has showcased the machinery of that time with an array of locomotives, passenger cars, freight cars, and cabooses. Alternatively, they present visitors with a glimpse of Table Mountain on the Museum’s train rides, enabling them to ride the rails in a bygone style without just taking the subway in an Abe Lincoln costume. To supplement its trains, the Museum hosts thousands of related rare photographs and artifacts, such as a replica of a 10,000-gallon water tank, humorously dubbed No Agua, that was once used to refill steam locomotives on the Chili Line to Santa Fe.

Children run in trails marked by prehistoric footprints, and fingers run across fossils during each visit to Dinosaur Ridge, a nonprofit organization dedicated to the preservation of ancient artifacts. Around every corner of the outdoor museum—which rests on land designated as a national natural landmark—bones and impressions protrude from their earthy abodes as evidence of the area's once larger-than-life inhabitants. Paleontologists of all ages can examine curious tracks on surrounding hiking paths, such as Triceratops Trail, or hop on a guided bus tour to examine fossil sites and valleys where brontosauruses used to question the meaning of life.

Lurking inside the visitor center is the Trek Through Time exhibit, where interactive children's games, replica fossils, and massive murals join forces to lead explorers into different prehistoric eras. In addition to its day-to-day operations, Dinosaur Ridge also plays host to various events during the year, including Boy Scout days, birthday parties, and lectures that explain how T. rex stayed humble despite his large stature.

The FAC, which houses the Taylor Museum of Art, Bemis School of Art, and SaGāJi Theatre, was renovated in 2007 to incorporate a sparkling glass corridor, expand exhibition spaces, and update theatre sound and lighting systems. With a family membership, you'll get free admission to all the museum's galleries, early registration and $15 off classes at the Bemis School, discounts on FAC Theatre Company productions, discounts on events, and more (click here to see a complete list of member benefits.) This Groupon also includes four guest passes for introducing Byzantine–mosaic enthusiasts or Transylvanian werewolves to the Taylor Museum's Latin American, American–Indian, modern–American, and American–American artwork.

With a collection of more than 250,000 wealth-related objects, The ANA Money Museum educates currency-curious visitors on the history, art, and science of money. Catch the sparkle from silvery English coins from Oliver Cromwell's reign at the Coins, Crown, and Conflict exhibit. Or, watch golden change from 1795 to 1933 gleam in the Harry W. Bass Jr. Gallery, which also features a complete collection of $3 coins. Anyone who uses raw chunks of silver to brush his or her teeth will admire the die-cast craftsmanship and the image of the Goddess of Liberty cast on the museum's two U.S. 1804 dollars, of which there are only 15 known copies.

The Centennial Village opens a window to the past with living-history demonstrations that re-create American life as it was 100 years ago. As visitors stroll through the 7-acre grounds, they can explore more than two dozen historic structures, including grand homes, a courthouse, and a blacksmith’s shop. Time-swept denizens share tales of their daily lives that provide unique insight into turn-of-the-century struggles. A vast farm area and historic gardens fill the town with lush greenery and a working merry-go-round helps distract visitors from the hourly recalibration of the park’s time machine.