Cripple Creek Jail Museum

Relive the outlaw days of the Wild West in the unique and popular Cripple Creek Jail Museum. In the late 1800s, the promise of an easy fortune lured people to the gold mines of Cripple Creek; in just ten years, the population grew from 15 to more than 50,000.  Like every Western gold rush town, Cripple Creek had more than our fair share of miscreants and troublemakers. Fortunately, we also had a brave group of men sworn to keep the outlaws in line.  Learn their stories in this authentic and fun museum. Housed in a red-brick building that served as the Teller County Jail for nearly 90 years, this historic Cripple Creek museum gives visitors an taste of the shadier side of life in the World’s Greatest Gold Camp, along with a glimpse into the lives of the lawmen charged with keeping the peace. The curators of our Cripple Creek Jail Museum have kept the original cells intact, so visitors can experience for themselves what life was like for those on the wrong side of the law. There are also displays highlighting the laws and the lawless, with samples of police logs from the 1890s, copies of early city ordinances and newspaper accounts of crimes both big and small. Be sure to visit the Cripple Creek Jail Museum in historic Cripple Creek. You simply won’t find a more authentic Colorado jail museum experience anywhere else.