Colorado Landmarks That Prove History Is Never Forgotten

We all have that friend in Denver who sees a photo of the Colorado National Monument and asks, “Where is that? Show the same image to someone from Grand Junction, and they likely know the exact spot, which trail, and what time of year the photo was taken.

To residents of the Grand Valley, our landmarks are more than postcards; they are reminders of how Grand Junction came to be. Scroll on for a look at a few places that have outlasted generations, been reshaped by time, yet are rooted in the spirit of the West that built them.

The Grand Junction Train Depot: The Day the Tracks Came Alive

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The Denver & Rio Grande Railroad arrived in Grand Junction in 1882. By 1906, the Grand Junction Train Depot was complete, and the community viewed this as another milestone for the young city, ready to connect with the world. The depot greeted travelers with marble floors and arched windows.

Grand Junction’s Train Depot opened on April 18, 1906. This was the same day as the awful 1906 San Francisco earthquake, which measured a magnitude of 7.9. The Grand Junction depot became a shelter for displaced travelers fleeing the West Coast. Today, the train depot is one of our city’s most historic structures, reflecting a time when trains ruled the Western Slope.

Independence Monument: John Otto’s Towering Dream

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The handiwork of John Otto can still be seen across the Grand Valley. From Otto’s Wall along the Palisade Plunge to the hand-cut steps on Independence Monument, his mark runs deep through these canyons. No one loved the Grand Valley quite like Otto. He spent years campaigning to protect the rugged canyon lands south of town — land that would eventually become the Colorado National Monument. He also started a tradition that continues today: climbing Independence Monument every Fourth of July to raise the American flag.

Shaped by millions of years of wind and water, the Monument’s towering Wingate sandstone formation stands as a testament to both nature’s artistry and Colorado's determination. According to the National Park Service, Independence Monument remains the most photographed feature in the monument.

The Avalon Theatre: A Stage Built By Grand Junction, for Grand Junction

If you ever get to take a guided tour through the Avalon Theatre, it is quite the history lesson. It was a local newspaper publisher named Walter Walker who did the most to fund construction (completed in 1922), and even held a citywide naming contest that landed on Avalon (a reference to the legendary Arthurian island).

The theatre began hosting everything from silent films to political rallies. The Avalon received a multimillion-dollar renovation in 2014 and remains a cornerstone of historic downtown Grand Junction.

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