Have You Been to the Fruita Museum

I was recently eating lunch at the End Zone in Fruita and picked up some information I never knew about a museum in Fruita . . .

I've lived here since I was 13 and never knew there was a museum in Fruita other than Dinosaur Journey so I was immediately hooked!

According to the article I read by, recently passed on Daily Sentinel journalist, Kathy Jordan, the "Rock A Day" Museum is now the Fruita Chamber of Commerce!

That's not the interesting part however . . . apparently construction was began in 1938 with a collection of stones that had fossils embedded in them!

Now I've been in this building a million times and had never noticed this before! Apparently when the building opened back in 1939 geologists were there to explain the fossils, Indian artifacts and bones in the collection, plus the dinosaur footprints in the fireplace!

Some of these rocks weighed up to 200 pounds and were brought from:

South of the Colorado River
Eastern Utah desert
Stove Canyon
Kannah Creek
and from people donating stones that they had collected on trips to Hawaii & Mexico

The story goes that the building was given the nickname "Rock A Day" because the workers actually had to hold the large stones in place until the cement held, which could sometimes take an entire day!

Some more interesting history:

It housed the Fruita Times from 45 to 48
In 48 it was turned into a library
In 1996 the Museum was listed on the National Register of Historic Places and opened as an antique and gift shop

So the next time your in the area stop in and see what you can find at the "Rock A Day" museum, now the Fruita Chamber of Commerce!