Step into the Old West in Colorado's Historic Tiny Town

If you ever owned a dolls house, or were lucky enough to visit an attraction like Tiny Town when you were a child, then you will understand the attraction that any miniature item can have for a small child, let alone an entire town, complete with working steam engine.

Built on a one sixth-size scale, Tiny Town is a miniature replica of a Western town at the beginning of the 20th century. There are over a hundred individual buildings, each lovingly crafted to add to the realism of the town. Some of the houses are complete with furniture and people, who can be glimpsed through the windows, while others are just the right size for a small child to crawl inside. Unlike many such attractions, which have a strict hands off policy, visitors to tiny town are actually encouraged to enter these buildings, as long as they can fit. This is one of the best features of Tiny Town for anyone young enough to take advantage of it. A house that is just the right size for a child, but too small for any grown ups will delight most young visitors. One of the most popular features of Tiny Town for visitors of all sizes is the railway, which is complete with a tiny railway station and a working steam locomotive, upon which visitors can take a ride around the town.

Tiny Town is the oldest miniature town and railway in the US. It was created in 1915 near the scenic Denver Leadville stagecoach stop by George Turner. Turner initially began the town for the entertainment of his own daughter, and named the town Turnerville, but in 1920, it was made open to the public. It quickly became one of the most popular attractions in the Colorado area, with approximately 20,000 people making the trip out from Denver to visit it each year.

The original town contained all of the features of a real Western town, including a grocery store, barber, hotel, pool room, school and church. There was also an Indian pueblo. The railway was one of the later additions, but construction of this popular feature was completed by 1939.

The town is now under the protection of the Tiny Town Foundation, a charitable, volunteer run organization that was established in 1990 in order to protect the town against the threats of demolition and destruction, but fire and flood, which had all combined to bring the attraction close to extinction at numerous points in its history. By 1988, the town was in serious need of attention and repairs. Under the guidance of the Institute of Real Estate Management, the town was resurrected by volunteers who came from all across the state of Colorado to offer their time and skills in order to save Tiny Town. Many of the original buildings were refurbished, new structures were added, and the railroad was brought back to life. The foundation was set up two years later in order to ensure that this historic Colorado attraction would never come so close to being lost again.

Tiny Town is open daily during the summer, and at weekends during the months of May and September. Admission is cheap, with a small additional charge for riding the train, and a proportion of the proceeds are donated to charity.