Telluride Museum: Support for Ballot Issue 5A

25 Oct Telluride Museum: Support for Ballot Issue 5A

The following is a letter written to the general public by the staff and board of the Telluride Museum in support of Ballot Issue 5A. Not supporting this initiative would put the historic site known as the Lone Tree Cemetery – hold me down – in a very grave situation. 

Please scroll down to the bottom of the letter to watch Will Jansen’s wonderful video celebrating the last address of a number of Telluride’s residents. If this is eternity, can’t beat the views.

Dear THM Friends and Members, 

The Lone Tree Cemetery, a National Historic Landmark, has been an important part of Telluride’s history since its founding in the 1880s. As such, the Cemetery is a remarkable place through which to learn about Telluride’s past. That fact alone makes its continued operation critical to the Museum and our ability to fully realize our mission- to preserve and interpret the rich history and heritage of this town and the surrounding region.

The ordinary, often extraordinary, men and women buried in Lone Tree offer a lens through which we can learn about many aspects of this community’s past including life and death in early Telluride, our rich mining heritage, a fascinating period of labor strife, and inspirational, if often little-known, heroes of the past. There is real, important, and often very personal history buried in the grounds of the Lone Tree Cemetery; its grave markers, memorials, and headstones serve as a tangible connection to our history and heritage. In short, Lone Tree Cemetery is incredibly important, not just to the Museum, but to the Town of Telluride itself.

It is for these reasons that the Museum has adopted a resolution of support for Lone Tree Cemetery and Ballot Issue 5A.  

Ballot Issue 5A is a critical to saving the Cemetery. If passed, it will restore a small portion of the Cemetery’s previously voter-approved operational support – revenue that was largely eliminated via the 1992 TABOR amendment. The restoration of part of the Cemetery’s original mill levy is essential for its board  to be able to address higher operational costs, deferred maintenance issues, and continued sustainability.

The Museum is greatly concerned about what would happen to the Cemetery should Ballot Issue 5A fail. It is important to note that we typically do not support such initiatives, we feel that the Cemetery’s importance as an historic and programmatic resource warrants an exception.    

Please keep the incredible significance of Lone Tree Cemetery in mind as you begin voting over the next couple of weeks. A small measure of support can go a long way towards keeping the past present for current and future generations.

Thank you, 
The Telluride Historical Museum Staff and Board of Directors 

Will’s video: