STEALTH REQUIRED
Photo of Frisco's Main Street facing west taken in 1889, courtesy of the Frisco Historic Park & Museum.
Built in 1901, the schoolhouse is on the National Register of Historic Places. It is the only building in the Historic Park that is in the same location it was originally built in. The other buildings in the park were relocated from other areas of town for preservation purposes via the flat bed of a truck.
The owner of the Treasure Vault Mine/Frisco Tunnel, Oliver Swanson, built the schoolhouse with the original intentions of using it as a saloon. He purchased the land in 1899 and began construction the following year. While we do not know if the saloon ever opened, we still can find the hatch cutout in the ground with access to what was intended as a cellar to store bottles. Later in 1901, the building was converted into a one room schoolhouse and a bell was added a few years later. The photo above was taken circa the 1910s. The schoolhouse was converted into an administrative building for the school district in 1963.
During construction in 1975, the bell was stolen and was not found until twelve years later! The bell is in need of some minor repairs and only rings for special occasions.
In 1983, the schoolhouse opened as the Frisco Historic Park & Museum, which continues to preserve and educate to this day. The schoolhouse is one of 10 buildings currently on park property. Other buildings in the park include the original town Jail built in 1881, historic cabins from the 1930s, a house belonging to a CO Ski Hall of Fame member, and a trapper’s cabin. They are free and open to the public 6 days a week. If you’d like to read more about the history of the town, this is a perfect stop!
**Please be aware that this is a high muggle traffic area during the summer. Make sure that the cache is put away and locked properly.**
In order to unlock the door to the cache, you will need to figure out what year the bell was returned to the schoolhouse. The answer is hidden in this history lesson!
Happy hunting!