Saturday, May 31, 2014


Hello, everybody!

I have some exciting news to share in today’s Key Room blog, but I would first like to introduce myself. My name is Margie, and I’ve travelled all the way from Pennsylvania to experience the beauty of Colorado and the magic of the Baldpate Inn for the summer. I will be going into my second year of college at Penn State University, and I plan to double major in Arts Administration and Communications. I am thrilled to have the opportunity to intern in our museum, which has such an interesting collection, and be part of the Baldpate family!

                Now that we have that out of the way, I’ll tell you the great news. I had the privilege the other day of meeting the granddaughter and great granddaughter of Clarence Ison, who built the Keystone for our fireplace in the Key Room. Reverend Jean Waldron and Shannon Trigg, Clarence’s granddaughter and great granddaughter, were able to give me some information and told me to call Clarence’s daughter, Nancy Weatherbie, for the rest of the story. Well, I had a very nice conversation with Ms. Weatherbie over the phone, and she provided me with a great deal of information about Clarence’s life.

                Clarence Ison was born in Missouri and lived in Platner, Colorado. Before he started a family, he moved to California and worked as a Deputy Sherriff.  He moved back to Colorado and was married. He and his wife later had three children. He was a stonemason and worked for a monument company in Longmont, Colorado. Ms. Weatherbie informed me, though, that he started as a farmer, and she describes him as a “jack of all trades.” As I mentioned, Clarence built the Keystone for the fireplace in the Baldpate’s Key Room. He also worked with Coalie Coleman, a relative by marriage, to build St. Catherine’s Church. The church is a gorgeous stone structure on Highway 7, a few miles away from the Baldpate. Clarence moved with his family to San Diego in May of 1941, where he again worked as a stonemason. After the war broke out, he worked in two aircraft factories. Ms. Weatherbie says that her father took so much pride in all of his work.

We, here at the Baldpate, are so thankful for his work on our Keystone, and we are thankful to his family for sharing this piece of history with us.

We hope you come by the Baldpate soon to experience more of our rich history!

 

Margie

Key Room Museum Curator  
 
 

Wednesday, May 21, 2014

New Season, New Team



Welcome to the Baldpate Inn Key Room Blog! We are excited for another season of sharing our collection and the history of the historic Baldpate Inn with all of you. Our collection of over 30,000 keys is full of endless stories to be shared and appreciated, and we cannot wait to display the fascinating history that our key room has to offer. Our names are Margie, Rachel, and Jake, and we will be your museum team for this 2014 season. We can’t wait to unlock our collection for you!