Thanks to a friend and blog reader who directed me to the Gunnison County District website. In my recent blog, I said that the library was built in the 1950s. That information was incorrect. That’s what happens when I try to rely on my memory. I apologize for not checking my facts. Please read the following documented history of the Old Rock Library.
The Crested Butte Library resides in the Old Rock building, a two-story, two-room schoolhouse, built-in 1883 of sandstone quarried at the west end of Elk Avenue for a cost of $6,000. Among the oldest buildings in the town of Crested Butte, the Old Rock was the third school built in the newly incorporated town. From 1883 to 1927 the Old Rock operated as a school and between 1927 and 1967 it became a storage spot for the town and occasionally a gymnasium. Then between 1967 and 1985, the Crested Butte Society attempted to use the Old Rock as a museum, but they found the remodeling expenses and upkeep too costly. Afterward, the Old Rock fell into disrepair. The idea of restoring the building was born in 1989, and it took until 1993 before the Old Rock was finally renovated. The beautiful Old Rock Community Library, a branch of the Gunnison County Library District, was open for business on June 22, 1993. Governor Roy Romer on September 21, 1993, dedicated the Old Rock Community Library, 110 years after the it was built.