If you come for the view alone, you’ll quickly learn that you’re in for more. Unquestionably, the answer was the Genoa Tower and Jerry’s tour.Today I got word of Jerry’s passing, in an e-mail from a guest, that had earlier this week, stayed at the Midland Railroad Hotel, located in Wilson, KS. Gregory (known as Colorado's P.T. While this may have been a bit of an exaggeration, the tower provided a magnificent view of the high plains and the distant mountains. Soon a small community was established around the railroad depot and when the town folks heard that a railroad worker was hurt in an accident and was dying, they changed the town’s name to Genoa for the railroad worker’s hometown in Italy. In 1932, the tower was recognized by Ripley’s Believe It or Not, claiming that visitors could see six states from the top of the tower. In 1995, the tower was added to the Colorado State Register of Historic Properties and was included in many guides as one of America’s most curious roadside attractions. "Northeast Colorado offers hidden jewels". Over the years, Gregory added to his dream by covering the wood-frame additions with stone and converting the interior into imitation caverns. Oklahoma wheatty. (Last Privacy Policy Update July 2020), Byways & Historic Trails – Great Drives in America, Soldiers and Officers in American History, Delphine LaLaurie and Her Haunted Mansion, Boston, Massachusetts – The Revolution Begins. Wondrous sandstone hoodoos where Native Americans collected clay for pottery, 9,000 years ago. He incorporated petrified wood and stones from all fifty states into the structure, and also hired a Sioux princess, Raven Wing, to paint scenes on many of the stones. The Kansas Pacific Railroad came through in May 1870. Consider supporting our work by becoming a member for as little as $5 a month. To learn more or withdraw consent, please visit our cookie policy. Closed Gas Station in Genoa, Colorado by Kathy Weiser-Alexander. Despite the end of rail traffic and the relocation of the highway, the Chubbucks kept the tower in operation for more than forty-five years. An unassuming nature trail winds through dozens of tiny houses built for the wee people. But we exited one exit... The World’s Wonder View Tower held so many wonders that it was able to carry on after Highway 24 was replaced by Interstate 70 in the early ‘70s. Don’t be fooled when you arrive. This enraged the area Indians, as it violated the 1851 Treaty of Fort Laramie, which granted them sovereignty across the plains. The Big Room. Wonder Tower - CLOSED . The major attraction is the view from the top of the tower. The promoters boasted that it is possible to see six states (Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska, Wyoming, New Mexico, and South Dakota) from the top of the tower. 30121 Frontage Rd, Interstate 70 & US 24, Genoa, CO 80818-8805. The e-mail indicated that our guest realized the Tower was apparently closed, but happened upon a couple of young lads standing next to an old CJ-2 Jeep. The rest of the businesses appear to be long abandoned. After this national recognition, the claim “See Six States” was soon painted on the tower itself as well as along many billboards along the highway. Offer available only in the U.S. (including Puerto Rico). The World's Wonder View Tower, an amazing roadside attraction off I-70, has changed hands again...and unlikely consortium of Denverites have bought the site, in hopes of saving it. Though the warriors of the region began to make raids and attacks upon the newcomers they continued to flood the area. The tower closed in 2013, when Chubbuck died, but it still stands as a prime example of early automobile tourist facilities on the eastern plains. The World's Wonder View Tower was a tourist trap and roadside attraction located in Genoa, Colorado. In July 2016, a consortium of longtime Colorado residents formed an organization to save the historic folk-art attraction and purchased the closed-up tower, with the goal of preserving the structure as a Colorado landmark. The World’s Wonder View Tower held so many wonders that it was able to carry on for several more decades. In late 2015 the Chubbuck family put the tower up for sale, but as of January 2016 its future remained uncertain. In the meantime, the population of the town of Genoa peaked in 1950 at 257. My wife and I own this wonderful restored property. Special Announcements ... Our government has not stopped travelers as of yet on I-70 in Colorado. Nearly every knickknack in the place wears a price tag, though many of them are unreasonably and inexplicably high. Barnum) and his partner Myrtle Le Bow. For more information please visit http://coloradopreservation.org/2017-list-colorados-most-endangered-places/wonder-tower/, The Wonders of the Wonder View Tower Are on the Block: Going, Going, Gone. As a result, the Treaty of Fort Wise was negotiated in 1861, which granted the Cheyenne and Arapaho a reservation in eastern Colorado that included parts of present-day Lincoln County. Gregory (known as Colorado's P.T. [4], Coordinates: 39°16′30″N 103°30′37″W / 39.2751°N 103.5103°W / 39.2751; -103.5103. At that time, the site of Genoa was only a boxcar depot located just east of the rise. Atlas Obscura and our trusted partners use technology such as cookies on our website to personalise ads, support social media features, and analyse our traffic. The area was home to various Plains tribes including the Comanche, Kiowa, Arapaho, and Cheyenne before white settlers began to come through the region. Those cars that line the drive way are full of assorted bric-a-brac, and the tourists taking in the view at the top of the tower aren’t tourists at all, but stuffed T-shirts wearing sunglasses. The Wonder Tower in Genoa, Colorado is closed today, by Kathy Weiser-Alexander, 2018. This is a real seedy place, unorganized and wild, but so much fun for antiquers and rock hounders... Hotels near (COS) Colorado Springs Municipal. Town view of Genoa, Colorado today by Kathy Weiser-Alexander. However, when Gregory died in 1946, the property fell into disrepair and went through a series of owners who operated the tower complex as a traveler’s rest area and community gathering place. It was quite a place to visit, even back in the mid 1960’s. His collection filled every nook and cranny of the tower complex – and there are many – with such wonders as the skeleton of a wooly mammoth and a two-headed calf. It's almost like visiting an old attic. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. By chance, they were Jerry’s Grandsons, Chris and Joe Harper. Winner will be selected at random on 12/01/2020. In addition to the tower, which offered views in all directions, they gradually added other traveler amenities, including a gas station, trading post, and café. An amateur archaeologist, Jerry Chubbuck owned thousands of Native American arrowheads as well as a mammoth skeleton, artifacts from a prehistoric bison kill, and other antiquities and curiosities. https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g33439-d1799471-r20247467… All of the stuff is for sale (most of it for unreasonable prices). Gregory passed away in 1946, and a series of other owners continued to operate the tower complex as a traveler’s rest area and community gathering place. Before long, new settlers came to the area and began to homestead. In 1932 one of the fans of what came to be known as the World’s Wonder View Tower sent a letter to Ripley’s Believe It or Not, claiming that you could see six states from the top of the tower; that claim was immortalized in the syndicated Ripley’s strip printed in hundreds of papers the next year, and “See Six States” was soon painted on the tower itself.