Edwin Carter Museum

Edwin Carter was a gold rush miner who turned to a naturalist and lived for over 25 years in a log cabin which is located at 111 N. Ridge Street in Breckenridge, Colorado. Carter's collection of nearly 3300 specimens of Colorado's wildlife became the center for the Denver Museum of Nature and Science.

Edwin Carter came from Oneida, New York for the Pike's Peak Gold Rush of 1958. He was a skilled placer miner and finally settled in Summit County in 1860. Through observations of the local wildlife, Carter realized that some of the chemicals that were being used in extracting the precious metals from the ore in the mining operations were adversely affecting the wildlife through the water, air and soil.

After learning taxidermy, Carter began to collect examples of the abnormalities he was seeing in several species. This became Carter's life work. He is best known for educating people about the negative effects of mining on local wildlife. Carter started his museum in approximately 1875. He never charged admission and his museum was visited by naturalists and scientists from around the world.

In 1892 Carter began negotiations with several Denver dignitaries to sell his collection to start a natural history museum in Denver. However, the actual transfer of the collection didn't take place until after Carter's death in 1900. Edwin Carter and the cabin that he used as a museum was a primary influence in establishing the Denver Museum of Nature and Science. The Edwin Carter Museum is yet another reason to visit the area of Summit County, Colorado.