Wonder TowerCharles W. Gregory

A six-story observation tower, resembling an enclosed frame water tower, rises dramatically from the eastern Colorado prairie. The small motel at the base of the tower has become a private home. A rambling complex of connecting one-story buildings feature walls made of irregularly shaped rocks set in concrete; a portion of the façade is capped with a concrete mountain range which reads “SEE 6 STATES.” Rusted-out cars in the parking lot and dummies made of rags at the top of the tower provide an illusion of life to draw the rare tourist from I-70.

The Wonder Tower was constructed in 1926 as a rest stop for motorists on US 24 by Charles W. Gregory, a former railroad engineer sometimes called the “P.T. Barnum of Colorado.”  I-70 eventually bypassed the Wonder Tower, and the aging attraction was purchased by Jerry and Ester Chubbuck in 1967. The new owners proceeded to fill the tower with a collection of antique bottles, farm tools, archeological artifacts, and taxidermy oddities. Tours of this museum, in which most items were for sale, cost one dollar. Jerry Chubbuck passed away on August 4, 2013, and the 87-year-old roadside attraction is again for sale. Visitors cannot enter the tower, but the grounds are still open.

Sources

http://www.roadsideamerica.com/story/2050

~Brett Hanover

30121 Frontage Road
Genoa, Colorado, 80818 us
Latitude/Longitude: 39.2732624 / -103.5019148

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