PRESS CONTACT:
Luke Perkins, Manager of Communications and Public Relations
303.866.3670 | luke.perkins@state.co.us

Located near the intersection of two well-traveled highways (U.S. Highways 160 and State Highway 159), these stations will be readily accessible to residents of the San Luis Valley as well as travelers traversing southern Colorado. 

“These EV Chargers provide one more way for us to serve Valley residents and out-of-town visitors,” said Eric Carpio, chief community museum officer and director of Fort Garland Museum & Cultural Center. “Given that Fort Garland is known as the 'gateway to the San Luis Valley', we're excited to be the very first location in Costilla County with EV Chargers. Thousands of travelers drive through Fort Garland on their way to the Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve, the San Luis Valley, and northern New Mexico, so we are the perfect location for EV drivers to spend some time while they charge their vehicle.”

Carpio believes that opening these charging stations will assist current EV owners – and those looking to purchase EVs – by providing additional charging points at a community hub where EV owners can learn about local history while charging their vehicles.

Founded in 1858 as a U.S. Army outpost, Fort Garland has a deep connection to the history of the San Luis Valley and was acquired by History Colorado in 1945 and converted into a museum and community center in 1950. In recent years, the Fort Garland Museum & Cultural Center has begun a reimagining funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities, which gives the museum the opportunity to explore the complex and difficult histories of westward expansion and colonization. 

A key example of this reimagining is the partnership with eight independent artists to create the buffalo soldiers: reVision exhibition, which explores themes of race, land, and the harm unleashed by westward expansion while providing an emotional testament to the difficult choices Buffalo Soldiers faced. In 2023, Fort Garland Museum & Cultural Center was the only museum in Colorado to qualify as a finalist for the National Medal for Museum and Library Service in part due to this community-driven reimagining.

“As we’ve engaged with community members and organizations, we’ve learned that individuals and families with historic ties to the San Luis Valley haven’t always felt welcome at the museum,” Carpio said. “The community felt that Fort Garland has contributed to the erasure or misrepresentation of marginalized individuals and communities. Over the past several years, Fort Garland has begun addressing these issues by engaging and co-creating with a wide variety of community members to decenter militarized and settler colonial narratives and tell the countless stories of the San Luis Valley.”

In addition to the two dual-port charging stations installed at the Fort Garland Museum & Cultural Center, another two will be coming online soon at the Fort Vazquez Welcome Center Museum in Platteville.

About the Fort Garland Museum & Cultural Center
Fort Garland was built in 1858, ten years after the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, during American expansion into the west. Today, visitors can explore life in a nineteenth century military fort by walking the parade grounds and touring five of the original adobe buildings. The Fort Garland Museum & Cultural Center is a community museum of History Colorado.

The Fort Garland Museum & Cultural Center is located at 29477 CO-159, Fort Garland, Colorado, and is open every day from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Visit www.FortGarlandMuseum.org or call 719-379-3512 for more information. 

Sobre el Fort Garland Museum and Cultural Center
El Fort Garland fue construido en 1858, diez años después del Tratado de Guadalupe Hidalgo, durante la expansión estadounidense al oeste americano. Hoy los visitantes pueden explorar la vida diaria en un fuerte militar del siglo XIX por caminar el campo de desfiles y visitar cinco de los edificios originales de adobe. El Fort Garland Museum & Cultural Center es un museo de History Colorado.

El Fort Garland Museum & Cultural Center es ubicado en 29477 CO-159, Fort Garland, Colorado. El horario del museo es 10 a.m. a 4 p.m., cada día. Para más información se puede visitar www.FortGarlandMuseum.org o llamar por 719-379-3512.

About History Colorado
History Colorado is a division of the Colorado Department of Higher Education and a 501(c)3 non-profit that has served more than 75,000 students and 500,000 people in Colorado each year. It is a 145-year-old institution that operates eleven museums and historic sites, a free public research center, the Office of Archaeology and Historic Preservation which provides technical assistance, educational opportunities, and other access to archaeology and historic preservation, and the History Colorado State Historical Fund (SHF), which is one of the nation’s largest state funded preservation programs of its kind. More than 70% of SHF grants are allocated in rural areas of the state. Additionally, the offices of the State Archaeologist and the State Historic Preservation Officer are part of History Colorado. 

History Colorado’s mission is to create a better future for Colorado by inspiring wonder in our past. We serve as the state’s memory, preserving and sharing the places, stories, and material culture of Colorado through educational programs, historic preservation grants, collecting, outreach to Colorado communities, the History Colorado Center and Stephen H. Hart Research Center in Denver, and 10 other museums and historic attractions statewide. History Colorado is one of only six Smithsonian Affiliates in Colorado. Visit HistoryColorado.org, or call 303-HISTORY, for more information. #HistoryColorado