Entry No. 4 — the Pueblo file — filed under: haunted
Colorado State Hospital Museum (CMHIP Museum)
“Cash only at the door; ask the volunteers about the tunnels.”
The 1879 Colorado State Insane Asylum never closed — it is the Colorado Mental Health Institute now, and you drive onto its still-active grounds to reach this museum inside the old superintendent’s mansion. Electroshock machines, straitjackets, an autopsy display, and remains recovered after a 1992 construction crew hit unmarked patient graves — roughly 135 patients, buried on the cheap by the first superintendent. The basement holds original records back to opening day, October 1879. Cash only at the door; ask the volunteers about the tunnels.
The story
You drive right onto active psychiatric hospital grounds to reach this place. The original institution opened on October 23, 1879, as the Colorado State Insane Asylum on 40 acres purchased from George M. Chilcott. It never closed—it simply evolved into the Colorado Mental Health Institute at Pueblo. The museum itself is housed inside the white-stucco, red-tile-roofed former Superintendent’s House, built in 1934.
Inside, two floors lay out the grim mechanics of 19th- and 20th-century institutional care: electroshock machines, heavy canvas straitjackets, and a stark autopsy display. The heaviest history waits in the dirt and the basement archive. In 1992, a campus construction crew unearthed roughly 135 unmarked patient graves—people buried as cheaply as possible under the asylum's first superintendent. Some of those recovered remains are displayed alongside original patient intake ledgers dating directly back to opening day in October 1879.
This isn't a sanitized state archive; it's a raw, local preservation project run by volunteers who know where every body is buried. Ask them offhand about the network of underground tunnels connecting the campus buildings—you didn't hear it from us.
What it's like
Turning off West 13th Street onto Francisco Street feels slightly illicit because you are navigating an active state facility. Take the immediate right toward 15th Street and park beside the superintendent's mansion. Payment is strictly cash at the door. Because the museum operates on a skeleton schedule—often just one or two days a week plus appointment slots—always verify hours before making the trip. Give yourself two full hours to process two floors of medical artifacts and the basement records.
The move: Take the tour together, then split up in the superintendent’s mansion and each find the single creepiest artifact to show the other — compare notes over a slopper downtown afterward.
📍 Before you go You are entering an active psychiatric hospital campus: turn in at 13th and Francisco and take the immediate right — the museum is the white-stucco, red-tile-roofed former Superintendent’s House near Francisco and 15th, and you can park on the grounds beside it. It keeps a skeleton schedule of one or two set days a week plus by-appointment visits, so confirm before driving over. Payment is cash at the door. The collection spans two floors plus a basement of original patient records, so allow a couple of hours, then pair it with the Riverwalk or a slopper downtown.
- 📍 Pueblo
- 💸 $
- ⚡ Up for anything
- 🌗 Indoors
Where: Former Superintendent’s House, enter CMHIP grounds at W 13th St & Francisco St, Pueblo, CO 81003
Hours: Added 2026-06-11 — confirm current hours before you go.
⚠ Seasonal or scheduled — always check before you go.
Pair it with
- Crystal Moon Witchery — Shift from 19th-century medical asylum history to a genuine practitioner-run occult shop half a mile away.
- Bite Me Cake Company / Flip A Coin Arcade Bar — Decompress after the heavy institutional tour with Pueblo's local slopper and basement arcade games downtown.
- Pueblo Neon Alley — Follow up dark hospital history with an evening stroll through a back alley illuminated by rescued, restored vintage neon.
- Card Board Games — Pair an intense two-hour museum walk with tabletop gaming in the historic Union Avenue district.
Good to know
How do I locate the museum inside active hospital grounds?
Enter the CMHIP campus at West 13th Street and Francisco Street, take an immediate right, and head toward the white-stucco, red-tile-roofed Superintendent’s House near 15th Street.
What payment methods do they accept?
It is cash only at the door, so hit an ATM before entering the campus.
What unique artifacts are in the collection?
You will find vintage electroshock devices, straitjackets, autopsy equipment, human remains recovered from a 1992 grave site discovery, and primary patient logbooks starting from 1879.
Do I need to check hours in advance?
Yes. The museum runs on a limited schedule of one or two set days a week plus by-appointment visits, so confirm current opening times before driving over.
Plan a visit & invite your people →
Further reading: Official site · Atlas Obscura
last checked: 2026-06-11