When Dale Fischer’s grandkids returned from a class trip up to Tiny Town last month, they gave their granddad a mixed review on the century-old miniature municipality.

The little town and its scaled-down railroad line off U.S. 285 in the foothills above Morrison were lots of fun, they reported, but the place was in bad shape.

“Poppy, it needs paint,” they said.

Fischer, who owns Denver-based Eastern Slope Painting, was the perfect party to hear that complaint. Some 38 years ago, Fischer recalls, he opted to begin taking some of his professional time touching up homes and businesses to touch others’ lives by volunteering.

On Saturday, he led a party of carpenter buddies and other volunteers into the petite village and carried out a makeover of some of its most worn structures.

Reopens Memorial Weekend

Tiny Town closed for the season following Labor Day, and will reopen Memorial Day Weekend in 2026.

For Fischer, who turns 66 next month, these missions are a regular way of celebrating his birthday. “Instead of celebrating me, I’d rather reach and celebrate others,” he told The Gazette.

“Dale Fischer has given so much to so many organizations, I love him,” said custom builder John Kurowski, who has worked with Fischer on many projects. That included a fundraiser 30 years ago that added another new house to the small-scale village.

First built as a private family entertainment along the old stage coach road to Leadville by businessman and Buffalo Bill Cody associate George Turner, “Turnerville” was converted to a public attraction in 1920.

Famous replicas

Quickly luring crowds numbering in the tens of thousands annually, it expanded over the decades, offering replicas of famous Colorado structures including Bent’s Fort, the Central City Opera House, White Fence Farm, and later, the chapel of the U.S. Air Force Academy. Those were along with a grocery store, hotel, poolhall, churches and schools. Some buildings were scaled for kids to climb inside.

In 1939, the same year its name changed from Turnerville to Tiny Town, the attraction added a mini-steam locomotive train through the town and its outskirts. (Rides this past season were $4).

Along with entertaining generations of kids and other visitors, the miniature burg has also been the site of calamities to rival a Chicago or a Johnstown, and it has repeatedly been in need of repairs.

In 1929 and again in 1932, its hundred-plus structures were damaged by flood. In 1935, fire ravaged Tiny Town’s Indian pueblo and some other primary buildings.

Fire and flood

A devastating flood again roared through town in 1969, leaving it a debris-strewn wreckage isolated from the highway by road washouts. In 1972, a rail accident in Lakewood killed the train buff and mechanic who had carried out a prominent restoration and improvements of the town’s rail line.

The town was repeatedly salvaged and rebuilt, and along the way acquired some new historic buildings from the original Turnerville, when they were discovered in a nearby property and donated.

In 1989 its operations were turned over to the non-profit Tiny Town Foundation, which took the village into some of its most successful seasons. New locomotives were commissioned (four are now in service), each of them a historic re-creation of a famous Colorado engine. The town attracted a reported 100,000 visitors in 1991.

But time has also worked to deface the city’s aging edifices.

Repainting and repairs

When Fischer stopped in to survey the town five weeks ago, he identified the buildings in most need of touching up, including a few that required substantial repairs along with repainting. Along lines of similar events he’s carried out, at yesterday’s project he provided volunteer craftspeople with an overview briefing about the town and its history, brought in a guitarist and a kids’ face painter as background entertainment, and arranged lunch for the team.

“People are motivated to help out because it’s a tiny town,” Fischer said of the donations and volunteer work that have been offered for the project. He offered special thanks to major contributors Old Western Paint, Sherman Williams, Bill Campbell Carpentry, Tim Jingles, My Favorite Muffin and Sam’s Club.

Fischer complimented the foundation for having maintained the attraction over the decades. “They’ve done a great job,” he added, noting that five of the regular staff had donated their time to help out Saturday.

Kid-scaled admission prices

“Some of them have been doing volunteer work on Tiny Town all of their lives.”

At a moment when a single-day admission to Disney World runs a reported $119 and up, Tiny Town’s web site lists prices for entry at $5 for adults, $3 for kids two-to-12 years.  A ride on the railroad is another $4.

“It’s because we are really there for children, and want something they can afford,” said Elira Nedoma, who has managed Tiny Town for 26 years on behalf of the foundation.

She describes herself as a momma bear in protecting the town. Many times, Nedoma added, she has heard propositions from visitors offering to come back and help fix up some homes and offices, “but that would be the last I saw of them,” she added.

When Fischer returned with paint chips that were exact matches to some of the town’s structures, she told herself, “I can’t believe this.”

The attraction will open again next Memorial Day Weekend off U.S. 285 at South Turkey Creek Road in Morrison, four miles west of C-470.

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