The Colorado Mineral Palace was constructed in 1891 by a group of wealthy backers from the Colorado mining industry, smelting industry, and business community. These wealthy capitalists began with high hopes for a world attraction that would promote not only their business interests, but political goals. The bimetallism movement found strong support in the silver mining companies of the time, and one of the early backers of the project was a national advocate for the movement. 

Unfortunately, these men's high hopes were soon dashed by dwindling financial resources. What had been planned as an elaborately detailed palace, constructed from the most expensive material, went through several re-designs to account for financial constrictions. By the time of its construction, the design had been critically compromised. High operations costs for a project of the palace's proportions continued to dog the Mineral Palace Company, which eventually folded and sold the palace to the city of Pueblo. 

After decades of neglect, a spasm of preservation efforts arrived with the WPA in 1938. While substantial renovations were performed, they were not enough to save the palace from disuse and rotting structures. The palace was demolished in 1943, and its featured mineral collections were sold away. Some of the metal in the structure was scavenged for the war effort.

As with other industrial palaces built during this time, the Colorado Mineral Palace in its prime was a breathtaking monument to the fruits of its industry, and a lively center for numerous social banquets, parties, and conventions. Materials and exhibits flooded in from around the state to furnish its displays, including two statues featuring the silver of Aspen and coal of Trinidad, two Colorado mining towns. The palace featured prominently in Colorado's turnout at the 1893 Columbian World Exposition in Chicago, and was a point of pride for Pueblo and the state at large. 

The Colorado Mineral Palace's story is laid out here, in all its glory and misfortune. It remains only in memory as a monument to industrial "magnificence" and the vagaries of "reality."