mammals lived in the Jurassic already. The region is within the Dinosaur Diamond Scenic Byway and includes two other nearby dinosaur-related sites: Mygatt-Moore Quarry and Trail Through Time off Interstate 70 exit 2. Properties The stone cottage building located at 432 East Aspen Avenue was built in 1938 by the Works Progress Administration. Originally built as the Fruita Museum in order to house geological displays, it has served as the home of the Fruita Times, the town library (1948–1996), and is currently in use by the Fruita Area Chamber of Commerce. Owned by the City of Fruita, it has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 1996. The two-and-a-half-story, Queen Anne Style stone house at 798 North Mesa Street was built in 1908 by builder A.B. Mahany and first owner Harry Alvah Phillips. It is known locally as the Phillips House and currently run as the Stonehaven Bed and Breakfast. It is bordered by mature cottonwoods, agricultural land, and the Elmwood Cemetery. It is on the National Register of Historic Places. The two-story Neoclassical building located on 325 East Aspen Avenue was built in 1912 with an addition added in 1936. It was built by the Works Progress Administration as the Central Grade School. In 1993, city and state funds enabled a major renovation, placing it on the State Register of Historic Properties. It currently is the home to the Fruita Civic Center. Geography Fruita is located at (39.156594, −108.724554). It is above sea level in the high desert climate zone on the Colorado Plateau. Surrounding the city limits is the Colorado River, the Colorado National Monument and the Book Cliffs range which extends west into the state of Utah north of Interstate 70. At the 2020 United States Census, the city had a total area of including of water. Distance from Fruita to: Grand Junction-, Utah-, Montrose-, Glenwood Springs-, Denver-, Salt Lake City-. Climate Under the Köppen climate classification Fruita has a cold semi-arid climate, being a dry continental climate. Seasonal differences between the hot summers and cold winters are drastic. Even so, winter days average well above freezing due to solar warming during daytime. The coldest and hottest months of the year are January and July respectively. The annual average precipitation is . Due to the low precipitation, in spite of winter average lows of about , the average year sees just three inches of snow