Redstone Coke Ovens
by Janice Pariza
Title
Redstone Coke Ovens
Artist
Janice Pariza
Medium
Photograph - Photography Art
Description
Coke Ovens Stabilization Project in Redstone, Colorado.
The Redstone Coke Oven Historic District is located at the intersection of State Highway 133 and Chair Mountain Stables Road outside Redstone, Colorado, United States. It consists of the remaining coke ovens built at the end of the 19th century by the Colorado Fuel and Iron. In 1990 it was recognized as a historic district and listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Two hundred were built because the coal in the surrounding mountains was ideal for refining into coke. At their peak they were producing almost 6 million tons a year. The development was the beginning of the modern settlement of Redstone. There are very few coke ovens of their type remaining in the West; the ovens are themselves the only remnant of the sizable coking operation in the area, the largest at the time in Colorado.
Within ten years of their construction the ovens fell into disuse when the mines closed. Their support steel was removed during the scrap metal drives of World War II, and later they were used as living space by hippies who moved into Redstone. The possibility that some might be demolished to build a gas station eventually led Pitkin County to acquire the land in the mid-2000s, and since then some have been restored.
The remaining 90 coke ovens are arranged in a 600-foot�long (180 m) arc over a 4-acre (1.6 ha) area along the west side of Highway 133 south of Coal Creek just opposite where Redstone Boulevard crosses the Crystal River into downtown Redstone. There is a small parking area and interpretive plaque, the only contributing resource in the district other than the ovens. In the middle is a gate leading to the current facility of Mid-Continent Coal & Coke, which now owns the property.
Most of the structures are freestanding beehive ovens made of stone, their rounded tops covered with hardened brown earth. Some retain their original integrity; many have decayed visibly over the years. Four have been restored to their original appearance. A set in the middle, just north of the parking area and entrance, is within a stone retaining wall added in the mid-20th century(due to this, neither it nor the ovens it protects are considered to be contributing to the historic district). Wooden guardrails and fences keep visitors from getting too close.
The history of the coke ovens is the history of Redstone. They went online during the town's peak period of population, and were shut down less than a decade later, never to be used again. They were left to decay throughout much of the rest of the century, as Redstone itself nearly became a ghost town. A century after their construction, as the village turned around, they were restored as a historic attraction.
Fortunes were won, lost and consumed and coal was king. John Cleveland Osgood, the sixth richest and most private of the elite industrialists known as the Robber Barons, built Redstone to give substance to his business ideas � a perplexing mix of feudalism, capitalism and industrial paternalism.
Completed in 1902 at the cost of almost $3 million, Redstone was the utopian coal town with the castle for Osgood and his succession of three wives, the Redstone Inn for the bachelor cokers (coke oven workers), 85 cottages for the cokers' families; a theater, a school, a library, a lodge, a community garden and stables.
. . . But this industrial utopia was short lived, the mines closed in 1909. In 1924 Osgood returned to his castle with Lucille, his third wife, to re-develop Redstone as a resort but he died before its completion. Lucille inherited Osgood's entire estate and attempted to run the Redstone Inn as a resort hotel, but the Great Depression fairly guaranteed its failure. By 1941 Redstone had a population of 14.
Were it not for its spectacular scenery and the grand buildings, Redstone might have fallen into disrepair to become just another Colorado ghost town. Today we invite you to share the incredible beauty, the true western hospitality and the unique history of this magical village.
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Uploaded
November 19th, 2016
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Comments (7)
Randy Rosenberger
Congratulations for being one of our present SPECIAL HIGHLIGHTED ARTISTS, as you are very deserving of this special honor. Check it out on top of the Homepage of our site. It surely is a true honor to FEATURE THIS BEAUTY ON OUR HOMEPAGE! Your talents and love for art are surely dominant in this beautiful piece of outstanding art work! Thanks so very much for sharing, so we may enjoy and adore the beauty within! LIKED AND FAVED Randy B. Rosenberger (admin of WFS group) http://fineartamerica.com/groups/wisconsin-flowers-and-scenery.html
Jean OKeeffe Macro Abundance Art
Congratulations on your feature in Greeting Cards For All Occasions! L