Calcite, Colorado

Calcite is a ghost town in Fremont County, Colorado. It served as a company coal mining town for Colorado Fuel & Iron. It is located along Howard Creek roughly six miles from the census-designated place of Howard.[4]

Calcite
Mining ghost town
Men's club constructed in 1914 by Colorado Fuel & Iron[1]
Calcite Location within the state of Colorado
Coordinates: 38°26′10″N 105°53′14″W
Country	United States
State	Colorado
County	Fremont
Elevation	7,602 ft (2,317 m)
Time zone	UTC-7 (Mountain (MST))
• Summer (DST)	UTC-6 (MDT)
ZIP codes	81233 [2]
GNIS feature ID	191720[3]

Description

Calcite's name come from the carbonate mineral calcite, which was quarried in significant quantities in the valleys near the settlement.[5] Located near the base of Hunts Peak, a 13,701-foot-tall (4,176 m) mountain in the Sangre de Cristo Range, it was composed of a set of three Upper, Middle, and Lower camps.[4][6] At its height, 200 people lived in Calcite, though there is no cemetery.[4]

The site is currently composed of several abandoned structures and has signs delineating the separate camps. Basements of homes, portions of mining buildings, and pathways from the initial settlement are scattered through the site.[7]

History

The site was initially founded in 1903 by CF&I to serve as a residence for miners working at the newly-constructed Howard's Quarry, which began operation in 1904.[4][7] The post office opened in 1904. A school and a men's club were constructed in 1914, part of the CF&I efforts to improve its standing among miners after a strike in their Southern Colorado coalfields turned deadly and resulted in the Ludlow Massacre.[1] The school continued operation for several years, graduating students through the eighth grade. The town also had sports clubs and a local chapter of company union established as part of John D. Rockefeller, Jr. and William Lyon Mackenzie King's strategy to reduce discontent among the miners.[8] The community was abandoned in 1930.[4]

References

1. Seligman, Edwin R. A. (5 November 1914). "Colorado's Civil War and Its Lessons". Frank Leslie's Weekly. Accessible Archives. Retrieved 20 February 2020.
2. "Calcite - Cultural Feature (Locale) in Fremont County". CO HomeTownLocator. Retrieved 20 February 2020.
3. "Calcite, Colorado". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey. 13 October 1978. Retrieved 20 February 2020.
4. "Calcite". Museum Blog. Royal Gorge Regional Museum & History Center. 30 June 2018. Retrieved 20 February 2020.
5. "Calcite from limestone quarry near Howard, Fremont County, Colorado". Online Mineral Museum. AllMinerals.com. Retrieved 20 February 2020.
6. "Hunts Peak". Summit Post. Retrieved 20 February 2020.
7. "Ghost Town Calcite Photography". Ghost Towns. Coloradopast.com. 17 August 2009. Retrieved 20 February 2020.
8. "Calcite". Colorado Fuel and Iron Company Industrial Bulletin. Vol. VI no. 3. Colorado Fuel and Iron Company. 25 June 1921. p. 14. Retrieved 20 February 2020.