SE Colorado, Part 6 - Authentic Ghost Town of Ludlow, Colorado Not far from the memorial site of the Ludlow Massacre, described in my last post on the South Eastern Colorado coal mining history, lies the ghost town of Ludlow, Colorado. Several buildings continue to hang on through the brutal Colorado winters, and the baking heat produced in the area in the summer. No graffiti mars the buildings - no one has vandalized them that I can see -so they remain as a testament to times and a way of life long past.
SE Colorado, Part 5 - The Ludlow Massacre Official call to go on strike, September 17, 1913 - "All mine workers are hereby notified that a strike of all the coal mine and coke oven workers in Colorado will begin on Tuesday, September 23, 1913. We are striking for better wages, improved conditions, and union recognition. We are sure to win." When unrest over dangerous and unfair working and living conditions finally came to a head in the Berwind Coal Camp in SE Colorado, the miners decided to strike. The strike was organized by the United Mine Workers, and … (36 comments)
SE Colorado, Part 4 - The Berwind Coal Camp Jail In Part 3 of my series on back road discoveries in Southeastern Colorado, I shared the history of the Berwind Coal Camp, now a ghost town in Las Animas County, that once had a population of around 1000, consisting of miners and their families. In my story, I tried to show just how difficult life was during this period in Colorado's history, so it should come as no surprise that the Company had it's own jail.
But surprised we were when after stopping for photographs of … (40 comments)
SE Colorado, Part 3 - The Ghost Town Coal Camp of Berwind, Colorado
On this trip into southeastern Colorado, we took off on dirt roads that we had never been on, and had no idea what to expect. One such road had lots of surprises, but none more exciting than when we stumbled upon this.
This is the ghost town of Berwind, the Colorado Fuel & Iron Company coal camp that began in 1888, and named after Edward J. Berwind, the chairman of the board of CF&I. The coal fields were enormous, stretching for miles through the … (51 comments)
;)
;)
;)
