« Colorado and Steamboat Ski & Snow Report | Home | Wildlife Migration »
Oak Creek, Colorado and Coal Mining
By PK | November 21, 2008
Oak Creek is located in Routt County in northwest Colorado and was incorporated in 1907. It’s roots stem from a long history of coal mining.
Oak Creek, Colorado, Main Street, today
Oak Creek, Colorado, Main Street, 1908
Oak Creek has a population of less than 1000 residents and resides along Hwy 131 south of Steamboat Springs. Nearby is the Stagecoach State Park, one of Oak Creek’s most popular recreational facilities. Here in Oak Creek, you’ll find a quaint little town with huge western hospitality.
Oak Creek, today
Oak Creek, 1911
Sled in front of Oak Creek Post Office, 1920
Located in the center of town you will find memorabilia dedicated to their mining history. Folks, this is well worth stopping to have a look.
This 40-yard bucket was used for strip mining at the Edna Mine and was in use until 1975. It was one of the five buckets in use. This bucket was used on the Bucyrus-Erie Dragline (earth moving machine). The Dragline weighed approximately 1,800 tons and had a ballast of 250 tons on the back of the machine to counter balance the 235 foot boom that the bucket was attached to.
This bucket was used to removed the overburden, 60-110 feet of rock and dirt. Empty it would weigh approximately 40 tons.
The Edna Mine was opened in 1947 and closed in 1996. It was estimated that when the mine closed, there was approximately 8 million tons of coal left in the mountain.
The small bucket on the left was used in the Haybro Mine to remove dirt and rock from the mineshaft because the Haybro Mine was a deep mine that went directly down a shaft into the earth. The picture in the center is the Haulage or Trolley Motor used to haul the pit cars that hauled coal out of the mine. On the right, is one of the old pit cars.
The Haybro Mine in 1916
The discovery of Coal in Northwest Colorado brought early settlers over the mountains and wove them into the history of Colorado. John Crawford arrived in 1876 after hearing rumors of the vast coal reserves on the western slopes of the Rocky Mountains. At the turn of the century, small mines were providing coal for Routt County stoves, but no major production could take place without cheap, and easy transportation.
Juniper Mine, 1901-1915
The county’s “black gold” would have to move quickly and in quantity to markets if production were to expand. In 1904 David Moffat announced plans to build a railroad over the mountains from Denver to Salt Lake City and the Pacific Coast. Tracks would cut through the canyons, meadows and forests of Routt County which, at the time, extended to the Utah border.
Moffat Mine, 1920s
By the end of 1908, railroad tracks arrived in Steamboat Springs. “Company towns” were appearing to the south and west. Oak Creek incorporated in 1907 and ten years later, Mt. Harris, MacGregor, Pinnacle, Haybro and others were thriving communities. Mining towns required supplies which ranches hastened to make available. Cattle became big business; with the railroad replacing the cattle drives to the big markets. One local industry literally fed upon the other.
Early Miners at the entrance of a mine
Bad news hit the county in the early 1900’s. A strike of mine workers in 1913 starting in Southern Colorado quickly spread. Over 400 men in Oak Creek were idled. By October, all coal districts were under marshal law. Although mines reopened under “open shop” policies, few workers responded.
Christmas 1913 was bleak one for the miners. In Oak Creek, a riot broke out and one merchant was injured. Shooting and arson became the norm. Deputies from Steamboat Springs were dispatched and, in late winter, an uneasy truce ensued. At the beginning of 1914, the governor dispatched the National Guard to keep the peace. The advent of World War I probably saved the county and its coalfields from further union confrontation.
Coal Miner’s Tags
Great fortunes were made in Routt County coalfields between 1910 and 1940. But even in the late 1930’s, the market for their high-grade coal was declining. Underground mining was expensive and dangerous. Several explosions had claimed dozens of lives. Strip mining in the East killed the western market.
Close-up of Miner’s Tags
Ghost towns appeared on the Routt County landscape. Mt. Harris became a street lined with empty company houses and a vacant rock schoolhouse on the hill. Oak Creek, once a center of trade and larger that its sister, Steamboat Springs, lost its vitality and shrunk into depression.
For 25 years, then, county economy depended upon agriculture and tourism. It was not until 1949 that the first local strip mine began operation, ushering in yet another era of prosperity for the area. Coal was again the king.
Twentymile Coal Co., Oak Creek, today
Today there are three active coal-mining companies in Northwest Colorado; Colowyo Coal Company, Seneca Coal Company and Twentymile Coal Company producing millions of pounds of coal each.
Twentymile Coal Co., Oak Creek, today
More than 75% of the coal mined in the United States is used to produce electricity. Typically it takes about one ton of coal to produce 2500 kilowatt-hours of electricity. By checking the number of kilowatt-hours used during a billing period, a customer can determine how many pounds of coal were used to meet his or her needs—presuming that all the power was coal-generated, of course.
Here are some examples of how much coal is used yearly by a family of four to
produce the electricity needed to operate various appliances:
Electric water heater — 3,375 pounds
Range — 560 pounds
Hand iron — 48 pounds
Hairdryer — 20 pounds
Vacuum cleaner — 37 pounds
Clock — 14 pounds
Color television, solid-state — 256 pounds
The U.S. has approximately 30% of the world’s coal reserves. Today, electricity can be produced more cheaply from coal than from oil, gas, or nuclear power. Most of the costs of mining and burning coal in an environmentally safe manner are included in the cost of today’s coal. Consequently coal should remain a reasonably priced source of electricity compared to other sources. The cost of transportation to deliver coal to the power plant can be the largest influence in the price people pay for electricity.
I decided to do my own calculations, not that I’m nowhere similar to Bill Nye, the Science Guy. I actually hated science in school, even more biology, but aced math. So, here’s my conclusions:
Denver, according to 2000 yearly statistics, has 239,235 households. The Colorado State University states that an average household uses 600 kilowatts of electricity per month. That totals to 143, 541,000 of kilowatts needed to light up Denver for one month.
One ton of coal produces 2500 kilowatts of electricity. Denver alone needs 57,416.4 tons of coal per month if producing electricity solely on coal. Wow!! No wonder I see so many trains leaving Oak Creek loaded with train car after train car of coal!!!
I hope you’ve enjoyed this very educational article and PLEASE, don’t start calling me Bill.
216.237.246.94
38.103.63.62
Stumble it!
Topics: Colorado |
2 Responses to “Oak Creek, Colorado and Coal Mining”
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
November 22nd, 2008 at 12:31 am
Yet another ‘on the mark’ historical documentary of a fascination town in your neck of the woods. Enjoyed the read this morning.
November 24th, 2008 at 12:40 am
Thank you. I’m glad you enjoyed it. This one took some time and it’s always appreciated hearing from someone who enjoyed reading it.