The Cokedale Historic District, in

Cokedale, Colorado The Town of Cokedale is a Statutory Town located in Las Animas County, Colorado, United States. The town population was 127 at the 2020 United States Census. History Cokedale is a former coal mining town. The mine shut down in 1947. The tow ...

, is a

historic district A historic district or heritage district is a section of a city which contains older buildings considered valuable for historical or architectural reasons. In some countries or jurisdictions, historic districts receive legal protection from c ...

which is roughly bounded by Church, Maple, Pine, Elm, and Spruce Streets. It was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

in 1985. The listing included 92

contributing buildings In the law regulating historic districts in the United States, a contributing property or contributing resource is any building, object, or structure which adds to the historical integrity or architectural qualities that make the historic distric ...

, seven

contributing structures In the law regulating historic districts in the United States, a contributing property or contributing resource is any building, object, or structure which adds to the historical integrity or architectural qualities that make the historic distric ...

, and two

contributing sites In the law regulating historic districts in the United States, a contributing property or contributing resource is any building, object, or structure which adds to the historical integrity or architectural qualities that make the historic distric ...

. It was deemed significant as an example of a company-owned coal camp and for its association with the coal mining and coking industry in southern Colorado. Most other such coal camps were dismantled after World War I, but Cokedale continued to operate as a company town until 1947. According to its NRHP nomination

It was long heralded as a "model" camp, with housing, educational and recreational facilities provided for its inhabitants by their employer, the
American Smelting and Refining Company Asarco LLC (American Smelting and Refining Company) is a mining, smelting, and refining company based in Tucson, Arizona, which mines and processes primarily copper. The company has been a subsidiary of Grupo México since 1999. Its three large ...
. Most of the houses and public and commercial buildings have survived essentially intact, with few contemporary intrusions, to become the most representative remaining such town in Colorado.

The town was built starting in 1906 by the Carbon Coal and Coke Company, a subsidiary of American Smelting and Refining Company. Denver architect

James Murdoch James Rupert Jacob Murdoch (born 13 December 1972) is a British-American businessman, the younger son of media mogul Rupert Murdoch, and was the chief executive officer (CEO) of 21st Century Fox from 2015 to 2019. He was the chairman and CEO fo ...

designed workers' houses of 3, 4, 5, 6, and 8 rooms; a camp store; a boarding house; a school; and a mine office. Most buildings had sandstone foundations and walls of cinderblocks made from coke and cement. There was also a group of frame buildings. With

References

Company towns Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Colorado National Register of Historic Places in Las Animas County, Colorado Buildings and structures completed in 1906 1906 establishments in Colorado {{Colorado-NRHP-stub