unincorporated community
An unincorporated area is a region that is not governed by a local municipal corporation. Widespread unincorporated communities and areas are a distinguishing feature of the United States and Canada. Most other countries of the world either have ...
in
Weld County, Colorado
Weld County is a county located in the U.S. state of Colorado. As of the 2020 census, the population was 328,981. The county seat is Greeley.
Weld County comprises the Greeley, CO Metropolitan Statistical Area, which is included in the Denver ...
United States.
The community took its name from the nearby Puritan Coal Mine, so named for the high quality of its coal.
History
In 1908, the
Union Pacific Railroad
The Union Pacific Railroad , legally Union Pacific Railroad Company and often called simply Union Pacific, is a freight-hauling railroad that operates 8,300 locomotives over routes in 23 U.S. states west of Chicago and New Orleans. Union Paci ...
laid a spur line to service the Puritan Gold Mine located there. A "company town" operated by the National Fuel Company was erected around the mine, and all the houses and stores were owned by the company and rented to miners and their families. Puritan had a store, boarding house, pool hall, and 100 houses.
The settlement was populated from 1908 to 1939, after which the mine was closed and dismantled, and the machinery moved south. Most of the houses were sold and moved.