Calumet is an

extinct Extinction is the termination of an organism by the death of its Endling, last member. A taxon may become Functional extinction, functionally extinct before the death of its last member if it loses the capacity to Reproduction, reproduce and ...

coal mining town located in Huerfano County,

Colorado Colorado is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas ...

, United States. The town was founded in 1904 northwest of Walsenburg near the portal of the Calumet Coal Mine complex.

History

One of the mines in the community, Calumet No. 2, was briefly owned by

Henry J. Kaiser Henry John Kaiser (May 9, 1882 – August 24, 1967) was an American industrialist who became known for his shipbuilding and construction projects, then later for his involvement in fostering modern American health care. Prior to World War II, ...

and maintained by Kaiser Steel between 1924 and 1971. Although small even for an underground coal mine, in 1961, the Calumet Mine was the county's leading producer. The name Calumet refers to a type of

ceremonial pipe A ceremonial pipe is a particular type of smoking pipe (tobacco), smoking pipe, used by a number of cultures of the indigenous peoples of the Americas in their sacred ceremonies. Traditionally they are used to offer prayers in a religious ceremo ...

. The hamlet never did grow large enough to have its own

post office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letter (message), letters and parcel (package), parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post o ...

and was abandoned by the 1970s.

''Red Dawn''

A fictionalized version of Calumet, Colorado, not as a tiny ghost town but as a fairly vibrant community with a substantial population, was depicted in the 1984 film ''

Red Dawn ''Red Dawn'' is a 1984 American action drama film directed by John Milius, from a screenplay co-written with Kevin Reynolds. The film depicts a fictional World War III centering on a military invasion of the United States by an alliance of ...

''. Calumet is the movie's central setting. This created town of Calumet was chosen to be the film's central location so that it could be related to almost anywhere in the U.S., an ambiguous American township with deliberately vague landmarks and names. This town was originally to be

Calumet, Michigan Calumet ( or ) is a Village (United States), village in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, Upper Peninsula of the U.S. state of Michigan. The village is located within Calumet Charter Township, Michigan, Calumet Township, Houghton County, Michiga ...

, but due to the isolated location of that community, it made more sense to base it in a central state, like Colorado. The choice of Calumet, Michigan was made by a producer who came from the area of that community. ''Red Dawn'' was actually filmed in and around the town of

Las Vegas, New Mexico Las Vegas, often known simply as Vegas, is a city in and the county seat of San Miguel County, New Mexico, United States. Once two separate municipalities (one a city and the other a town), both were named Las Vegas: West Las Vegas ("Old Town" ...

, which served as a stand-in for the fictionalized version of Calumet.

References

External links

State of Colorado

History Colorado

Full Resolution Ghost Town and Historic Site Photos by Coloradopast.com
1904 establishments in Colorado Former populated places in Huerfano County, Colorado Geography of Huerfano County, Colorado Ghost towns in Colorado History of Colorado Mining communities in Colorado Populated places established in 1904 {{US-ghost-town-stub

History

''Red Dawn''

See also

References

External links