Serene, Colorado
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Serene, Colorado is an extinct
coal mining Coal mining is the process of resource extraction, extracting coal from the ground or from a mine. Coal is valued for its Energy value of coal, energy content and since the 1880s has been widely used to Electricity generation, generate electr ...
company town A company town is a place where all or most of the stores and housing in the town are owned by the same company that is also the main employer. Company towns are often planned with a suite of amenities such as stores, houses of worship, schoo ...
that was owned by the Rocky Mountain Fuel Company.Once A Coal Miner: The Story of Colorado's Northern Coal Field, by Phyllis Smith, 1989, pp. 172-174, quoting Perry Eberhart, "Trouble in Serene," Denver Westerners Brandbook, vol. 29, (1973), p. 205. Serene was located at the site of the Columbine Mine and had company housing and a coal preparation plant. The Serene post office operated from January 25, 1923, until August 31, 1942. Serene was the site of the Columbine Mine Massacre on November 21, 1927.


History

In 1927, Colorado
coal Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other Chemical element, elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen. Coal i ...
miners conducted a statewide strike that had been called by the
Industrial Workers of the World The Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), whose members are nicknamed "Wobblies", is an international labor union founded in Chicago, United States in 1905. The nickname's origin is uncertain. Its ideology combines general unionism with indu ...
. The Columbine Mine at Serene was the only major
coal mine Coal mining is the process of resource extraction, extracting coal from the ground or from a mine. Coal is valued for its Energy value of coal, energy content and since the 1880s has been widely used to Electricity generation, generate electr ...
in the state that continued to dig coal. In her book ''Once A Coal Miner'', author Phyllis Smith described the company town of Serene: :...a collection of dirty company houses surrounded by a barricade of barbed wire, illuminated at night by a giant searchlight that was installed on the Columbine tipple. :In addition to living quarters for the employees of the Columbine, Serene boasted a church, a gambling hall, general store, mess hall, a house of prostitution, and the United States post office... :Because of its location, Serene was "cut off from the world and from outside workers ... despite its name, dingy little Serene epitomized the conditions the miners were striking against." The Colorado State Ranger Unit (the former "dry unit" from prohibition days) was summoned to prevent a demonstration by striking coal miners. Some 500 protestors showed up at the mine on the morning of November 21. The confrontation between strikers and the militia unit resulted in the Columbine Mine Massacre, in which six miners were killed by machine gun, rifle and pistol fire.


Geography

Serene was located on rolling hills just west of the present-day
Interstate 25 Interstate 25 (I-25), also known as the Pan-American Freeway, is a major Interstate Highway in the western United States. It is primarily a north–south highway, serving as the main route through New Mexico, Colorado, and Wyoming. I-25 st ...
on State Highway 7, north of the State of Colorado Historical Marker that commemorates the Columbine Mine Massacre. The area that once was the company town of Serene is now a public
landfill A landfill is a site for the disposal of waste materials. It is the oldest and most common form of waste disposal, although the systematic burial of waste with daily, intermediate and final covers only began in the 1940s. In the past, waste was ...
in extreme southwestern Weld County, within the town limits of Erie at .


See also

* Bibliography of Colorado * Geography of Colorado * History of Colorado * Index of Colorado-related articles * List of Colorado-related lists ** List of ghost towns in Colorado ** List of post offices in Colorado *
Outline of Colorado The following Outline (list), outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to the U.S. state of Colorado: Colorado – List of U.S. states and territories by population#State and territory rankings, 22nd most populous, the Lis ...


References


External links

{{authority control 1923 establishments in Colorado Company towns in Colorado Former populated places in Colorado Former populated places in Weld County, Colorado Geography of Weld County, Colorado Ghost towns in Colorado History of Colorado Industrial Workers of the World in Colorado