The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
Town looking at mini archaeological dig
A recent town paving project is stirring up a look at some of Crested Butte’s mining history. The paving of the Big Mine parking lot has resulted in the rediscovery of some of the coke ovens built during the coal-mining era more than century ago.
The contractor on the project, Lacy Construction, was clearing out some space in the area by the skateboard park and in the process cleared some brick debris from coke ovens that were utilized when coal was mined and processed in the space.
“I don’t want to raise any expectations, but we are going to try to see if we can excavate one or two of the ovens that might still be intact,” explained Crested Butte building and zoning director Bob Gillie.
“We’ll do a little exploration, a little archaeology, at the corner by the alley and Third Street and see what’s there. Once we see what we’ve got we can determine if we can do something.
“I don’t know yet if there is something there we can save,” Gillie continued. “We are investigating what we can do. This is part of our history.”
According to an historical plaque already located in the area, 154 ovens in two orderly rows were used in the production of coke between 1882 and 1918. The ovens were lined with bricks to attain high temperatures. The coke ovens baked the bituminous coal mined in the Big Mine on the bench at the south end of town. Baking the impurities of the coal produced the fuel used in the production of steel and iron.
Gillie said given the moveable soil due to the bricks and loose debris from the coke oven area, he is looking at building a retaining wall between the parking lot and the skate park.
Barbara Mason of the Mountain Heritage Museum said that retaining wall might be able to be used in an interpretive manner.
“The coke ovens were quite degraded and even covered over in the 1950s,” Mason said. “Those are the interior bricks you can see. People took the bricks from the outside to use for their house foundations and stuff. We’d like to see some interpretive signage and inclusion of some of the bricks into the retaining wall. That could be really interesting. We are working with the town to advise them how to use our old photographs and include some of the stamped bricks in a display that could possibly be part of the retaining wall.”
Mason pointed out that the old coke ovens aren’t located in the town’s designated historic district anymore, “but it’s great to see a snapshot of history.”
Museum director Glo Cunningham added, “It’s fabulous the town is trying to preserve this. The town inherited the situation from CF&I and their actions. Colorado Fuel and Iron had put dirt and cement in the coke ovens to close everything down when they left in the 1950s. They just wanted to be done. So when the town dug up some of the remaining coke ovens, it was a bit of a surprise. Everyone has come together and we are now trying to commemorate that and its history.
“The museum is working closely with recreation director Jake Jones and the town and doing the best we can to make it a significant historical section of town,” continued Cunningham. “A broad-based working group will get together to give input on how to best deal with the overall park design that will satisfy a variety of organizations that have a vested interest in that area. We will talk about potential improvements like a roof over the rink. It is a very positive, forward-thinking step for the entire park.”
The town will begin its mini-archaeological dig this week and all ideas will be considered.
