Puritan, Colorado

Summary

Puritan is a former unincorporated community in Weld County, Colorado United States.[1]

Puritan
Puritan is located in Colorado
Puritan
Puritan
Puritan is located in the United States
Puritan
Puritan
Coordinates: 40°05′06″N 104°59′57″W / 40.08500°N 104.99917°W / 40.08500; -104.99917
CountryUnited States
StateColorado
CountyWeld
Elevation
5,023 ft (1,531 m)
Time zoneUTC-7 (Mountain (MST))
 • Summer (DST)UTC-6 (MDT)
GNIS feature ID180843[1]

The community took its name from the nearby Puritan Coal Mine, so named for the high quality of its coal.[2]

History edit

In 1908, the Union Pacific Railroad 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.[3] Puritan had a store, boarding house, pool hall, and 100 houses.[4]

The settlement was populated from 1908 to 1939, after which the mine was closed and dismantled, and the machinery moved 3 mi (4.8 km) south.[3][4] Most of the houses were sold and moved.[4]

References edit

  1. ^ a b U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Puritan
  2. ^ Dawson, John Frank. Place Names in Colorado: Why 700 Communities Were so Named, 150 of Spanish or Indian Origin. Denver, CO: The J. Frank Dawson Publishing Co. p. 42.
  3. ^ a b "Puritan – 1908" (PDF). Weld County Government. Retrieved March 29, 2020.
  4. ^ a b c The Colorado Magazine. State Historical Society of Colorado. 1942. p. 153.