Franceville was a coal mining town and railroad post office in eastern El Paso County, Colorado, about five miles from the town of Falcon and twelve miles east of Colorado Springs. [1] [2] The Franceville post office operated from November 2, 1881, until May 14, 1894. [3] The town was located on land owned by Matt France. [4] There were 120 people in the town in 1885. [5]
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It was named for Matt France, who discovered lignite coal from six to fourteen feet below the surface. France was also instrumental in having the Denver and New Orleans Railroad opened to provide transportation of people and goods through the area, including the transportation of coal from the mine, [1] which was purchased by the railroad from France. [6] [7] Colorado and Southern Railway had a station at Franceville, [8] four miles east of the Franceville Junction station of the Denver and New Orleans Railroad. [5]
The mine opened mid-1882. [6] In 1884, the mine hit its peak production of 56,000 tons. The mine closed in 1898, [6] when it reported the average annual output was 20,000 tons. [6] [9]
The Colorado Springs area was a center of coal mining activity that drew immigrants from Southern Europe, particularly Italy, to the mines in Franceville, Papeton and Pikeview. [10] Its workers came from neighboring towns, like Fountain, which was 15 miles from Franceville. [11]
Evidence of meteoric iron used by prehistoric man was found in Franceville in 1890. [12]
The Denver and New Orleans Railroad (D&NO) was a railroad in Colorado started by Colorado Governor John Evans, along with railroad entrepreneur David Moffat and other associates in 1881. Originally chartered to build a railroad from Denver, Colorado to the Gulf of Mexico, the charter was later changed instead connect southward to the Fort Worth and Denver City Railway which was building northwest from Fort Worth, Texas.
Cascade is an unincorporated community and U.S. Post Office in El Paso County, Colorado, United States. The ZIP Code of the Cascade Post Office is 80809.
Carpenter is an extinct coal mining town located in Mesa County, Colorado, United States, twelve miles northeast of Grand Junction at the end of an extension to 27¼ Road. The townsite is located at 39.1944°N 108.4733°W, at an elevation of 5,808 feet (1,770 m). The Carpenter post office operated from June 11, 1890, only until August 3, 1891.
Calumet is an extinct coal mining town located in Huerfano County, Colorado, United States. The town was founded in 1904 northwest of Walsenburg near the portal of the Calumet Coal Mine complex.
Papeton, was a coal mining town, now in the area of Venetian Village, a neighborhood in Colorado Springs, Colorado, that is 1.4 miles (2.3 km) west southwest of Palmer Park. It is located at 6,184 feet (1,885 m) in elevation.
Morley was a town in Las Animas County, Colorado, that existed between 1878 and 1956. The town was located near the summit of Raton Pass and was originally a railroad stop, before being developed into a coal mining town by the Colorado Fuel and Iron Company (CF&I). Morley was a CF&I company town for fifty years until 1956 when the mine was closed and the town demolished.
Trace Fork or Trace Branch is a creek in Perry County, Kentucky in the United States. It a fork of Lotts Creek 1 mile (1.6 km) upstream from the latter's mouth at an altitude of 825 feet (251 m).
Roswell, now annexed into the city of Colorado Springs, Colorado, was a coal mine settlement near the northern bluffs of Colorado Springs and a 19th-century railroad junction. The town was located at roughly the present intersection of Fillmore Street and North Nevada Avenue in Colorado Springs.
Chandler is an extinct coal company town located south of the Lincoln Park area near Cañon City in Fremont County, Colorado, United States. The Chandler post office operated from August 4, 1890, until October 31, 1942.
Pikeview is a neighborhood of Colorado Springs, annexed to the city as the "Pike View Addition" on August 1, 1962. In 1896 there was a Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad station in Pikeview, and miners had begun digging a shaft for the Pikeview Coal Mine. Pikeview also had a quarry beginning 1905 for the mining of limestone for concrete. Coal mining ended in 1957, but the Pikeview Quarry continues to operate. Quarry operations, though, have created a gash or scar in the landscape and efforts have been made since the late 1980s to reclaim the hillside landscape. The Greg Francis Bighorn Sheep Habitat in what had been Queens Canyon Quarry was founded in 2003 in recognition of the individuals and organizations that have worked to create a nature hillside habitat.
Brodhead is an extinct coal mining town located in Las Animas County, Colorado, United States. The townsite is located at 37.4108°N 104.6764°W at an elevation of 6,919 feet (2,109 m). The Brodhead post office operated from August 14, 1902, until April 29, 1939.
Fountain Creek Regional Park and Nature Center is a park and nature center in Fountain, El Paso County, Colorado near Colorado Springs.
Delagua is an extinct town in Las Animas County, Colorado, United States. The town site is about 5 miles (8 km) south of Aguilar. It served as a company-owned coal-mining town for the Victor-American Fuel Company. The Delagua post office operated from April 30, 1903, until May 31, 1954.
Bowen is an extinct town located in Las Animas County, Colorado, United States.
Jimmy's Camp was a trading post established in 1833. The site is east of present-day Colorado Springs, Colorado on the southeast side of U.S. Route 24 and east of the junction with State Highway 94. Located along Trapper's Trail / Cherokee Trail, it was a rest stop for travelers and was known for its spring. Jimmy Camp was a ranch by 1870 and then a railway station on a spur of the Colorado and Southern Railway. After the ranch was owned by several individuals, it became part of the Banning Lewis Ranch. Now the land is an undeveloped park in Colorado Springs.
Bijou Basin is an extinct town located in El Paso County, Colorado, United States. The townsite is located at 39.1356°N 104.4569°W at an elevation of 6,398 feet (1,950 m). Travelers could take post road 49 to the settlement. It was located five miles southeast of another early settlement, Sidney.
Edgerton is an extinct town at the confluence of Monument Creek and West Monument Creek eight miles north of present-day Colorado Springs in El Paso County, Colorado, United States. It was across from Black Forest. The Edgerton post office operated from June 16, 1870, until August 28, 1902.
Gwillimsville was a settlement at the head of Cherry Creek and six miles east of Monument in northern El Paso County, Colorado. Its settlers were engaged in dairy, ranching, and timber businesses. The Gwillimsville post office operated from April 18, 1878, until September 25, 1890.
Husted is an extinct town located in El Paso County, Colorado, United States. Husted was a settlement on the Denver and Rio Grande Railroad and located thirteen miles north of Colorado Springs. Residents were involved in ranching and lumber businesses. The Husted post office operated from October 1, 1878, until October 15 1920.
Dick is an extinct town in Weld County, in the U.S. state of Colorado.