Check Out the Often Disregarded Historic Colorado Coke Ovens

While the state of Colorado was technically established 100 years following the signing of the United States Declaration of Independence in 1876, Colorado's history dates back even further.

While numerous Native American tribes including the Ute, Apache, and Navajo called the land home long before European settlers laid a stake in it, it was the gold rush of the mid-1800s that changed the land forever and, subsequently, established what we now know as Colorado.

Because of Colorado's rich history in mining, there is a plethora of ghost towns and mining communities, much of which are abandoned, that date back centuries.

Read More: Take a Virtual Tour of Colorado's Haunted Central City Cemetery |

One remarkable remnant of this time period that still stands to this day and, unlike the majority of Colorado's ghost towns, is accessible by the general public, is the long-defunct massive coke oven operation in Redstone, Colorado.

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The Coke Ovens of Redstone Colorado

In case you're not familiar, Redstone, Colorado is nearest and most commonly associated with the much larger and more active town of Carbondale which you can find nestled in the Roaring Fork Valley between Glenwood Springs and Aspen.

While any history buff will tell long tales about these coke ovens, the eventual recognition and preservation took quite a while.

Following the closure of the coke ovens near the turn of the 20th Century, the town of Redstone had dwindled to almost non-existent by the time the country joined WWII.

However, the coke ovens were partially repaired in the 1950s, and decades later in 2004, the land was sold to a local historical society which then transferred it to the local government.

Keep scrolling to take a virtual tour of the historic Redstone Coke Ovens: