Ludlow

Top 10 Worst Ghost Towns in Colorado: Part Two

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By Jan MacKell Collins

Elkton – Boom and Bust

Named for the nearby Elkton Mine in 1894, this town in the world-famous Cripple Creek District once had a population of 2,500 people. All three railroads of the District once served Elkton, and a special siding was constructed for the sole purpose of transporting gold ore from the Elkton, the Cresson, and other big mines. In Elkton proper, streets of the community were laid out in tidy rows on the hillside, with miner’s cabins and small houses lining up next to one another. There was a school, plus several restaurants and shops, and a post office which opened in 1895. Being a family town, Elkton had only one saloon.

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April 20, 1914 at Ludlow, Colorado

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By Forrest Whitman

History in Colorado doesn’t quite repeat itself, but (as has been often said) it rhymes. President Obama’s push to raise the minimum wage to $10.10 an hour hauntingly reminds me of the Ludlow Massacre. It happened exactly 100 years ago on April 20, 1914. Somewhere around 39 coal miners and their families were killed and an uncounted more were wounded by Colorado militia and company security guards. Some woman and children died as they huddled in dugouts under the tents as they burned. These were coal miners and their families out on strike against CF&I (Colorado Fuel and Iron). They were living in a tent city at Ludlow after being kicked out of company housing for joining a strike. That strike was about many things, mine safety especially, but another issue was the way the miners were paid in script only useable at the company stores. The most basic strike objective, reminiscent of President Obama’s campaign, was a livable minimum wage.

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Blood Passion, by Scott Martelle

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Review by Allen Best

Ludlow – October 2007 – Colorado Central Magazine

Blood Passion: The Ludlow Massacre and Class War in the American West
by Scott Martelle
Published in 2007 by Rutgers University Press
ISBN 978-0-8135-4062-7

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