Brief by Central Staff
Transportation History – January 1999 – Colorado Central Magazine
Cañon City contributed much, in both labor and materials, to early highway construction in Colorado. The labor came from convicts at the state penitentiary, who were put to work on roads from 1905 until 1926, when the practice was abolished.
The materials — lime, gravel, stone — came from a hillside quarry, still quite visible behind Old Max on the west side of Cañon City.