Redstone Inn
Redstone Inn | ||
MPS Mining Industry in Colorado | | |
NRHP reference No. | 80000920 | |
---|---|---|
Added to NRHP | March 27, 1980 |
The Redstone Inn is located on Redstone Boulevard in Redstone, Colorado, United States. It is a structure in the Tudor Revival architectural styles built at the beginning of the 20th century. In 1980 it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It is also a contributing property to the Redstone Historic District listed on the register nine years later.
When it was built, it served as a
Buildings and grounds
The 22-acre (8.9 ha)
A C-shaped driveway provides access to the front of the similarly shaped main inn building from Firehouse. It is a two-and-half–story wood-frame building on a
On the front
To the rear is a swimming pool surrounded by a large concrete deck. A pool house is to the south, and tennis courts are on the east. At the southeast, on the riverbank, is a small chalet with two rooms.[6]
History
In the 1880s,
He had for many years had his eye on the coal found in the upper Crystal valley, which he had found would yield high-quality coke, useful in the manufacture of steel. Longstanding plans to develop mines in the area had to wait due to the Panic of 1893 and the economic uncertainty it created. Only just before the turn of the century were banks again willing to finance a large-scale venture.[8]
A large part of the venture was the construction of a planned company town at Redstone, where the coke ovens were. Most miners just built crude shacks or log cabins for themselves and, if they had come along, their families, out of whatever was available. It was often unsightly, and its poor quality became an issue in labor disputes. Osgood wanted to change that.[8]
By the end of 1899, 249 ovens, the largest coking facility in the state, had been built by contractors from Denver.[9] They were operated by a work force that accounted for 10% of all Colorado's workers at the time. Coking workers were predominantly immigrants from Eastern Europe whom the company had recruited from the East. The miners, by contrast, were usually longtime Colorado residents who had worked in mines elsewhere.[8]
Starting the next year, Osgood built Redstone, a project that ultimately cost $5 million ($176 million in modern dollars
For the unmarried workers there was a 40-room dormitory at the south end of the first section of town built, just across the river from the ovens. It was described as being in the "old English style", what has since been called Tudor Revival, with half-timbering on a stucco face. The clock tower was copied from a similar one at an inn in Rotterdam, Netherlands.[4] Inside, amenities for the residents included a barbershop, telephones and reading room as well as the electricity and water.[3]
Such luxuries, unheard of even for management in most mountain mining camps, earned Redstone the nickname of "Ruby of the Rockies". "Could any coal camp ask more?" wrote
Due to financial problems resulting from labor stoppages at its other facilities in Colorado, Osgood lost control of CF&I to representatives of the Rockefeller and Gould families in 1903. He was less able to control the direction of Redstone, and although he started the competing Victor-American Fuel Company he spent more time back East. The mining and coking continued until 1909, when it became unprofitable to ship coal and coke from the mines to the company's new steel mill in Pueblo. Redstone's inhabitants left very quickly, with barely a dozen remaining to keep it from becoming a ghost town. The dormitory was abandoned and fell into neglect.[8]
Over the next several decades, many of the Redstone buildings were moved or demolished. Osgood returned in his dying years, hoping to re-open his estate as a resort, but the Depression prevented that from happening. In the early 1940s many of the other larger buildings of Redstone, such as its school, firehouse and its two lodges, were dismantled for scrap metal needed to fight World War II.[8]
After the war, coal mining and coking returned to Redstone, on a smaller scale, in the early 1950s. The dormitory was
Rates and services
The inn is open year-round. Room rates vary from $99 for a vintage style room to over $200 for a suite,[14] rates that compare favorably with those charged by lodging in the nearby Aspen area. The small single room in the clock tower may be rented for $85.[15] Pets are allowed to stay in the terrace rooms for an additional $20 per pet per night, and may be left alone in the room; however the hotel's housekeeping staff will not enter a room with a dog alone.[5]
Rooms are equipped with flat-screen TVs and most have DVD players. All rooms have satellite TV. The inn has wireless Internet available throughout the hotel, complemented by a business center located on the main floor in the library. Irons and ironing boards are available on request. There is no elevator.[16]
A free
The inn offers other tourism services offsite. It coordinates tours of the Redstone Castle.[14][17][15] It also hosts destination weddings.[18]
Reviews
In addition to the location, travel writers staying at the Redstone have complimented its period furniture and interior decoration, calling it "striking."[4] "I love old Arts and Crafts-style lodges in remote locations", says Nicholas Trotter in Colorado & The Rockies For Dummies, "and the Redstone Inn may be my favorite anywhere." "The rooms are by no means opulent, if opulence is what you're looking for," agrees Evelyn Spence in the Explorer's Club guide Colorado's Classic Mountain Towns: A Great Destination, "but the Stickley–Roycroft period furniture, antiques and outdated wallpaper seem to go together swimmingly."[15]
See also
- List of hotels in the United States
- National Register of Historic Places listings in Pitkin County, Colorado
References
- ^ ISBN 978-1-56579-429-0. Retrieved February 12, 2012.
- ^ "Pitkin County". History Colorado. Retrieved February 11, 2011.
- ^ a b Simmons, R. Laurie and Whitacre, Christine; "Historic Resources of Redstone Multiple Property Submission" (PDF)., History Colorado, March 1989, pp. 13–14. Retrieved February 12, 2012.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-7627-5342-0. Retrieved February 12, 2012.
- ^ ISBN 978-1-55591-239-0.
- ^ "The Redstone Inn". The Redstone Inn. Retrieved February 12, 2012.
- ^ Simmons and Whitacre, 3–5.
- ^ a b c d e f g h Simmons and Whitacre, 9–16.
- Aspen Times. Aspen, CO. Retrieved January 16, 2012.
- ^ 1634–1699: McCusker, J. J. (1997). How Much Is That in Real Money? A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States: Addenda et Corrigenda (PDF). American Antiquarian Society. 1700–1799: McCusker, J. J. (1992). How Much Is That in Real Money? A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States (PDF). American Antiquarian Society. 1800–present: Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. "Consumer Price Index (estimate) 1800–". Retrieved February 29, 2024.
- ^ "The Redstone Story re-lives the industrialization of the West ..." Redstone Community Association. Retrieved January 20, 2012.
- ^ "The Newest Figure in Finance" (PDF). The New York Times. September 7, 1902. Retrieved February 14, 2012.
- U.S. National Park Service. Retrieved April 12, 2013.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-7645-7647-8. Retrieved February 15, 2012.
- ^ ISBN 978-1-58157-990-1. Retrieved February 15, 2012.
- ^ a b "Rooms". The Redstone Inn. Retrieved February 15, 2012.
- ^ "Summer". The Redstone Inn. Retrieved February 15, 2012.
- ^ "Banquets". The Redstone Inn. Retrieved February 15, 2012.
External links
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