Laserfiche WebLink
Louisville Historical Museum <br />Department of Library & Museum Services <br />City of Louisville, Colorado <br />February 2014 <br />Cityof <br />Om Louisville <br />COLORADO « SINCE 1878 <br />Summary of the History of Louisville's Acme Mine <br />Overview and Years of Operation: According to several sources, the Acme Mine was in <br />operation between 1888 and 1928. Although it was not the only mine to operate within what <br />were historically the town limits, it can legitimately be considered to have been the primary <br />mine in Louisville due to its central location and its many years of operation. <br />The Acme Mine was just the second successful coal mine operation in the Louisville area. (The <br />first successful mining operation had been the Welch Mine east of the railroad tracks, which <br />had led to the founding of Louisville in 1878.) Louisville's very first residential areas <br />understandably had been developed in close proximity to that first mine. With the success of <br />the Acme Mine, John Connell developed the Acme Place subdivision in 1893, and this action <br />extended Louisville's boundaries farther to the south and west. <br />Tonnage Removed: According to Carolyn Conarroe's Coal Mining in Colorado's Northern Field, <br />the Acme produced 1,729,282 tons of coal. <br />Location and Associated Buildings: This mine was located at approximately the intersection of <br />Roosevelt Ave. and Hutchinson St. in Louisville. The shaft was located on the southwest corner <br />of that intersection with the tipple over it. Associated buildings were located on the north side <br />of Hutchinson. Acme Mine structures are believed to have included the tipple, boiler house, <br />engine house, office, blacksmith shop, and barn. A fence enclosed the complex. <br />The exceptionally high mine dump was to the east of the tipple, in the middle of what is now <br />Main Street. The mine dump was taken down in the early 1930s. <br />The following excerpt from the 1909 Drumm's Wall map shows the location of the primary <br />mine buildings, mine dump, and the railroad spur that was also used by the Grain Elevator <br />nearby to the east: <br />1 <br />