BECAUSE YOU ASKED
Q: On I-70 just west of Glenwood Springs at Exit 111, there is an old, black steel bridge crossing the Colorado River. Any idea of its history?
A: No longer used, it is the South Canyon Bridge, also known as Bridge Over Colorado River, and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1985.
The Missouri Bridge and Iron Co. constructed the bridge, completed in 1915, to replace the ferry service. It was primarily used to access the South Canyon Coal Camp area, a large mining operation.
Sources: Frontier Historical Society Museum; National Register of Historic Places; Colorado Historical Society, Office of Archaeology and Historic Preservation
Q: I have read the names of the towns Keota and Puritan recently and can’t find them on a map. Are they ghost towns? I grew up in Colorado and have never heard of them.
A: Puritan was a town in Weld County, named for the Puritan Coal Mine. The mine was named for its high-quality coal; the town no longer exists.
Keota, also a town in Weld County, was named for the town in Iowa. That town was thought to be named for an Indian word meaning “gone to visit” or “the fire has gone out.” But another theory is that the Iowa town was on the border of Keokuk and Washington counties so they combined the two county names. Keota, Colo., had a post office until 1973.
Sources: “1001 Colorado Place Names,” by Maxine Benson; “Place Names of Colorado,” by J. Frank Dawson; “Colorado Place Names,” by William Bright; “Colorado Post Offices,” by William H. Bauer, James L. Ozment and John H. Willard
– Compiled by Bonnie Gilbert
