Redstone Coke Oven Historic District, Industrial heritage site in Pitkin County, United States.
The Redstone Coke Oven Historic District is an industrial area containing about 91 brick coke ovens arranged in a line along the Crystal River in Colorado. The ovens feature a characteristic beehive shape and demonstrate the technical methods used for coal conversion during that era.
The coke ovens were built between 1899 and 1901 by the Colorado Fuel and Iron Company to convert coal into coke, an essential fuel for steelmaking. This facility played an important role in the steel production chain of southwestern Colorado.
The site reflects the importance of coal conversion in early industrial development and shows how such facilities shaped the economic growth of entire regions. Visitors can still see how the place's layout was organized around these production facilities.
The ovens are accessible from State Highway 133 and informational signs explain the industrial processes. The site can best be explored on foot to fully understand the arrangement of the structures.
The red bricks were fired locally, and the beehive arrangement was a specialized engineering solution for efficient heat management. This design approach enabled large quantities of coal to be processed simultaneously.
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