Company Towns

Company Towns. . , Most miners lived in company-owned towns like Berwind., The miners often lived in company-owned towns near the mines where they worked., Because of their isolated location, miners were forced to buy provisions at company stores, live in company houses and send their children to company schools. Armed guards often patrolled the gated entrances to company towns., Company towns were found throughout the coal producing areas of southern Colorado., These towns were located up Berwind and Del Agua Canyons to the west of the Ludlow tent colony. When miners elected to strike against Colorado Fuel and Iron (CF&I), they were evicted from their homes. Many of the inhabitants of the Ludlow tent colony came from these company-owned towns., Despite changes made by the company after the strike, families continued to struggle in the company towns., After the strike, workers returned to their homes in company towns. While the company instituted some improvements, a typical paycheck was not sufficient for supporting a family. Archaeological evidence from the post-strike era suggests that families supplemented provisions purchased from the company store with home canning and small game trapping. The issues raised in the 1913-1914 strike continued to fuel strikes into the 1920s. , Captions , Middle Left: Residents at Berwind grew vegetables for canning , Upper Right: Overview of Berwind, ca. 1920 , Lower Right: Berwind school, October 1915 . This historical marker was erected by UMWA Local 9856 Women's Auxiliary. It is in Ludlow in Las Animas County Colorado