Bowen, Las Animas County, Colorado

Bowen is an extinct town located in Las Animas County, Colorado, United States.

Bowen
Vintage postcard image of Bowen, Colorado, c. 1911
Vintage postcard image of Bowen, Colorado, c. 1911

History

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The 1911 Colorado Business Directory described the town as "Coal mining town and station", population 200, on the Colorado and Southern Railway.[1]

On 7 August 1902 an explosion of dust ignited by giant powder at the Bowen Mine killed 13 people.[2] The precise location of the town site is unknown to the GNIS,[3] but newspaper articles reporting the 1902 Bowen Mine Explosion place the town "about a quarter of a mile below the mine",[4][5] near Trinidad.

A post office named Aylmer, Colorado opened on March 23, 1900. The name was changed to Bowen, Colorado on September 18, 1906, and it remained open until January 15, 1929.[6] The community had the name of Thomas F. Bowen, a state legislator.[7]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "1911 Colorado Business Directory, Bowen, Las Animas County". The Gazeteer Publishing Co. Retrieved August 7, 2021 – via US Genweb Archives.
  2. ^ Sherard, Gerald E. (2006). "Pre-1963 Colorado Mining Disasters" (PDF). Denver Public Library. Retrieved August 7, 2021.
  3. ^ U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Bowen (historical)
  4. ^ U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Bowen Mine
  5. ^ See, e.g. "Mine Disaster at Bowen, Colo". Salt Lake City, Utah: Deseret News. August 8, 1902. p. 1. Retrieved August 7, 2021.
  6. ^ Bauer, William H.; Ozment, James L.; Willard, John H. (1990). Colorado Post Offices 1859–1989. Golden, Colorado: Colorado Railroad Historical Foundation. ISBN 0-918654-42-4.
  7. ^ Dawson, John Frank (1954). Place names in Colorado: why 700 communities were so named, 150 of Spanish or Indian origin. Denver, CO: The J. Frank Dawson Publishing Co. p. 10.
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