PROJ00202

• Contract/PO #: C153474
• Contractor Name: Oak Creek, Town of
• Water District: 0
• County: Rio Blanco
• Bill Number: XB 99-999
• Loan Projects - Doc Type: Feasibility Study

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CHAPTER II - THE TOWN OF OAK CREEK

11.1 Historyl

In 1907, three businessmen from the Cripple Creek area - Sam Bell, John
Sharpe, and D. C. Williams - bought the B. G. Schuster Ranch at the head of
Oak Creek Canyon in order to layout a townsite. The move was prompted by
their awareness of the enormous potential of the coal fields, the fact that
the Moffat Road was pushing its way toward Routt County, and the success of
Sam Perry's mine which opened at the head of Oak Creek Canyon around 1905. In
1907, the trio formed the Oak Creek Town, Land and Mining Company and filed a
town plat. On December 26, 1907, Oak Creek was incorporated and three addi-
tions were filed in the following four years.

By 1908, the town boasted 50 residents. The first edition of The Oak
Creek Times was published during this year and the paper continued ~serve
the community for the following 40 years. For a short while, the town was
called Belltown, but the thick scrub oak on the banks of the creek running
through the town prompted the official name. By 1910, five mines were
operating in the immediate vicinity.

Oak Creek boomed only after the railroad reached town in January 1909.
By that time, the town was home to 200 residents and the first church and
school were built.

By 1915, Oak Creek was becoming a melting pot, attracting men from all
over the world to work its rich coal deposits. The town grew to 2,000 resi-
dents, with electricity provided by the Perry Mine and water and sewer ser-
vices provided by a municipally-owned system. A hospital and another school
were built and the town's first bank was opened.

Nationwide labor problems weakened Oak Creek's coal industry in the late
1910s and early 1920s. Production slumped and unionization efforts began.
The first strike occurred in 1913 and the militia was called in. The early
1920s were marked by strikes, promoted by eastern slope industries who wanted
to halt coal production in order to convert to cheap natural gas.

From 1926, until the Depression, Oak Creek boomed again. On May 26,
1926, The Oak Creek Times reported that Oak Creek had the largest school popu-
lation-rn the county. At that time, the town was run by local political par-
ties: the Citizens Party and the Taxpayers Party.

As mines cut back and closed during the Depression, the town worked to
minimize the impact. When the Colorado Utilities Company began to monopolize
supplying power to all the towns in Routt County, Oak Creek fought in the
Colorado Supreme Court for the right to build a competing system, sold bonds
for a municipal system using power from the Perry Mines, and paid off the

lExcerpted from The Historical Guide to Routt County.