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Colorado Cultural Resource Survey <br />Historical Archaeology Component Form <br />• (page 1 of 2) <br />Use this form in conjunction with the ManagemenC Data Form. This form should be <br />completed for each historical site with archaeological potential. <br />l.State Site Number 5DT122 2.Temporary Number 9599tH-2 <br />Does this form pertain to the site in general? yes :( no_ OR <br />a particular feature/structure (please note feature/structure number) <br />3. Site/Feature Type: Historic mining town site <br />9. General Site/Feature Description: Site SDT1~'' is the town site of Bowie It <br />is located on a terrace on the north side of the North Fork of the Gunnison Rive[ <br />at an average elevation of 59fl0 feet. The townsite was originally recordedin 1977 <br />as part of a survey for the expansion of Hiahwav 133 The form included only <br />employee housing erected by_ the Juanita Coal and Coke Company in an area that <br />measured approximately 300 meters E-W by 250 meters N-S. Since that original <br />recording most of the houses have been removed. A11 that remains is the mine office, <br />the mine garage, and the Bowie house garage Much of the following description is <br />taken from the original recording but written in the past tense. <br />The town was originally to be named Reading (after a siding along the railroadl. <br />and then Juanita (after the Juanita Coal and Coke Company owner of the King Mine1 <br />when they applied for establishment of a post office. Both were reiected by the <br />Postal Services because of conflicts of name duplication. Finally it was called <br />Bowie after Alexander BnWie the general manager of the King Mine who arrived in <br />• 1905. <br />Bowie was a company town built between 1903 and 1915 to supply housing for mine <br />- workers at the adjacent King Mine. The town was located on a low hillside, about <br />1/4 mile southwest of the mine entrance. Of the town of Bowie. the original site <br />form includes only the residences. schools. and mine offir_e/garage complex. The <br />~ worker residences were arranned in four rows descending the hill on the north side <br />of Che North Fork of the Gunnison River. (Figure 21. One row was located south of <br />,_. Highway 133 and consisted of ten L-shammed frame homes r_hat probably served as <br />bachelor residences. Four larger homes were located on the west end of this row. <br />' A concrete-walled garage for six vehicles still stands at the east end of the south <br />row of houses. North of Highway 133 were three tiers of houses. The bottom two rows <br />consisted of fiv?, one-story, square. Frame homes with hipped-roofs and concrete <br />,.. foundations. These square homes were divided in half in the frame portion with two <br />doors Facing the north nr uphill sides The lower (concrete) level had one door <br />~-~ fang downhill. Our_houses and wells lam down the hill from the residences. The <br />top tier of four frame homes were also L-shaped (with the short extension pointed <br />~ north), and may have been the more prestigious company homes. They alsg were built <br />of frame construction on basement concrete Foundations. <br />On the west side of the communitk were the school buildings and baseball <br />iJ diamond. The north-most school was a two-room frame building with a cut-stone <br />foundation. This has been moved to Paonia and restored. The second school was built <br />~~ in 1920 to supplement the overflow of students during the height of mining <br />~ operations It served grades 5 through 9 and had a full concrete basement The <br />basement held a small stage and community activities were conducted there This <br />,~ building was moved to the southeast part of the town lying south of Highway 133._ <br />To the east and north were three larger buildings• a frame mine office a <br />l concreteyaraae/shop building and a three-story brick home (built for Alexander <br />t Bowie in 19111. The g rage Eor the Bowie "mansion" was north of the top tier of <br />"~ houses. A water tower was built on he slope north of the residences The Alexander <br />'~ <br />1J <br />