Serene, Colorado

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Serene, Colorado no longer exists. Serene was once a company town owned by the Rocky Mountain Fuel Company.

Serene had company housing, a post office, a tipple, and was the site of the Columbine Mine.

[edit] History

In 1927 Colorado coal miners conducted a statewide strike that had been called by the Industrial Workers of the World. The Columbine Mine at Serene was the only major coal mine in the state that continued to dig coal. The Colorado State Ranger Unit (the former "dry unit" from prohibition days) was summoned to prevent a demonstration by striking coal miners.

Some 500 protestors showed up at the mine on the morning of November 21. The confrontation between strikers and the militia unit resulted in the Columbine Mine Massacre, in which six miners were killed by machine gun fire.

[edit] Geography

Serene was located on rolling hills just west of Interstate 25 on Colorado Highway Seven, north of the State of Colorado Historical Marker that commemorates the Columbine Mine Massacre. The area that once was the company town of Serene is now a public landfill.