SUGARITE

NAME: Sugarite COUNTY: Colfax ROADS: 2WD GRID: 1 CLIMATE: Snow in winter but roads are usually passable BEST TIME TO VISIT: Can go anytime

COMMENTS: East of Raton on hwy 72 I believe. REMAINS: Foundations

Settled in 1909, the coal-mining town of Sugarite lasted until 1944 when the post office closed its doors forever. In the meantime, the town provided for its population of five hundred residents a school, a theater, the Blossburg Mercantile Company, the Bell Telephone Company, an opera house, physician, justice of the peace and a music teacher. The town grew with the construction of concrete, stone, and hollow-tile buildings in neatly arranged terraces along the side of the canyon. In 1941, it was announced the mines would be closed. All families were given plenty of time to relocate. Homes were moved to Raton, the population scattered, and Sugarite was deserted. Some ruins still exist but a person could drive past the townsite never realizing that a thriving community once existed there.Courtesy Henry Chenoweth.

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