The Redstone Museum, sitting at 295 Redstone Boulevard, serves as the archival home of the Redstone Historical Society. In fact, this little log building probably predates all other early 1900’s structures that remain in the town, listed as a National Historic District.

Redstone’s history revolves around the story of John Cleveland Osgood, founder and chairman of the Colorado Fuel and Iron Co. (C.F. & I.) in the late 1890’s and early 1900’s. Osgood developed a railroad system in the Crystal River Valley, 250 brick beehive shaped coke ovens, and a model town consisting of cottages, a school, clubhouse, bathhouse, store, and community garden, all for workers of the coke ovens.

The Highline branch of the Crystal River Railroad ran from the coke ovens to the coalmine in Coal Basin, a distance of eight miles and a near 3,000-foot elevation gain. By 1901, the company had constructed seventy homes for the miners in the new town of Coalbasin, soon followed by a store and clubhouse of its own.

The current structure used as the Redstone Museum was built for use as a lamp house outside the Coal Basin mine circa 1899. It served as the shop for the carbide mining lamps, as well as the location for coal miners to collect their lamps before entering the dark tunnel mine and to return them at the end of their shift.

These carbide lamps, or acetylene gas lamps, were simple lamps that produced and burned acetylene created by the reaction of calcium carbide with water. Portable acetylene gas lamps, worn on the hat or carried by hand, were widely used in mining at the time that C. F. & I. operated their mines.

Located just above the camp was the entrance to the Coal Basin mine. “The vein is about ten feet thick and dips to the west at an angle of 12 degrees.

The coal seems to improve in quality the further the openings are extended. By means of a large fan placed at the opening of one of the entries the mine is kept clear of gas. In addition to this precaution, safety lamps are used by the men, and a system of water pipes has been installed in the mine, so that the entries and rooms may be sprinkled and the dust, ever dangerous in a coal mine because of its explosiveness, laid.”  Camp and Plant, September 1902.

Osgood lost control of C.F. & I. in 1903 and the Coal Basin mine was closed in 1909. By the end of the 1950’s however, the demand for high-quality coking coal such as existed in the Coal Basin mine lured Mid-Continent Resources, Inc. into developing a road system from Carbondale to the location and opening four additional deep tunnels. Mid-Continent operated until 1991, declaring bankruptcy after several explosions with loss of life.