Colorado’s last remaining historic kilns are in Pitkin County. After questioning whether they’re worth restoring, commissioners favor seeking grant

Two late-19th century kilns that used to convert limestone into quicklime near Ruedi Reservoir continue to deteriorate, according to Pitkin County officials. Commissioners have a chance to save them.

The Thomasville Lime Kilns were built in the Frying Pan Valley once the Colorado Midland Railway, which formerly connected Leadville to present-day Basalt, was established in 1888.

They represent one of the Roaring Fork Valley’s several historic industrial sites and were catalytic to a settlement called Calcium, a now defunct community that once had a post office, boarding house, store, several log cabins, and two saloons, according to county documents.

---

---

Pitkin County Assets and Project Manager Jodie Grady during a Tuesday workshop told commissioners that the kilns, which the county earmarked $365,000 from its 2025 general for repairs, would also need to be officially listed on a local register of historic designations to be eligible for a $250,000 State Historic Fund grant to offset costs.

The funding would help mitigate kiln infrastructure issues like a deteriorating mortar and capstones, cracks, vegetation overgrowth, and more. A concrete cap would be installed toward the top of the structures to help prevent further moisture-caused degradation, thus extending the kilns’ lifespan by 50-100 years, according to Grady.

---

---

But commissioners on Tuesday questioned whether it would be financially feasible to restore the kilns without having to spend more on repairs in the future. They also worried that a historic designation would force the county to adhere to historic register rules.

“It’s an expensive undertaking,” Commissioner Greg Poschman said.

Commissioner Francie Jacober echoed this sentiment.

“Actually, I find places like that, when they’re tumbling over and returning to the Earth, really beautiful,” she said. “In fact, a little more beautiful than when they’re reconstructed and made to look like they’re modern.”

“So I don’t know,” she added. “I am torn on this.” 

The Thomasville Lime Kilns, however, are likely the most intact kilns left in Colorado, county documents state. The late 19th-century Rose Lime Kiln, formerly of Lake City, was destroyed by an avalanche in 2019. In addition to Pitkin County, this leaves one historic lime kiln left — in Golden.

“Ours really are the most intact and significant for lime kilns left in Colorado,” Grady said.

Letting the kilns deteriorate, however, poses a more significant issue, according to Historic Preservation consultant Suzannah Reid. The current integrity of the kilns could worsen and become a public hazard. In 2001 they were listed on Colorado’s Most Endangered Places, before a $100,000 U.S. Forest service grant helped restore and remove it from the designation five years later.

The kilns becoming a public hazard could lead to deconstruction costs for the county, she noted.

“If we could get a grant for $250,000, that’s almost half of what would be taken out of our general fund,” Reid said. “So why are we not going in that direction?” 

This type of historic site is of interest to railroad enthusiasts, history buffs and passersby, all of whom contribute to the historic tourism economy of the valley and larger region, according to county documents.

“They are prized by the local residents of Thomasville and Meredith,” the documents state.

County commissioners ultimately favored historically registering the kilns and directed its officials to pursue the grant process. Grady and Reid said they will return to the commission in the future with an update on this process. 

If the project is approved, restoration of the kilns could start as soon as 2026.

“This is a part of history in our valley,” Commissioner Patti Clapper said. “I would like to see us apply for the grant.”

Ray K. Erku can be reached at (970) 429-9120 or rerku@aspentimes.com.