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History · Redstone

Redstone’s post office opened in 1898, and 28% of its homes were built before 1940

6 places in town are on the National Register, among them two historic districts with 31 buildings between them. Below: maps from 1960 on.

1898first post office
6on the National Register
28%homes built before 1940
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Quick answers

How Redstone began

When was Redstone founded?

1898

The Redstone post office opened in 1898, the earliest record of the town by name.

2020 census: 127128 years
Founding year: the first Redstone post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Redstone’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Redstone are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.A historic districtThe Redstone Historic District takes in 31 historic buildings.Landmarks on the Register6 places on the National Register.Old housesHalf of Redstone’s homes were built before 1960.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Redstone’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Redstone’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
On the National Register

6 listings protect 35 historic buildings

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

places listed
6
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
35
each building in a district counts
first listed
1971
Osgood Castle
Redstone InnOsgood-Kuhnhausen HouseRedstone Historic DistrictRedstone Coke Oven Historic District
BuildingsDistricts

Architectural styles listings

Swiss Chalet2
Swiss Alpine1
Tudor Revival1
Vernacular Wood Frame1
Colonial Revival1
Queen Anne1
Osgood CastleBuilding
Redstone InnSwiss Alpine
Osgood-Kuhnhausen HouseBuilding
Osgood Gamekeeper's LodgeSwiss Chalet
Redstone Historic DistrictTudor Revival
Redstone Coke Oven Historic DistrictBeehive coke oven

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

The story

How Redstone came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Redstone.

Read it all →

Redstone was established in the late 19th century by industrialist John Cleveland Osgood as part of a coal mining enterprise. Osgood's coal empire also spurred construction of the Crystal River Railroad and Redstone's historic dwellings.

As an experiment in "enlightened industrial paternalism," Osgood constructed 84 cottages and a 40-room inn, all with indoor plumbing and electricity, for his coal miners and cokers, as well as modern bathhouse facilities, a club house with a library and a theatre, and a school. Most of these Craftsman-era Swiss-style cottages are still used as homes.

ChaptersCleveholm

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Redstone, 1898 to 1962

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1898Post officeThe Redstone post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1960On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  5. 1962Post officeThe Redstone post office closes
By decade

Redstone, decade by decade

Today3 recent
A handsome horse in the woods outside tiny Redstone, once a "company town" in Colorado's Crystal River Valley, where wo…2015A handsome horse in the woods outside tiny Redstone, …Redstone Historic District2011Redstone Historic DistrictHAYS CREEK FALLS2007HAYS CREEK FALLS
On the map

Redstone on the map, 1960 to 1983

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Redstone. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Redstone on the 1960 USGS mapRedstone on the 1983 USGS map1960Redstone sheet · 1:24,000

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Redstone.

Places that used to be

Lost post offices

Redstone had its own post office from 1898 to 1962.

Redstone
1898–1962
18901960today

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Questions about Redstone’s history

What year was Redstone founded?

The Redstone post office opened in 1898, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

What is on the National Register in Redstone?

6 listings: 4 buildings, among them the Osgood Castle (listed 1971, the first), and 2 historic districts, the Redstone Historic District and the Redstone Coke Oven Historic District, with 31 contributing buildings. 35 historic buildings in all.

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikimedia Commons (3), the National Register of Historic Places (6), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.