Villa Groove

Main Street 2004

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Villa Grove, CO
Elevation 7972 feet.
Denver 245 miles.

Villa Grove lies at the north end of the San Luis Valley, just 14 miles south of Poncha Pass. The area was mostly ranching originally and Villa Grove was a trading and supply center for the mining camps up Kerber Creek. In fact, Otto Mears operated one of his first toll roads along Kerber Creek.

In 1881, the railroad built from Mears Junction on the Marshal Pass main line, over Poncha Pass and on to Villa Grove and the Orient iron mine in the east Sangre de Cristo mountains. The Orient mine was the only source of iron ore in Colorado and it shipped by rail to the CF&I steel mills in Pueblo.

The railroad was extended south to Alamosa through the San Luis Valley in 1890. This was known as the "Valley Line" and served to connect the narrow gauge Marshal Pass Route to Alamosa after the Royal Gorge and La Veta Pass routes were converted to standard gauge.

Railroad facilities consisted of a 45 car siding, wye and a small water tank. The Orient Branch line junction was located at Villa Grove.

Orient, CO
Elevation 9,024 feet.
Denver 253.6 miles.

The town of Orient takes its name from the nearby Orient mine where Iron deposits were discovered in 1870. In 1881 the D&RG built tracks into the mine.

Around the turn of the century, mining operations were leased to Colorado Coal & Iron (eventually became CF&I) and the population at Orient grew to around 400.

In 1905 the CF&I lost its lease to the mine. Although the mining operations continued, the post office shut down and most of the town was abandoned.

Then in 1920 the CF&I took over mining operations again and a new town site was developed nearer the railroad tracks a few miles from the original site.

By 1933 the ore body at the mine was nearly depleted and mining was nearly stopped. Finally in 1940 the railroad abandoned the line and CF&I officially close the mine.

This was the only Iron mine in Colorado and it produced for over 50 years. In its heyday, over 200 tons of ore were shipped daily to smelters in Pueblo and Durango.