Uravan (a contraction of uranium/vanadium) is a former uranium mining town in western

Montrose County, Colorado Montrose County is a county located in the U.S. state of Colorado. As of the 2020 census, the population was 42,679. The county seat is Montrose, for which the county is named. Montrose County comprises the Montrose, CO Micropolitan Statisti ...

, United States, which still appears on some maps. The town was a company town established by U. S. Vanadium Corporation in 1936 to extract the rich vanadium ore in the region. As a byproduct of vanadium extraction, small amounts of

uranium Uranium is a chemical element with the symbol U and atomic number 92. It is a silvery-grey metal in the actinide series of the periodic table. A uranium atom has 92 protons and 92 electrons, of which 6 are valence electrons. Uranium is weak ...

were also produced, at the time mostly used as a yellow pigment for ceramics. The town was located approximately south-southwest of Grand Junction along the San Miguel River. At one time, over 800 people lived in Uravan, and the town housed a school, a trading center (store), medical facilities, tennis courts, a recreation center, and a pool. The school and some other facilities remained operational until at least 1983, however Uravan was shut down by mid-1985, and no trace of its former buildings remain. Uravan is now an uninhabited, undeveloped Superfund site.

Prehistory

There are several prehistoric sites near Uravan on the

Colorado State Register of Historic Properties The Colorado State Register of Historic Properties, administered by the History Colorado Office of Archaeology and Historic Preservation, is a listing of significant historic resources. History Colorado maintains a list of the Colorado State Regis ...

: * Dolores Cave was inhabited from about 600 BC to AD 1400. A corn cob dated about AD 1500 was found in the site, which indicates that corn was grown in the area after the

Ancient Pueblo People The Ancestral Puebloans, also known as the Anasazi, were an ancient Native American culture that spanned the present-day Four Corners region of the United States, comprising southeastern Utah, northeastern Arizona, northwestern New Mexico, an ...

(

Anasazi The Ancestral Puebloans, also known as the Anasazi, were an ancient Native American culture that spanned the present-day Four Corners region of the United States, comprising southeastern Utah, northeastern Arizona, northwestern New Mexico, a ...

) abandoned their Colorado pueblos in the 13th century. * Tabeguache Cave II is a large prehistoric rock shelter occupied from about AD 600 - 1500. There is also a Tabeguache Cave and two other rock shelters near Nucla, Colorado.

History

Gold

In 1885, placer gold was discovered in a tributary of the San Miguel River, Mesa Creek, nine miles from Ouray. The Montrose Placer Mining Company constructed the Hanging Flume on the east wall of Dolores River Canyon.Voynick, S.M., 1992, Colorado Gold, Missoula: Mountain Press Publishing Company,

20th century uranium mining

During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, Uravan provided part of the uranium needed by the

Manhattan Project The Manhattan Project was a research and development undertaking during World War II that produced the first nuclear weapons. It was led by the United States with the support of the United Kingdom and Canada. From 1942 to 1946, the project w ...

for the first atomic bomb. Because of wartime secrecy the Manhattan Project would only publicly admit to purchasing the vanadium, and did not pay the uranium miners for the uranium ore (in a much later lawsuit, many miners were able to reclaim lost profits from the U.S. government). Uranium wast holding ponds

In the beginning of the Cold War, to ensure adequate supplies of uranium for national defense, the United States Congress passed the U.S. Atomic Energy Act of 1946, creating the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) which had the power to withdraw prospective uranium mining land from public purchase, and also to manipulate the price of uranium to meet national needs. By setting a high price for uranium ore, the AEC created a uranium "boom" in the early 1950s, which attracted many prospectors to the four corners region of the country. Uravan's fortunes grew as it became one of the major " yellowcake boomtowns" in the region. American military requirements of uranium declined in the 1960s, and the government completed its uranium procurement program by the end of 1970. Simultaneously, a new market emerged: commercial

nuclear power Nuclear power is the use of nuclear reactions to produce electricity. Nuclear power can be obtained from nuclear fission, nuclear decay and nuclear fusion reactions. Presently, the vast majority of electricity from nuclear power is produced ...

plants. However, the U.S. domestic uranium mining industry collapsed in the late 1970s and early 1980s, due to lack of new nuclear power plants, and to low-price uranium imported from Canada. The town had been in decline for several years; the decision was made to close Uravan in 1985 and then commence a large-scale clean-up of the entire site. Environmental cleanup of the site commenced in 1986 and was essentially completed by 2001. (EPA, 2010, Five-Year Review) All the buildings have been removed and the site regraded and replanted. All that remains is a turnoff and interpretive sign along State Highway 141.

Future

On May 6, 2012 the Montrose County Board of County Commissioners signed the Omnibus Agreement with Dow Chemical, giving them three tracts of land: Ballpark Parcel #1, a 133-acre plot between Hwy. 141 and the San Miguel River, Ballpark Parcel #2, approximately ten acres northwest of the first parcel, and the townsite property, located between County Roads EE22 and Y11. Montrose County agreed to accept this property on behalf of the Rimrocker Historical Society of Western Montrose County, which has worked since 1990 to preserve and interpret the history of Uravan. The Rimrocker Historical Society and Montrose County entered into a long-term lease on May 1, 2013 for a 17-acre section of Ballpark parcel #1, with the intention of building a museum and campground on the property. The Rimrocker Historical Society of Western Montrose County hosts the annual Uranium History Celebration and Reunion Picnic at Historic Uravan, Colorado every August, sponsored in part by the Cold War Patriots. For the 100th anniversary of the original Joe Jr. Mill in 2012, over 1,000 people attended.

References

External links

Rimrocker Historical Society of Western Montrose CountyMontrose CountyOnline memorial to Uravan, Colorado
* {{authority control Company towns in Colorado Ghost towns in Colorado Former populated places in Montrose County, Colorado Uranium mining in the United States Manhattan Project sites Mining communities in Colorado Populated places established in 1936 Superfund sites in Colorado 1936 establishments in Colorado