Coal Mining Was Also Economically Important to Palisade's Development

Coal was mined around Palisade beginning in the 1890s. The railroad was completed to Palisade in 1890, which allowed fruit growers to ship commercially over long distances as well as coal to be shipped east. You can see many remnants of the more than a dozen coal mines in the area on the palisades, including the Palisade Mine north of the Interstate. The Palisade Coal seam rises 1800 feet from the Riverside Mine at the mouth of DeBeque Canyon to the Gearhart Mine near Mt. Garfield west of Palisade.

There were more than 12 coal mines in the Palisade area at the turn of the 20th Century.