Entry No. 38 — the Pueblo file — filed under: labor-history

Ludlow Massacre Site

On April 20, 1914, Colorado National Guard soldiers machine-gunned and torched a tent city of striking coal miners; eleven children and two women suffocated in a hand-dug pit beneath a burning tent they thought would protect them. The United Mine Workers bought the land two years later and have held it ever since — making this the only National Historic Landmark in America owned by a labor union. A 1918 granite monument, covered picnic tables, and interpretive panels sit on the old tent-camp footprint, largely bypassed by the I-25 traffic humming a quarter-mile away.

The move: Drive the 18 miles north from Trinidad on County Road 44, read every interpretive panel at the monument, then sit at one of the covered picnic tables and look out at the empty plain where 1,200 people once camped.

📍 Before you go Take I-25 Exit 27 (about 12 miles north of Trinidad), then east on CR 44. Site may be gated dusk to dawn. No restrooms or water on site.

• 📍 Ludlow
• 💸 Free
• ⚡ Up for anything
• 🌗 Outdoors

Where: CR 44, Ludlow, CO 81023

Hours: Added 2026-06-21 — confirm current hours before you go.

Plan a visit & invite your people →

Proof: source 1 · source 2 · source 3 · source 4

last checked: 2026-06-21