Tercio, Colorado

Tercio is a ghost town and former coal mine in Las Animas County, in the U.S. state of Colorado.

[2] Tercio consists of an abandoned coal mine and the meager remains of a company town near the headwaters of the South Fork of the Purgatoire River about 5 km (3.1 miles) from the border with New Mexico.

The mine and settlement are in the foothills of the Culebra Range of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains at an elevation of 2,358 m (7,736 ft).

An author said, "Of all the coal mining camps scattered throughout southern Colorado, Tercio probably had the most picturesque location.

On three sides the site is cradled by low lying, thickly-wooded hills...[To the west] the Sangre de Cristos push skyward in misty rows of cracked escarpments.

"[3][4][5] Prior to the arrival of the coal miners, the valley of the South Fork of the Purgatoire River was sparsely inhabited by Hispanics in settlements known as Torres and Rincon.

A view of Tercio from Las Animas County Road 13. A coal slag pile is in the center. The large building in the distance is the former Colorado Supply Company Store .
The South Fork of the Purgatoire River near Tercio.
Torres, two miles from Tercio, and the Culebra Range.
Map of Colorado highlighting Las Animas County