Time Machine Tuesday: Colorado Industry – 1955

Industry in Colorado changed, and grew, significantly following WWII, according to a 1955 publication in our library collection.  “Since World War II, some 300 new industrial and processing firms have entered active production in Colorado,” and industry “voluntarily began decentralizing its production and distribution facilities,” remarks the report, An Analysis of Industrial Colorado and Its Potential for Industrial Development.  The report starts out with some background on Colorado, such as climate and population.  It then moves into a discussion of the state’s industry, including how by that time the economic importance of metal mining had been replaced by extractive industries (coal, oil, natural gas).  The report also discusses the importance of agriculture to the state’s economy.  Various types of industry, and their potential for development in Colorado, are discussed at length in the remainder of the report.  This publication gives valuable information on the state of Colorado’s industrial economy following World War II, and how it changed over its first century of growth.