COLORADO TOLL ROADS

Sooner or later, the surveyor, attorney or road historian will encounter a toll road in the  history of Colorado settlement. Toll roads were quite popular in the latter 1800’s since private  investment, rather than scarce public revenue, would be used to build badly needed roads. The  Colorado State Archives lists 93 toll roads holding state charters (Articles of Incorporation) to  construct and operate in Colorado during the 1800’s. The Gunnison Country lists 46 toll road  companies authorized within Gunnison County alone. (1) Mr. Geoff Anderson, Esq., discusses  several other toll roads not on the Archives or Gunnison Country list. (2) Mr. Anderson’s list  included toll roads in Pikes Peak, Central City, Loveland Pass and the famed Million Dollar  Highway outside Ouray, CO. 

Toll roads were literal creatures of statute. Sec. 270, Gen. Laws 1878 provides the  backdrop. Three or more persons were required to incorporate a toll company. The termini of the  toll road (e.g. “Aspen to Ashcroft”) had to be named in the articles. Id. The general route of the  road was also required: e.g., “From Alma then up the Platte Valley and across Hoosier Pass to the  Blue River then down the Blue River to Breckenridge”)3 Id. The toll company had to erect toll  gates not closer than 10 miles apart. Id. The various commissioners of the counties in which the  toll road was situated would prescribe the toll rates. Id. As each one mile of road was completed  a prescribed rate would be established. Id. When the entire road was completed then another rate  would be prescribed by the counties. Id. The final rates would be effective for two years from the  date the entire road was completed. Id. Thereafter, the county would re-visit the rates at two year  intervals. Id. If the toll road company did not like the rates it could appeal to the judge of the  county court (now known as the District Court) for review and resetting. No toll road could be  laid on top of another toll nor upon a pre-existing public highway (e.g., county wagon road). Id. Lyons &Y E.P. Toll Road Co. v. People ex rel. Sprague 68 P. 275, 276 (Colo. 1902)  

The toll road had to be maintained in reasonably passable condition. Sec. 271, Gen Laws  1878 A toll could not be collected if the road was not in proper condition. Id. If a toll was  collected, the citizen could file a complaint with the local Justice of the Peace. A hearing would  then be conducted and a fine as much as $25 could be levied. Id. One-half the fine would be paid to the complaining citizen and the other half to the county. Id. The toll company was not allowed  to collect any other tolls until the repairs were then made to the road. Id. 

The toll road company had to commence work on road construction within 90 days of its  corporate organization. Sec. 271, Gen. Laws 1878 Under the 1878 Act, such construction had to  continue until at least $500 dollars was expended upon the road. Id. Failure to spend at least $500  was cause for forfeiture of the Certificate of Incorporation. Id.  

In 1883, the Legislature re-enacted the toll road statutes, retaining much of the 1878  provisions but added new provisions. All toll roads had a minimum width of 10 ft, and a maximum  grade (slope) not greater than 15%. Sec. 3265, Gen. Stat. 1883 Turnouts were required every  quarter mile at points visible to each other. Id. Each turnout had to be not less than sixteen feet  wide and fifty feet in length. Id. Upon completion, the county surveyor (from each county  traversed) would inspect the road to determine its compliance with statutory standards. Sec. 3266,  Gen. Stat. 1883 The local county commissioners, after public hearing, would approve the County  Surveyor’s report. Id. Failure to comply with building requirements annulled the right to collect  tolls. Id. 

Sec. 43, Gen. Stat. 1883, under the Corporations chapter, substantially modified Sec. 271  of the 1878 Act. Under the 1883 provision, the toll company now had to complete construction of  the entire road within two years of the time the work was commence. If the company failed to do  so, then the road was considered abandoned and could be claimed by any other toll road company.  Id.  

Toll road companies could build roads on lands in the public domain, under the authority  of R.S. 2477. Estes Park Toll Road Co. v. Edwards 32 P. 549 (Colo. 1893) The road so  appropriated was taxable as the property of the toll road company. Id. However: 

“A toll road is a public highway, differing from ordinary public highways chiefly  in this: that the cost of its construction in the first instance is borne by individuals,  or by a corporation, having authority from the state to build it, and, further, in the  right of the public to use the road after its completion, subject only to the payment of toll. The acceptance by the corporation of the franchise to construct the road,  and the operation thereof, constitute a dedication of the same as a public  highway….”.  Virginia Canon Toll Road Co. v. People 45 P. 398 (Colo. 1896) 

Paradoxically, though the toll road was taxable as property the road was only an easement  and not a grant in fee. Id. Upon the expiration of its charter (either by lapse of the 20 year life or forfeiture) the easement reverted to the State. Id. The public could travel the road without payment  of toll. Id. Trying to extend the life of the toll road by transferring the toll road to another company  was not allowed. Twenty years remained the maximum corporate life. Id.  

These strict provisions provide the researcher with the ability to determine whether the toll  road was ever a viable entity. Take the Crystal River Toll Road Company as an example. It was  incorporated on June 30, 1886. Its initial directors were J.C. Osgood, John L. Jerome and Charles  H. Toll. Id. Its stated purpose was to construct, maintain and operate a wagon road for vehicles  and animals “…upon the payment of proper charges or tolls….”. Id. The route of the toll road  was to run from a point on the west bank of the Crystal River near Yule Creek northerly through  the Crystal River Valley by the most feasible route to “Satank” (the original name for Carbondale,  CO). Id. (The road would therefore traverse Gunnison, Pitkin and Garfield Counties) In  accordance with governing Colorado statutes, the life span of this corporation was twenty years.  Id. On November 29, 1892, the company sold all real and personal property rights of way over  private and public lands, maps, profiles and surveys in Garfield and Pitkin Counties to the Crystal  River Railway. 

Research in the grantor-grantee indices has not disclosed any deeds or right of way grants  to the CR Toll Road. Recorded maps or surveys of any actual toll road have not been found.  Minutes of the meetings of the County Commissioners were reviewed for the time period 1886  through 1892. The County Commissioners never prescribed rates for any one mile section of road,  nor for the entire length of any toll road fully built by the CR Toll Road Company. The minutes  did not contain any certification or report by the County Surveyor of any road built by the CR Toll  Road Company.  

The documents – or more accurately the absence of such documents – tell the story. There  was never a Crystal River Toll Road along the Crystal River between Carbondale and the  confluence of the Crystal River and Yule Creek in Gunnison County, Colorado. 

© Copyright James A. Beckwith (2021) 

Sources/Footnotes:

1 The Gunnison Country; D. Vandenbusche; 1970, Sundance Press; Pgs. 68-69 

2 Geoffrey P. Anderson; For Whom the Road Tolls: A History of Early Toll Roads in Colorado  and Their Effect on the Development of the State; (Self-Published) 

3 Alma and Breckenridge Toll Road Company; Charter 2543; (1880)