Pleasant Valley Junction, about 1/2 mile south of this site, began in the early 1880's when the Rio Grande Railroad extended the main line from Tucker over the summit into Carbon County. A round house was built and a branch line extended to the Pleasant Valley Coal camps. All coal shipped from Pleasant Valley used this new route. The area was renamed Colton in the late 1890's and was important as a railhead for livestock shipment, general freight, and a thriving ice industry. Another part of Colton's economy was the mining and milling of ozokerite, a mineral wax found only here and in Austria. The store behind this monument was moved from the original townsite in 1936.