What we know
Lignite mines reached by a Denver & New Orleans spur (von Ahlefeldt p. 51). Hall's vol. 4 (1895) names a company that owned and operated 'the McFerran coal mines, near Colorado Springs'. McFerran Road in Black Forest carries the name.
Where it was
USGS GNIS Mine 1734078. 'McFerran, five miles northwest of Franceville, is another busy coal mining town, where besides stores, hotels, etc., are well conducted schools'; 'At Franceville and McFerran are mines of lignite coal, which are extensively worked' (Frank Hall, History of the State of Colorado, vol. 3, 1891). GNIS's McFerran and Franceville mines are 4.3 miles apart, northwest-southeast.
The U.S. Geological Survey's official point for this place name.
Sources
Sources are named in the text above. Numbers such as S-0080 refer to our source list. Most newspaper quotations were read in the Colorado Historic Newspapers Collection. Long quotations from recent books are shortened here.