- Old Colorado City
-
This article is about the historic Colorado City, Colorado, that existed from 1859 until 1917. For other places with the same name, see Colorado City (disambiguation).
Old Colorado City Old Colorado City, under the dot, lies inside the City of Colorado Springs (highlighted in red) Coordinates: 38°50′53″N 104°51′51″W / 38.84806°N 104.86417°WCoordinates: 38°50′53″N 104°51′51″W / 38.84806°N 104.86417°W Country United States State Colorado County El Paso City Colorado Springs Incorporated (town) August 11, 1859 [1] Time zone MST (UTC-7) - Summer (DST) MDT (UTC-6) Historical populations Census Pop. %± 1870 81 — 1880 347 328.4% 1890 1,788 415.3% 1900 2,914 63.0% 1910 4,333 48.7% Old Colorado City, formerly Colorado City, is a national historic district in the city of Colorado Springs. Its approximate boundaries are U.S. Highway 24 to the south, 32nd Street to the west, 13th Street to the east and Uintah Street to the north, with the town square restructured as Bancroft Park.[1]
Colorado City was founded on May 22, 1859, when the Colorado Town Company, a group mainly from Denver and Auraria, laid claim to two square miles of land. They envisioned that Colorado City would be a major supply hub via Ute Pass for the new gold mines in South Park and the Blue River, where major strikes in the Pike's Peak Gold Rush had recently been made. The name Colorado was chosen (the area was still part of Kansas Territory) because the Blue River mines were supposed to be on the headwaters of the Colorado River. The town prospered in late 1859 and early 1860.[2]
However, by the summer of 1860, newly built roads from Denver to South Park and the Blue River had diverted most of the traffic to and from the mines, and Colorado City commerce instead shifted towards serving the agriculture of Colorado's eastern plains. (Eventually General Palmer's Denver & Rio Grande Railroad would snake from Denver into the South Park.)
Colorado City was the county seat of El Paso County until 1873, when the courthouse moved to Colorado Springs.
By an act passed on November 5, 1861, the first Colorado territorial legislature, meeting in Denver, named Colorado City as the territorial capital. However, Colorado City effectively functioned as the capital for only five days. When the second territorial legislature met at Colorado City on July 7, 1862, in a log cabin that still stands on Colorado Avenue, they found the accommodations so inadequate that they voted to adjourn on July 11 and reconvene in Denver on July 16.[3] Colorado City was never recognized by the Federal government as the territorial capital.
In 1891, major gold strikes were made in Cripple Creek and Victor, on the other side of Pikes Peak from Colorado City, and suddenly supplies were needed for this last major phase of the Colorado Gold Rush and the town's big boom was on. Eventually Colorado City was processing much of the gold ore at the Golden Cycle Mill using Palmer's railroads. Colorado City was the location of a 1903 strike that spread to Cripple Creek and eventually led to the Colorado Labor Wars.
Colorado City was incorporated into Colorado Springs in 1917.
References
- ^ "Old Colorado City Historical Maps". Archived from the original on 2008-04-06. http://web.archive.org/web/20080406040500/http://history.oldcolo.com/oldtown/maps/Fosdick_map.html#Fosdick_map. Retrieved 2008-09-13.
- ^ Jerome C. Smiley, Semi-Centennial History of Colorado, (Chicago: Lewis, 1913) 267-268.
- ^ Jerome C. Smiley, Semi-Centennial History of Colorado, (Chicago: Lewis, 1913) 367-369.
External links
Protected Areas of the State of Colorado Federal National ParksNational MonumentsNational Recreation AreasNational Historic SitesNational Historic TrailsOld Spanish Trail · Pony Express Trail · Santa Fe TrailNational Scenic TrailContinental Divide TrailArapaho · Grand Mesa · Gunnison · Pike · Rio Grande · Roosevelt · Routt · San Isabel · San Juan · Uncompahgre · White RiverNational WildernessBlack Canyon of the Gunnison · Black Ridge Canyons · Buffalo Peaks · Byers Peak · Cache La Poudre · Collegiate Peaks · Comanche Peak · Dominguez · Eagles Nest · Flat Tops · Fossil Ridge · Great Sand Dunes · Greenhorn Mountain · Gunnison Gorge · Holy Cross · Hunter-Fryingpan · Indian Peaks · James Peak · La Garita · Lizard Head · Lost Creek · Maroon Bells-Snowmass · Mesa Verde · Mount Evans · Mount Massive · Mount Sneffels · Mount Zirkel · Neota · Never Summer · Platte River · Powderhorn · Ptarmigan Peak · Raggeds · Rawah · Sangre de Cristo · Sarvis Creek · South San Juan · Spanish Peaks · Uncompahgre · Vasquez Peak · Weminuche · West ElkNational Conservation AreasNational Wildlife RefugesAlamosa · Arapaho · Baca · Browns Park · Monte Vista · Rocky Flats · Rocky Mountain Arsenal · Two PondsState Arkansas Headwaters · Barr Lake · Bonny Lake · Boyd Lake · Castlewood Canyon · Chatfield · Cherry Creek · Cheyenne Mountain · Crawford · Eldorado Canyon · Eleven Mile · Golden Gate Canyon · Harvey Gap · Highline Lake · Jackson Lake · James M. Robb - Colorado River · John Martin Reservoir · Lake Pueblo · Lathrop · Lone Mesa · Lory · Mancos · Mueller · Navajo · North Sterling · Paonia · Pearl Lake · Ridgway · Rifle Falls · Rifle Gap · Roxborough · San Luis · Spinney Mountain · St. Vrain · Stagecoach · State Forest · Staunton · Steamboat Lake · Sweitzer Lake · Sylvan Lake · Trinidad Lake · Vega · Yampa RiverByers-Evans House · Colorado History Museum · El Pueblo · Fort Garland · Fort Vasquez · Georgetown Loop · Healy House Museum and Dexter Cabin · Pearce-McAllister Cottage · Pike Stockade · Trinidad History Museum · Ute Indian MuseumOther Beaver Meadows · Burlington Carousel · Black Hawk · Central City · Colorado Chautauqua · Cripple Creek · Durango-Silverton Railroad · Georgetown · Granada · Leadville · Lindenmeier Site · Lowry Ruin · Mesa Verde · Pikes Peak · Pike's Stockade · Raton Pass · Shenandoah-Dives Mill · Silver Plume · Silverton · Telluride · U.S. Air Force Academy Cadet AreaGarden of the Gods · Garden Park Fossil Area · Indian Springs Trace Fossil · Lost Creek Scenic Area · Morrison Fossil Area · Raton Mesa · Roxborough Park · Russell Lakes · Sand Creek · Slumgullion Earthflow · Spanish Peaks · Summit LakeAmerican Discovery Trail · Colorado Trail · Continental Divide Trail · Great Divide Trail · Kokopelli's Trail · Paradox Trail · Tabeguache TrailAlpine Loop · Cache la Poudre-North Park · Colorado River Headwaters · Dinosaur Diamond · Flat Tops · Frontier Pathways · Gold Belt · Grand Mesa · Guanella Pass · Highway of Legends · Lariat Loop · Los Caminos Antiguos · Mount Evans · Pawnee Pioneer · Peak to Peak · San Juan Skyway · Santa Fe Trail · Silver Thread · South Platte River Trail · Top of the Rockies · Trail of the Ancients · Trail Ridge · Unaweep/Tabeguache · West Elk LoopColorado Department of Natural Resources (web) Categories:- Colorado Mining Boom
- National Register of Historic Places in Colorado
- Visitor attractions in Colorado Springs, Colorado
- Geography of Colorado Springs, Colorado
- United States colonial and territorial capitals
- Populated places established in 1859
- Historic districts in Colorado
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.