Old Colorado City

Old Colorado City
Old Colorado City
Old Colorado City, under the dot, lies inside the City of Colorado Springs (highlighted in red)
Old Colorado City is located in Colorado
Old Colorado City
Coordinates: 38°50′53″N 104°51′51″W / 38.84806°N 104.86417°W / 38.84806; -104.86417Coordinates: 38°50′53″N 104°51′51″W / 38.84806°N 104.86417°W / 38.84806; -104.86417
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]

Former El Paso County courthouse, Old Colorado City

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

  1. ^ "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. 
  2. ^ Jerome C. Smiley, Semi-Centennial History of Colorado, (Chicago: Lewis, 1913) 267-268.
  3. ^ Jerome C. Smiley, Semi-Centennial History of Colorado, (Chicago: Lewis, 1913) 367-369.

External links


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужно сделать НИР?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Old Colorado City Branch Carnegie Library — The library in 2010 The Old Colorado City Branch is a currently operating branch library of the Pikes Peak Library District.[1] It is housed in a 1904 Carnegie Library that has been in continuous service as a library since opening December 7,… …   Wikipedia

  • Colorado City — may refer to some places in the United States: Colorado City, Arizona Colorado City, Colorado, census designated place in Pueblo County, Colorado Old Colorado City (1859 1917), a historic city and territorial capital of Colorado, annexed into the …   Wikipedia

  • Colorado City, Colorado — This article is about the present day unincorporated town. For the historic Colorado City, see Old Colorado City. Colorado City, Colorado   CDP   …   Wikipedia

  • Old Georgetown City Hall — U.S. National Register of Historic Places …   Wikipedia

  • Old Greenville City Hall — Greenville City Hall Formerly listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places …   Wikipedia

  • Colorado Springs, Colorado —   City   Colorado Springs with the Front Range in background …   Wikipedia

  • Colorado Springs and Cripple Creek District Railway — Locale Colorado Dates of operation 1897–1920 Track ga …   Wikipedia

  • Colorado Territory — Colorado (Details) (Details) …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Old Spanish Trail (trade route) — For other uses, see Old Spanish Trail (disambiguation). Old Spanish Trail U.S. National Register of Historic Places U.S. Hi …   Wikipedia

  • Colorado counties — Adams Alam Arapahoe …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”