Neha Patil (Editor)

Old Colorado City

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Country
  
United States

County
  
El Paso

Incorporated (town)
  
August 11, 1859

Area
  
3 ha

Local time
  
Thursday 11:06 AM

State
  
Colorado

City
  
Colorado Springs

Time zone
  
MST (UTC-7)

Population
  
4,333 (1910)

Added to NRHP
  
2 November 1982

Old Colorado City httpsmediacdntripadvisorcommediaphotos05

Weather
  
19°C, Wind S at 31 km/h, 17% Humidity

Restaurants
  
Bon Ton's Cafe, Paravicini's Italian Bistro, Front Range Barbeque, Thunder and Buttons II, Jake and Telly's Greek Ta

Old colorado city colorado springs


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.

Contents

Map of Old Colorado City, Colorado Springs, CO 80904, USA

History

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.

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 the Denver, South Park and Pacific 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. 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.

Irving Howbert, one of the founders of Colorado Springs, lived briefly in Old Colorado City prior to 1864.

Colorado City was incorporated into Colorado Springs in 1917.

Overview

Old Colorado City has a shopping district featuring dozens of independently owned art galleries, boutiques, restaurants and special attractions, including Simpich Showcase and Magic Town, at The Michael Garman Museum and Gallery.

References

Old Colorado City Wikipedia