Country United States County Custer County Time zone MST (UTC-7) Elevation 2,685 m Local time Wednesday 5:56 PM | State Colorado Founded 1872 ZIP code Westcliffe 81252 Population 27 (1930) Area code 719 | |
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Weather 14°C, Wind SW at 18 km/h, 18% Humidity | ||
Rosita was a silver mining town — now a ghost town — in Custer County, Colorado, United States. Rosita is Spanish for little rose. Although the old town has almost entirely disappeared (the former post office building is now an operating restaurant), the surrounding area has been largely developed into semi-rural home sites.
Contents
Map of Rosita, CO 81252, USA
The town was used in the filming of the 1958 western movie Saddle the Wind.
History
Rosita was founded in late 1872 by prospectors attracted by discoveries of silver. The town was composed of tents and log cabins, but soon had stores, carpenters, a hotel, saloon, blacksmith shop, and an assayer. By 1874 the town had more than a thousand residents and 400 buildings. A US post office opened in 1874, and in September 1874 the Rosita Index began as a weekly newspaper. Rosita took the seat of Custer County away from Ula (now also a ghost town) in 1878.
Despite some rich strikes in the Pocahantas and Humboldt mines, the silver veins around Rosita ran out of ore in a few years. In the early 1880s, Rosita was surpassed by the nearby mining towns of Querida and Silver Cliff. After a bitter four-year fight, Silver Cliff took the county seat from Rosita in the 1886 election, and Rosita declined further. The US post office was closed in 1966. ZIP code 81252 now serves Rosita, but mail must be addressed to Westcliffe.
Geography
Rosita is at an elevation of 8809 feet (2685 m), at 38°05′50″N 105°20′10″W.