Old Colorado City

History

In 1859 the small settlement of El Dorado, at the eastern entrance to the pass through the mountains to the west, was renamed Colorado City by the founders Melancthon Beach, Rufus Cable, Anthony Bott and George Bute. Colorado City became the first permanent town in the Pikes Peak region.

Early settlers included farmers, ranchers, freighters and outfitters for the people who were rushing to the western mine fields. By 1886 the Colorado Midland Railroad was one of the city’s largest employers, with its headquarter offices, terminals and repair yards in Colorado City.

A Glass Works was established in 1887 by Adolph Busch, Jerome Wheeler and General Adams. Bottles were made for the Manitou mineral water, local liquor and wine by Bohemian glass blowers. Anheuser-Busch, Mayor Charles Stockbridge and others bottled beer in Colorado City at the turn of the century. When gold was discovered in 1891 at Cripple Creek, prosperity came to the city from the four gold ore reduction mills operating in Colorado City.

Because Colorado Springs was founded as a “dry” town, the sale of alcohol became a lucrative business in Colorado City, and the town soon became infamous for its many saloons and brothels. The hardworking residents were proud of their schools, Carnegie public library and churches and the desire to make their town more respectable led to the prohibition of liquor in 1914. The “wild west days” were destined to fade for Colorado City and in 1917, after a second vote, it was annexed by Colorado Springs.

*Pikes Peak and Colorado City, pencil drawing by artist A.E Mathews. Located at the Pioneer Museum, Colorado Springs

Learn More

Interested in discovering more about local history? Schedule an appointment time to meet with our Research Volunteers to dig deeper into our Collections

Research & Collections

Research and Collections

Let us help you

Looking to find more on the local history that surrounds Old Colorado City? Did your family grow up here and you want to know more about them? Interested in old buildings, railroads, or Civil War battles? Let us help you discover the answers to you seek. At the Old Colorado City History Center, we have a Reference Library and a Collections & Archives Department. Visitors can email or call the museum to make appointments with OCCHS Research Volunteers to research local history in the Reference Library .

Materials in the Collection Department can be viewed in the Reference Library, but require retrieval by Collections Volunteers. When looking for information in our Collections, it is always best to call or email ahead of time and provide as much detail as possible about what you are searching for.

Walk-ins for simple questions can be assisted on slow days if Research Volunteers are available. For more complicated requests requiring research or access to Collections, please email or call.

Reference Library

The History Center maintains an ever-growing research library. Within the library there are:

Polk / Giles City Directories 1886-1975 : Search information on buildings, businesses, families, and addresses
Westerners Brand Books 1945-1975 : Fascinating articles about the history of Colorado and the American West
The Colorado Magazine / Colorado Heritage Magazine 1923-1910 published by History Colorado, index available
Vertical file reference folders to look up topics by subjects
Directories for our local cemeteries
Early El Paso County land record information
Endless Colorado history books on every topic and many areas of the state

Collections & Archives

The Old Colorado City Historical Society maintains both archival and artifact collections. We have over a dozen individual collections within our Special Archives Collections which contain thousands of personal papers, manuscripts, correspondence, photographs and maps donated by individuals and/or families from the local area.

As an example, the McKnight Collection alone includes thousands of original photographs of the local area taken by the late, longtime resident and collector Luther McKnight.

The Ellis Collection contains a wide variety of photographs, archival material, and books, all representing life in the Colorado City/Colorado Spring area as the local Ellis family lived and experienced it.

We have Colorado Springs High School (Palmer High School) and Colorado College yearbooks for select years. We also have a copy of the one and only known yearbook for Colorado City High School.

We are always happy to help you with your research. Send us an email with your questions or requests and we will do our best to help you. Please forgive any delays, as we operate completely through volunteers.

Please note that we do not hold death, marriage, or birth records except in the rare case that such a document was donated to us. For help locating vital records please see the State Archives page HERE

Old Colorado City History