Neighborhoods

Colorado Springs History

This picturesque town near Pikes Peak and Garden of the Gods provided General William Palmer inspiration to create a premiere resort community. Seeking to create an idyllic sanctuary away from the rough and tumble mining town of Old Colorado City. Palmer sought to create a totally dry town that was free of alcohol. Colorado Springs remained a dry town until the end of Prohibition in 1933. General Palmer even went as far as to buy the land east of Colorado City to create a buffer zone between the newly formed Colorado Springs and Colorado City. You see back in those days Colorado City was full of rowdy and unruly miners and General Palmer wanted to set Colorado Springs apart from Colorado City to create a more respectable town. That is why General Palmer took extreme measures to make sure his dream became a reality.

In the first years after the resort town of Colorado Springs was established, the residents saw success with attracting tourists to the area. The first hotel, Antlers Hotel, opened a couple of years after the first tourists starting coming to Colorado Springs.

Colorado Springs earned the nickname, "Little London" for the large number of British tourists who came to visit the area. Other international and United States travelers also journeyed to Colorado Springs to seek out the high altitude and the dry climate that was believed to promote well-being especially those who suffered from Tuberculosis.

To bring more people to this resort town, Palmer founded the Denver and Rio Grande Railroad. Along with other lines, Palmer's railroads would become a vital transportation route not only to help promote tourism to the area but to capitalize on the gold pouring from the mines during he Pikes Peak gold rush.

Those who struck it rich, did not live in the mining boomtown of Colorado City, but instead, they sought a quieter place to live and chose to live in Colorado Springs away from the rowdiness of Colorado City.

Please click on the pictures below to find out more about the local area attractions I just wrote about.

Pikes Peak