Manitou Springs, Colorado |
---|
Iron Springs, a neighborhood in Manitou Springs, Colorado, was an area named for one of Manitou Mineral Springs. The Manitou area had been frequented by Native Americans who considered it a sacred and healing place before European Americans settled in Manitou.
Iron Springs began to be visited in the 1870s, particularly the Ute Iron Springs. In 1880, a new Iron Springs Hotel was built. Attractions and businesses in Iron Springs included an electric trolley, mineral springs, the Manitou Incline, and the Manitou and Pike's Peak Railway, a cog railway. The incline was dismantled and is now a hiking trail. Neither the electric trolley or the Colorado Midland Railway are in Iron Springs now. The cog railway continues to operate. Iron Springs was annexed into Manitou Springs in several steps between 1887 and 1934.
The Iron Springs neighborhood is located in lower Englemann Canyon, along Ruxton Creek. [1] [2] : ix It is the site of trailheads to higher elevations, including the Paul Intemann Memorial Nature Trail and the Barr Trail.
The Manitou Springs area has several mineral springs, called manitou for the "breath of the Great Spirit Manitou" believed to have created the bubbles, or "effervescence", in the spring water. The springs were considered sacred grounds where Native Americans drank and soaked in the mineral water to replenish and heal themselves. Ute, Arapaho, Cheyenne and other plains tribes came to the area, spent winters there, and "share[d] in the gifts of the waters without worry of conflict." There were 9 or 10 natural springs. As whites moved in there were "skirmishes" for access to the historical resort area until the Native Americans were removed from the area and placed on reservations. [3] [4] [5] [6]
Explorer Stephen Harriman Long made note of the water's healing properties in 1820. [5] His expedition's botanist and geologist, Edwin James, noted the healing benefits of the water; He was also the first European man believed to have climbed Pikes Peak. George Frederick Ruxton wrote of the "boiling waters" in a book about his travels. [2] : 7 Recognizing the extent to which Native Americans considered the site to be sacred, Ruxton wrote: "...the basin of the spring (at Manitou) was filled with beads and wampum, and pieces of red cloth and knives, while the surrounding trees were hung with strips of deer skin, cloth and moccosons (sic)." [7]
In the 1870s, there was a pavilion over the Ute Iron Springs, [8] which is thought to be one "strongest of tonics" due to its high iron content. [9] [10] In the early or mid 1880s, Iron Springs Company purchased the spring and built an Adirondack style wood pavilion over the spring. They sold the mineral water commercially until they sold the spring to Joseph G. Hiestand in 1887. [11] In 1890, Joseph G. Heistand had the Ute Iron Springs pavilion torn down and rebuilt as a two-story structure, the second floor was a photographic gallery. [12] The spring in the lower Englemann canyon [13] was near the mouth of the canyon and the Iron Springs Hotel. [14] [15] The Ouray spring was found in 1895 and was established commercially that year. [16]
In 1910, the Iron Geyser on Ruxton Avenue was drilled by Hiestand, to augment the operations of his Ute Iron spring. [2] : 24 [lower-alpha 1] [lower-alpha 2] The springs were owned by Hiestand through his death on January 1, 1916. [19] : 752 [2] : 24 [20] [lower-alpha 3] In the 1920s, William S. Crosby drilled two streams, which combined made a sweet tasting soda water, named Twin Springs. [21]
The current Manitou Mineral Springs on Ruxton Avenue are Iron Spring and Twin Spring. [21] [22] Ute Iron Spring was capped when the Iron Springs Chateau Melodrama Dinner Theater was built in or before 1964. [11]
According to a June 1880 advertisement, the Iron Springs Hotel was located very near the Ute Iron Springs and has been entirely rebuilt and decorated with the "handsomest" furnishings. Charles A. Hubert was the proprietor of the hotel. [23] It was burned in July 1882. [24]
In 1884, the large Iron Springs Hotel was built by the Gillis Brothers for the Manitou Iron Springs Company. It was located on Ruxton Avenue at the site of the current Manitou Incline trailhead. The Gillis Brothers also had several cottages built on Ruxton that year. [25] : 8:2 In 1885, the hotel began using a generator, installed by the Edison Incandescent Lighting Company. The power and lighting was tested at the hotel before working on the "lower part of Manitou". [26] [lower-alpha 4] That year, the establishment could serve more than 200 people in its hotel and cottages, which had hot and cold running water and steam heat, in addition to electricity. [28] H. T. Blake was the owner of the Iron Springs Hotel in 1887 and at least into 1888. [29] [30]
The hotel was purchased by Major John Hulbert, Jerome B. Wheeler, and M.A. Leddy by January 18, 1890, for about $150,000 equivalent to $5,086,667in 2023). Their plans include increasing the hotel plant to a building costing $300,000 equivalent to $10,173,333in 2023). [31] Hiestand was the owner of the hotel by 1900 [9] and at the time of his death in 1916. [20] [lower-alpha 5]
The Eggleton offered furnished rooms near the Ute Iron Springs by 1903. [19] : 737
Construction of a Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad spur from Colorado Springs to Manitou began in 1880. [2] : ix [25] : 8:0
In 1886 [9] or 1887, [25] : 7:8 the Colorado Midland Railway [lower-alpha 6] operated along Ruxton Creek. [9] The railway offered service between Manitou and Green Mountain Falls [32] : 55 through Ute Pass. [25] : 7:8 The route was extended to Leadville and Aspen. [25] : 8:2 Colorado Midland Railway—founded by Irving Howbert, J. J. Hagerman, and Jerome B. Wheeler—helped to make resort communities in Ute Pass successful in the 1890s, but it did not realize great financial success. [25] : 7:8
In 1891, the Manitou & Pikes Peak Cog Railway had been built along Ruxton Creek and transported passengers to the Pikes Peak summit. [2] : ix [9] The depot was built by the Gillis Brothers. [25] : 7:8 Aside from the addition of a lunchroom, the depot has not changed much from its original building. [2] : 42
In 1895, the Colorado Springs and Interurban Railway electric trolley line provided transportation from Manitou Avenue to the Manitou and Pike's Peak Railway depot on Ruxton Avenue on a trolley called the "Dinky". [9] [33] [34]
In 1880, a candy and cigar store operated near the Ute Iron Spring. lt was purchased by the Iron Springs Company, who also bought the spring. [11] Joseph G. Heistand collected and stored 40 tons of items, such as stones to be polished and petrified wood, for his store in 1890. [12] The "avid collector of mineral specimens" operated a curio shop near the cog railway station. [9] Days after his death in 1916, his stone collection was described as interesting and valuable. [20] The Iron Springs Chateau Melodrama Theater was built over the capped Ute Iron Spring and began offering dinner theater entertainment in 1964 and continues to do so. [11]
Hiestand and R.D. Weir leased the "new casino" near the Manitou and Pike's Peak Cog Railway depot and the Ute Iron Spring in 1895. [16] [19] : 745 They made extensive additions to the existing property, including adding a bowling alley, billiard rooms, dancing floor made of hard maple, and built an additional building. The two buildings were connected by an ornamental bridge on the second stories. It was extravagantly furnished. [16]
A Hydro-Electric Plant was built in 1905 at 540 Ruxton Avenue. It has a formal, modern façade of red brick with two large arched windows with fanlights on the front of the building. [25] : 7:7 The plant, now called the Manitou Hydroelectric plant, is one of two plants that generate electricity for the City of Colorado Springs from water that flows through the Ruxton Creek watershed. The other is the Ruxton Hydroelectric plant. After water has been processed by the hydroelectric plants, it flows to the Mesa water treatment plant. [35] [36]
The Manitou Incline was built in 1907 to support the Hydro-Electric Plant operations. Materials were transported uphill to build pipelines on Pikes Peak. When the construction project was completed, the trail was converted to a cable car attraction to take visitors to the top of Mount Manitou, where there was a picnic area and refreshment stand. [25] : 7:8 [37] In 1990, the track was damaged during a rock slide and the incline was closed and the rails removed. In 2013, it was opened as a one mile hiking trail, with a 2,000 feet (610 m) ascent. [37]
Our Lady of Perpetual Help Catholic Church, located at 218 Ruxton Avenue, was built in 1889. The church was destroyed in a fire in 1903, and rebuilt within three months. The church is now a small Gothic and Shingle style church, with a greenstone bridge that crosses over Ruxton Creek. [25] : 7:8 [2] : 79
The road up Ruxton Creek (Ruxton Avenue) was annexed to Iron Springs in September 1880. [38] : 2 Portions of Iron Springs were annexed to Manitou in February 1887, August 1893, and May 1934. [38] : 6, 20
Manitou Springs is a home rule municipality located at the foot of Pikes Peak in western El Paso County, Colorado, United States. The town was founded for its natural mineral springs. The downtown area continues to be of interest to travelers, particularly in the summer, with many shops and restaurants, as well as a creekside city park. The main road through the center of town was one of the direct paths to the base of Pikes Peak. Barr Trail, which winds its way up Pikes Peak, is accessible from town. The subdivision Crystal Hills was added to the municipality in the 1960s.
Woodland Park is a home rule municipality in Teller County, Colorado, United States. Woodland Park is part of the Colorado Springs, CO Metropolitan Statistical Area. Many residents in this bedroom community commute to Colorado Springs. Woodland Park is surrounded by the 1,000,000-acre (400,000 ha) Pike National Forest. The population was 7,920 as of the 2020 Census.
The Broadmoor Manitou and Pikes Peak Cog Railway is a cog railway that climbs one of the most iconic mountains in the United States, Pikes Peak in Colorado. The base station is in Manitou Springs, near Colorado Springs.
The Ute Pass is a mountain pass west of Colorado Springs that ranges from a peak elevation at Divide of 9,165 to 6,165 feet at its lowest point.
Cascade is an unincorporated community and U.S. Post Office in El Paso County, Colorado, United States. The ZIP Code of the Cascade Post Office is 80809.
Before it was founded, the site of modern-day Colorado Springs, Colorado, was part of the American frontier. Old Colorado City, built in 1859 during the Pike's Peak Gold Rush was the Colorado Territory capital. The town of Colorado Springs was founded by General William Jackson Palmer as a resort town. Old Colorado City was annexed into Colorado Springs. Railroads brought tourists and visitors to the area from other parts of the United States and abroad. The city was noted for junctions for seven railways: Denver and Rio Grande (1870), Denver and New Orleans Manitou Branch (1882), Colorado Midland (1886–1918), Colorado Springs and Interurban, Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe (1889), Rock Island (1889), and Colorado Springs and Cripple Creek Railways. It was also known for mining exchanges and brokers for the Cripple Creek Gold Rush.
Barr Trail is a 13-mile (21 km) trail in the Pike National Forest that begins in Manitou Springs, Colorado, and ends at the Pikes Peak summit. The high elevation trail with a long sustained grade is rated more difficult by the U.S. Forest Service. With a 7,800 feet (2,400 m) elevation gain to reach the summit, the Colorado Springs Convention & Visitors Bureau states that it is an advanced trail and is the most difficult trail in the Pikes Peak region.
Pikes Peak is the highest summit of the southern Front Range of the Rocky Mountains in North America. The ultra-prominent 14,115-foot (4,302.31 m) fourteener is located in Pike National Forest, 12 miles (19 km) west of downtown Colorado Springs, Colorado. The town of Manitou Springs lies at its base.
The Uncompahgre Ute or ꞌAkaꞌ-páa-gharʉrʉ Núuchi is a band of the Ute, a Native American tribe located in the US states of Colorado and Utah. In the Ute language, uncompahgre means "rocks that make water red." The band was formerly called the Tabeguache.
The Manitou Springs Incline, also known as the Manitou Incline or simply the Incline, is a popular hiking trail rising above Manitou Springs, Colorado, near Colorado Springs. The Incline ascends on the east slope of Rocky Mountain which is itself on the eastern flank of Pikes Peak. The trail is the remains of a former 3 ft narrow gauge funicular railway whose tracks washed out during a rock slide in 1990. The Incline is famous for its sweeping views and steep grade, with an average grade of 45% (24°) and as steep as 68% (34°) in places, making it a fitness challenge for locals of the Colorado Springs area. The incline gains 2,011 feet (613 m) of elevation in 0.88 miles (1.42 km) horizontal. Currently the Incline has approximately 2,768 steps from the bottom to the summit, although the top step is numbered "2768". The number of steps changes occasionally with trail maintenance and deterioration.
Manitou Springs Historic District in Manitou Springs, Colorado is roughly bounded by US 24, Ruxton Avenue, El Paso Boulevard and Iron Mountain Avenue. Listed in the National Register of Historic Places, it is one of the country's largest National Historic Districts.
Manitou Mineral Springs are natural mineral springs in Manitou Springs, Colorado and Cheyenne Spring House is on the National Register of Historic Places. The springs are located in one of the country's largest National Historic Districts.
Manitou Bathhouse or Manitou Spa is a historic building located along Fountain Creek in Manitou Springs, Colorado. Once used as a mineral water bathhouse or spa, the building is now used for stores and other businesses on the first floor. The second and third floors hold residential units. It is on the National Register of Historic Places. Located in the building is Adam's Mountain Cafe.
Jerome B. Wheeler was president and partner of R. H. Macy & Company in New York City and was an owner of mines, a hotel, and other businesses in Colorado.
Englemann Canyon is a valley along Ruxton Creek, in Manitou Springs, El Paso County, Colorado. It is one of three canyons in Manitou Springs, the others are Ute Pass and Williams Canyon.
Ruxton Park is a park in Manitou Springs, El Paso County, Colorado at 9,078 feet (2,767 m) in elevation. The Manitou and Pike's Peak Railway, which departs from the depot at 6,570 feet (2,000 m) in elevation, climbs into Englemann Canyon along Ruxton Creek. It passes by the site of the Halfway Hotel and then Ruxton Park at mile marker 3 on the 8.9 mile trip to Pikes Peak summit.
Seven Lakes is an abandoned, historically populated place in Teller County, Colorado, on the Pikes Peak mountain. It was once the site of the Seven Lakes Hotel along a carriage road to the summit of Pikes Peak. Its waters flow from Beaver Creek to the Lake Moraine reservoir, a supplier of water to Colorado Springs.
Ruxton Creek is a stream in Manitou Springs in El Paso County, Colorado. Named for British explorer and writer of the southwest, George Fredrick Augustus Ruxton, it is one of three main drainage basins in Manitou Springs. Ruxton Creek flows out of Englemann Canyon and into the town of Manitou Springs. Iron Springs geyser emanates from the creek and is one of the Manitou Mineral Springs.
Fred W. Barr (1882-1940) ran a burro train business to Pikes Peak, but was known for his work blazing trails. He developed Barr Trail, built Barr Camp, and created other trails in the Pikes Peak area.
Otto Bulow was an architect from Sweden who worked in Pueblo, Colorado. He designed the Colorado Mineral Palace.
{{cite web}}
: Check |url=
value (help)External images | |
---|---|
Image of Iron Springs, 1901 | |
Images of Manitou Incline and Iron Springs |