Colorado Springs

Colorado Springs, city in central Colorado and seat of El Paso County, on Monument and Fountain creeks. Situated on a plateau at the foot of Pikes Peak, Colorado Springs is a year-round health and tourist resort. The city is a center for high-technology manufacturing, with firms producing semiconductors and computer hardware and software. Beginning in the mid-1980s, major computer and electronic communications manufacturers located in Colorado Springs, causing dramatic growth in the city’s population.

The city’s economy relies heavily on activities related to the military. Concentrated around Colorado Springs are headquarters and operational units of military space commands: Peterson Air Force Base, headquarters of the North American Air Defense Command and the United States Space Command; Cheyenne Mountain Air Force Base, a hollowed-out mountain southwest of downtown Colorado Springs, housing the control center for detection of aircraft, missile, or space attack against North America; and Falcon Air Force Base, which controls the U.S. Department of Defense satellite system. Also nearby is Fort Carson, a large training facility.

The United States Olympic Committee has its headquarters in Colorado Springs and maintains an Olympic training center there. The city is also home to a number of national charity organizations. Air transportation is through Colorado Springs Municipal Airport, which was expanded in the mid-1990s.

Educational institutions in Colorado Springs include Colorado College (1874), the United States Air Force Academy (1954), a campus (established in 1965) of the University of Colorado, Nazarene Bible College (1967), and several specialized schools and institutions offering two-year degrees. Cultural institutions include the Fine Arts Center, one of the country’s first free community centers, and the Colorado Springs Pioneers Museum, housed in the former El Paso County Courthouse. Other museums specialize in mining and industry, rodeos, and coins and money. Attractions in the area include Garden of the Gods, with sandstone formations; Glen Eyrie, a castle designed by the city’s founder and now a conference center; and Pikes Peak, site of an annual road race. The Broadmoor Hotel, opulently constructed during the city’s mining boom, is a noted landmark.

In 1871 General William J. Palmer, the builder of the Denver and Rio Grande Railway, founded Colorado Springs as a resort. Originally named Fountain Colony, the community was renamed to better evoke its resort aspirations. The planned community incorporated in 1876. After the discovery of gold at nearby Cripple Creek in 1891, the city grew into a commercial center. Its hotels, proximity to the mountains, and numerous hot springs made Colorado Springs a popular destination for wealthy tourists and people who used the springs for medicinal reasons. Following a trip to the top of Pikes Peak in 1893, Katharine Lee Bates wrote the words to the patriotic anthem “America the Beautiful.”

Colorado Springs covers a land area of 481 sq km (186 sq mi), with a mean elevation of 1,831 m (6,008 ft). According to the 2000 census, whites are 80.7 percent of the population, blacks 6.6 percent, Asians 2.8 percent, Native Americans 0.9 percent, and Native Hawaiians and other Pacific Islanders 0.2 percent. The remainder are of mixed heritage or did not report race. Hispanics, who may be of any race, are 12 percent of the people. Population 215,150 (1980); 281,140 (1990); 360,890 (2000); 372,437 (2006).