Policemen, Colorado Springs,1887.

Colorado Springs Has a Rich History

FDR at Camp Carson, 1943. This was well before the US Air Force Academy.

Colorado Springs has a rich tradition, with visits by Presidents and celebrities throughout its history. Even before the Air Force Academy was even contemplated, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt visited Colorado Springs to review the troops. President Eisenhower chose the Springs for the Academy, and JFK visited it in 1963.

The most famous temporary resident of Colorado Springs, Nikolai Tesla, peering around the door of his "laboratory" circa 1896. Note the sign saying "Great Danger  - Keep Out." Tesla is credited with somehow getting rid of the locusts from Colorado Springs.

Other Presidents have attended the annual graduation ceremonies at the US Air Force Academy. For a small town in the Wild West, Colorado Springs has left a huge footprint on the American psyche.

That was a pretty snappy car for 1943.

Above, President Roosevelt reviews Greek and Norwegian battalions of ski troops at Camp Carson, Colorado.

Ute boy on a pony, 1901.

Workers rebuild an eastbound trolley track on West Colorado Avenue around 1910, before street paving began.

Platte Avenue in Colorado Springs, Colorado in 1918.

Stagecoach in front of the original Antlers Hotel. Looks full, probably around 1895. The original Antlers Hotel burned down in 1898, so... no cars. But, in about ten years there will be nothing but cars.

1913 snowstorm. Notice how wet the sidewalks are. Then, as now, the weather changes with lightning speed and it was probably a warm day.

1940 Acacia Park downtown.

1907 at the corner of Tejon and Pikes Peak.

Anna Held 1904. She was a big Broadway star and also appeared in some silent films. Her manager Flo Ziegfeld created a huge publicity campaign to make her famous, apparently, she stopped in Colorado Springs.

Anna Held 1904.

Antlers Hotel ca. 1950.

Antlers Hotel different angle.

Briarhurst 1872.

Broadmoor Casino Broadmoor Casino in 1900. Between 1913-15: The casino and hotel are leased to Harrison Ewing for a girls' boarding and day school.

Broadmoor Casino 1891.

Broadmoor Casino 1900.

Butch Cassidy's Hole in the Wall Gang.

Cascade Avenue 1940.

Cheyenne Mountain Highway opened in 1926.

Colorado School for Deaf and Blind 1900.

Colorado Springs grocery store 1883.

Colorado Springs motorcycle cops 1920s. There still are motorcycle cops in Colorado Springs to this day.

Cassandra Peterson aka Elvira, graduate, Palmer High.

First automobile up Pikes Peak 1901.

Glen Eyrie 1890.

Manitou and Pikes Peak RR in 1895.

NORAD was built in 1963.

Piggly Wiggly 1904.

Piggly Wiggly recently.

Pikes Peak Avenue late 1870s. The first Antlers Hotel was built in 1883, so that dates this picture.

Pikes Peak Avenue 1900. The second Antlers Hotel obviously is standing there, but it was not "completed" until 1901.

President Kennedy at the new Air Force Academy on 5 June 1963.

Robert Mitchum 1952, "One Minute to Zero" was filmed in Colorado Springs.

Shredded Wheat was invented in Colorado Springs.

Streetcars on Pikes Peak ca. the 1930s.

Ute Indian Camp in Garden of the Gods.

General Palmer.

Zebulon Montgomery Pike.

Henry Fonda at the Broadmoor, 1965, with Shirlee, his new bride.

This looks a little too good, as if from a movie or a very recent still, but awesome shot anyway.

Apparently an original, dated 1904, but colorized.

Hidden Inn 1913.

YWCA 1913 - now a national historic monument.

1916 Running of the Pikes Peak race.

Gateway to Garden of the Gods.

The second Antlers Hotel in 1909.

General Palmer's daughter Dorothy teaching him to ride a bike, 1900.

Tejon Street 1940.

Ute Pass Trail 1940.

Cutler Hall 1889.

Gazette Building.

Bijou Bridge after flood damage in 1935.

Broadmoor Art Academy Class of 1923.

Ute Men 1901.

Ute Women 1901.

Ute Chief Buckskin Charlie 1894.

1910 Union Saloon, Colorado City. No barstools, you can stand while you down your whiskey. Nice stove over in the corner. Note the spittoons.

Giddings Dry Goods Store, 101 North Tejon.

Grocery Store 1910.

First National Bank of Colorado Springs, 1901.

The Alamo Hotel, 1901 (1880s-1974).

Livery Stable in Colorado. Perhaps Colorado Springs (notice "El Paso Livery on the right). This picture was created in 1888 by Grabill, John C. H., photographer.

2019