Cañon City

Sister cities

• Kahoku

History

Cañon City, Kansas Territory, was laid out on January 17, 1858, during the Pike's Peak Gold Rush, but then the land was left idle. A new company "jumped the claim" to the town's site in late 1859, and it put up the first building in February 1860. The Cañon City, Kansas Territory, post office opened on December 13, 1860. The spelling of the town's name frequently omitted the tilde over the Spanish letter ñ. This town was originally intended as a commercial center for mining in South Park and the upper Arkansas River. The new Territory of Colorado was organized on February 28, 1861, and Fremont County, Colorado Territory was created on November 1, 1861, with Cañon City as the first and only county seat. In 1861, the town raised two companies of volunteers to serve with the Second Colorado Infantry during the American Civil War. This regiment fought in skirmishes in nearby New Mexico and as far east as the Indian Territory (Oklahoma) and Missouri before ending its organization in 1865. In 1862, A. M. Cassaday drilled for petroleum north of Cañon City, close to a known oil seep. Cassaday struck oil at the depth of , and he completed the first commercial oil well west of the Mississippi River. He drilled five or six more wells nearby, and he refined kerosene and fuel oil from the petroleum. Cassaday sold the products in Denver. Congress approved the Territory of Colorado's request for funds to construct a penitentiary in 1867. The Colorado Territorial Penitentiary opened in 1871, becoming Colorado's first prison. The original structure held 43 prisoners, though the number of incarcerated people increased steadily to over 400 people by the turn of the century. Records of inmate labor at the penitentiary date to 1872, including numerous complaints that inmates were…

Geography

Cañon City is located in eastern Fremont County. It sits primarily on the north side of the Arkansas River, just east of where the river exits from Royal Gorge. It is bordered to the south by the unincorporated community of Lincoln Park. Via U.S. Route 50, Pueblo is to the east and Poncha Springs is to the west. Colorado Springs is to the northeast. At the 2020 United States census, the city had a total area of including of water. The average minimum temperature in January is . During July, overnight lows are on average. Cañon City has a semi-arid climate (Köppen climate classification 'BSk'). As Cañon City has grown, the city has both annexed surrounding communities and developed new subdivisions to create the city that exists today. *Dawson Ranch *Eagle Heights *Fireman's Bluff *Four Mile Ranch *Gold Cañon *Meadowbrook *Orchard Park *South Cañon, a historic neighborhood located on the west side south of the Arkansas River *Sunrise Mesa *Western Meadows *Wolf Park *Five Star Mobile Home park

Race & ethnicity

Most-observed species

• American Robin

  Turdus migratorius Linnaeus, 1766 · Aves
  2,951
• Canada Goose (canadensis Group)

  Branta canadensis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  2,898
• Eurasian Collared-Dove

  Streptopelia decaocto (Frivaldszky, 1838) · Aves
  2,787
• House Finch

  Haemorhous mexicanus (P.L.Statius Müller, 1776) · Aves
  2,506
• Northern Flicker

  Colaptes auratus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  2,131
• European Starling

  Sturnus vulgaris Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  1,864
• Mourning Dove

  Zenaida macroura (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  1,861
• Red-winged Blackbird

  Agelaius phoeniceus (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  1,819

Largest nearby schools

• Canon City High School
  High · CANON CITY · 993 students · 17.4:1 ratio
• Florence Jr./Sr. High School
  High · FLORENCE · 585 students · 18.3:1 ratio
• Harrison School
  Elementary · CANON CITY · 555 students · 13.5:1 ratio
• Fremont Elementary School
  Elementary · FLORENCE · 507 students · 18.8:1 ratio
• Canon City Middle School
  Middle · CANON CITY · 368 students · 19.4:1 ratio
• Canon Exploratory School
  Elementary · CANON CITY · 336 students · 16:1 ratio
• Washington Elementary School
  Elementary · CANON CITY · 299 students · 14.2:1 ratio
• Lincoln School of Science and Technology
  Elementary · CANON CITY · 254 students · 12.7:1 ratio