Cañon City

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Cañon City
The St. Cloud Hotel has been in Cañon City's National Historic District since 1888
The St. Cloud Hotel has been in Cañon City's National Historic District since 1888
Location in the state and county
Fremont County Colorado Incorporated and Unincorporated areas Canon City Highlighted.svg
Basic data
Foundation : 1860 (1872 town charter)
State : United States
State : Colorado
County : Fremont County
Coordinates : 38 ° 27 ′  N , 105 ° 14 ′  W Coordinates: 38 ° 27 ′  N , 105 ° 14 ′  W
Time zone : Mountain ( UTC − 7 / −6 )
Residents : 16,400 (as of 2010)
Population density : 527.3 inhabitants per km 2
Area : 31.2 km 2  (approx. 12 mi 2 ) of
which 31.1 km 2  (approx. 12 mi 2 ) is land
Height : 1625 m
Postcodes : 81212, 81215
Area code : +1 719
FIPS : 08-11810
GNIS ID : 191867
Website : www.canoncitycolorado.com
Mayor : Frank Jaquez
ArkansasRiverwalk.jpg
Arkansas River riverside path
Royal Gorge Bridge (1987)

Cañon City [ ˈkænən ˌsɪtɪ ] ( Canon City until 1994 ) is a small American town in the state of Colorado . The Home Rule Municipality is located about 150 km south of Denver and 60 km southwest of Colorado Springs on the Arkansas River . Cañon City is located in Fremont County and is its administrative seat . In 2010 the place had 16,400 inhabitants. Because of its twelve prisons, the city is nicknamed Prison Capital (prison capital ). The Colorado Territorial Prison Museum traces the history of crime and the prison system to the last gas chamber in Colorado.

history

The town was founded in 1859 as a gold rush settlement during the Colorado Gold Rush and was boosted by the construction of the railroad to the west.

In 1861 the city set up two companies of volunteers who joined the 2nd Colorado Infantry and took part in the Civil War . The regiment fought in New Mexico and Indian Territory in what is now Oklahoma , as well as in Missouri , before being retired in 1865.

In 1862 AM Cassaday was drilling for oil about ten kilometers north of the city . At a depth of about 15 m he struck the black gold and opened up the first commercial oil well west of the Mississippi . He was still drilling successfully in a few other places in the area and refined kerosene and other petroleum products that he sold in Denver .

In 1871, the Territory of Colorado built the first Cañon City detention center. Colorado Department of Corrections and the Federal Bureau of Prisons are the largest employers in the county today. The last two institutions for the time being were built after 1989. Colorado State Prison II is under construction in 2010. The first execution of a person with hydrogen cyanide took place in Cañon City on June 22, 1934.

geography

Canyon City's geographical coordinates are 38 ° 27 '  N , 105 ° 14'  W . The place is 1625 m above sea level. According to the United States Census Bureau , the city has an area of ​​31.2  km² , of which 31.1 km² is land and 0.1 km² (= 0.08%) is water.

In 1994 the United States Board on Geographic Names approved the addition of the tilde to the official name of Cañon City, previously called Canon City based on earlier decisions in 1906 and 1975 . The city is one of the few cities in the United States that has a ñ in its name.

tourism

Cañon City is the starting point for the ride on the Royal Gorge Route Railroad , which runs along the Arkansas River through the Royal Gorge , a granite gorge up to 330 m deep, the main attraction of which is the Royal Gorge Bridge , one of the highest suspension bridges in the world. Many white water rides on the rough upper reaches of the Arkansas River start from here.

Demographics

At the time of the 2000 United States Census, Cañon City was inhabited by 15,431 people. The population density was 495.7 people per km ². There were 6617 housing units at an average of 212.5 per km ². Cañon City's population was 93.15% White , 1.59% Black or African American , 1.04% Native American , 0.54% Asian , 0.06% Pacific Islander , 1.61% said others Belonging to races and 2.01% named two or more races. 8.33% of the population declared to be Hispanic or Latinos of any race.

The residents of Cañon City distributed to 6164 households out of which 28.8% were living in children under the age of 18. 48.0% of the households are married, 10.5% had a female head of the household without a husband and 38.3% did not form families. 33.7% of households were made up of individuals and someone lived in 17.2% of all households aged 65 years or older. The average household size was 2.27 and the average family size was 2.90.

The urban population was divided into 23.5% minors, 6.7% 18–24 year olds, 28.2% 25–44 year olds, 21.5% 45–64 year olds and 20.1% aged 65 and over or more. The average age was 40 years. For every 100 women there were 100.1 men. For every 100 women over the age of 18, there were 99.3 men.

The median household income in Cañon City was $ 31,736 , and the median family income reached the level of $ 42,917. The median income for men was $ 31,258 compared to $ 21,849 for women. The per capita income in Cañon City was $ 16,970. 11.5% of the population and 7.1% of families had an income below the poverty line , including 11.9% of minors and 9.6% of those aged 65 and over.

sons and daughters of the town

Movies

  • David Dufresen, Philippe Brault: Prison Valley . Documentation, France, 2010, 59 min (The TV documentary is a preparation of the interactive web documentation of the same name by the two authors.)
  • The Man in the High Castle . Canon City is the main location of the first episodes of season 1 in the American dystopian television series.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Francis M. Van Tuyl and Arthur E. Brainerd (1960) Historical summary , in: Mineral Resources of Colorado First Sequel. Denver: Colorado Mineral Resources Board. Pp. 491-492.
  2. ↑ Cañon City in the Geographic Names Information System of the United States Geological Survey