The city of Manitou Springs was founded in 1872 by Gen. William Jackson Palmer and Dr. William Abraham Bell, a Cambridge-educated English physician who partnered with Palmer to explore and reap the wealth of new corporate and tourism ventures made possible by the expanding Denver and Rio Grande Railroad.

Snugged at the base of Pikes Peak about six miles west of downtown Colorado Springs and bounded by Mount Manitou, Red Mountain and Englemann Canyon, the settlement of Manitou Springs long had been a destination for early inhabitants and visitors to the region who traveled there to drink of and bathe in the fabled – and allegedly healing – mineral spring waters that bubbled forth.

With the site easily accessible by rail car, Palmer and Bell envisioned Manitou Springs blossoming into a resort town along the lines of Saratoga Springs, N.Y. – an upscale retreat for well-heeled wellness seekers – but with a distinctly western flair and the rarefied air that was known to be beneficial to those suffering from respiratory ailments such as tuberculosis.

Today, the city – which expanded southeast to include the Crystal Hills subdivision in the 1960s – continues to fulfill and further that original dream for year-round residents and as a thriving tourist destination and scenic launch pad for more rigorous, high-altitude adventures in the mountains to the west.

Established as a National Historic District in 1980, the downtown area and main street corridor boast parks, an array of specialty shops and galleries, historic hotels and restaurants offering a range of cuisines.

The town’s eastern fringe is home to the only two recreational marijuana shops in El Paso County.

Manitou Springs also marks the gateway to Pikes Peak for those heading up by foot via Barr Trail, by the historic cog railway or by bicycle or vehicle along the Pikes Peak Highway.

The city is known for hosting a unique array of festivals and community celebrations, including an annual Mardi Gras gathering and the Emma Crawford Coffin Races and Parade, which draw more than 10,000 spectators and competitors each October for a street fete, parade and “coffin race” inspired by a young tuberculosis victim whose coffin famously unmoored from its mountainside burial site and slid down into the canyon below more than a century ago.