Rosita, Colorado

Rosita, Colorado
Town

Location in Custer County and the state of Colorado

Coordinates: 38°05′50″N 105°20′10″W / 38.09722°N 105.33611°W / 38.09722; -105.33611Coordinates: 38°05′50″N 105°20′10″W / 38.09722°N 105.33611°W / 38.09722; -105.33611
Country  United States
State  Colorado
County Custer County[1]
Founded 1872
Government
 • Type ghost town
Elevation[1] 2,685 m (8,809 ft)
Time zone MST (UTC-7)
 • Summer (DST) MDT (UTC-6)
ZIP code[2] Westcliffe 81252
Area code(s) 719
GNIS feature ID 0192319

Rosita was a silver mining town — now a ghost town — in Custer County, Colorado, United States. Rosita is Spanish for little rose. Although the old town has almost entirely disappeared (the former post office building is now an operating restaurant),[3] the surrounding area has been largely developed into semi-rural home sites.

The town was used in the filming of the 1958 western movie Saddle the Wind.

History

Rosita was founded in late 1872 by prospectors attracted by discoveries of silver. The town was composed of tents and log cabins, but soon had stores, carpenters, a hotel, saloon, blacksmith shop, and an assayer. By 1874 the town had more than a thousand residents and 400 buildings. A US post office opened in 1874, and in September 1874 the Rosita Index began as a weekly newspaper. Rosita took the seat of Custer County away from Ula (now also a ghost town) in 1878.

Despite some rich strikes in the Pocahantas and Humboldt mines, the silver veins around Rosita ran out of ore in a few years. In the early 1880s, Rosita was surpassed by the nearby mining towns of Querida and Silver Cliff. After a bitter four-year fight, Silver Cliff took the county seat from Rosita in the 1886 election, and Rosita declined further. The US post office was closed in 1966.[4] ZIP code 81252 now serves Rosita, but mail must be addressed to Westcliffe.[2]

Geography

Rosita is at an elevation of 8809 feet (2685 m), at 38°05′50″N 105°20′10″W / 38.09722°N 105.33611°W / 38.09722; -105.33611.

See also

List of ghost towns in Colorado

References

Historical population
Census Pop. %±
18801,008—
1890304−69.8%
1900110−63.8%
191042−61.8%
1920457.1%
193027−40.0%
  1. 1 2 "US Board on Geographic Names". United States Geological Survey. 2007-10-25. Retrieved 2008-01-31.
  2. 1 2 "ZIP Code Lookup" (JavaScript/HTML). United States Postal Service. Retrieved 2008-01-02.
  3. ↑ Letter Drop Inn Restaurant - Fine Dining in Historic Rosita Colorado
  4. ↑ Gayle Turk (1975) Wet Mountain Valley, Colorado Springs: Little London Press, p.9-21.
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 10/21/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.