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function effectively and efficiently in the future, the community must undertake a comprehensive planning effort. HISTORY OF DEVELOPMENT THE CITY THE PHYSICAL AND PLANNING OF The history of EI Paso County and the City of Colorado Springs has been marked by significant shifts in economic and industrial growth with sudden bursts of expansion, periods of stable development and short periods of decline. The impetus and initial form of the City was determined by its founder, General William Jackson Palmer. Palmer was a well-ta-do Philadelphia born Quaker, financier and railroad man. Colorado Springs did not occur by accident or happenstance; begun as the Fountain Colony, it was specifically developed as a railroad town along Palmer's newly organized line, the Denver and Rio Grande. The originol 9,300 acres for the community were acquired by Palmer and his associates, who, in the spring of 1871, formed the Colorado Springs Company to develop the 2,000 acre Fountain Colony site. General Palmer's influence over the development of the community was not in its actual design but rather in his efforts to create a particular quality of life through his wealth and position in the community. Palmer's business and society contacts enabled him to attract a number of professionals and influential individuals to assist in the development of the colony. In the early years, much of the work done to shape and form the settlement was guided by General Robert Cameron, who, with an engineer, a marketing specialist and a handful of settlers from Greeley, Colorado, started work in 1871 on the establishment of the community. Cameron initially platted 1,000 acres between Monument Creek, Shooks Run, Willamette Street and Moreno Street into blocks 400 feet square, residential and business lots, streets 140 feet wide and a City park (now Acacia Park). Also begun was the construction of wells and canals to establish an adequate water supply. The Colorado Springs Company, chiefly responsible for most of the early construction, first auctioned townsite lots on August 12, 1871. Despite a slow start, by January, 1872, the population was 300 persons and the City boasted some 50 structures, including the first hotel, the Colorado Springs Hotel. Over 6000 trees were planted in an effort to establish some greenery in the barren Colorado landscape. I I I I I I I I I I I I '. I I I I I I The original buildings of the Colony were similar to those in other frontier towns with log cabins, small frame structures, and even several portable buildings housing residential and commercial uses. In 1872, Palmer hired architect George Sumners from Chicago to assist residents in the design and construction of more permanent homes and businesses. This emphasis on permanent dwellings helped demonstrate to the residents and others the permanence and stability of the town. Both public and private architecture were symbols of success and civic pride; residents and leaders spared no expense in providing this genteel environment with an instant heritage. From its beginning, Colorado Springs was influenced by the upper classes of the East and Europe. The influx of Europeans and Easterners with the means to build greatly influenced Colorado Springs' early architecture. Professional architects and builders, the use of high quality materials and workmanship and the use of European and Eastern architectural styles influenced the form and style of the new community. ' Sparkling air, sunshine and mountain grandeur have always graced the Pikes Peak region. These attributes, combined with the springs at Manitou, attracted many sufferers of tuberculosis to Colorado Springs. In 1875, Robert Chambers opened his house, known today as the White House Ranch, to patients hoping to recuperate in Colorado's sun. Similar establishments were soon started for other tuberculosis patients and those suffering from other ailments. Many of 6