Rosita, Colorado
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| Rosita, Colorado | |
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| Coordinates: | |
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| Country |  United States |
| State |  Colorado |
| County | Custer County[1] |
| Founded | 1872 |
| Government | |
| - Type | ghost town |
| Elevation [1] | 8,809 ft (2,685 m) |
| 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. The town is not entirely deserted, and still has an operating restaurant.[3]
The town was used in the filming of the 1958 western movie Saddle the Wind.
Contents |
[edit] 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]
[edit] Geography
Rosita is at an elevation of 8809 feet (2685 m), at .
[edit] References
| Historical populations | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Census | Pop. | %± | |
| 1880 | 1,008 |
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| 1890 | 304 | −69.8% | |
| 1900 | 110 | −63.8% | |
| 1910 | 42 | −61.8% | |
| 1920 | 45 | 7.1% | |
| 1930 | 27 | −40% | |
- ^ a b US Board on Geographic Names. United States Geological Survey (2007-10-25). Retrieved on 2008-01-31.
- ^ a b ZIP Code Lookup (JavaScript/HTML). United States Postal Service. Retrieved on 2008-01-02.
- ^ Letter Drop Inn Restaurant - Fine Dining in Historic Rosita Colorado
- ^ Gayle Turk (1975) Wet Mountain Valley, Colorado Springs: Little London Press, p.9-21.
[edit] See also
List of ghost towns in Colorado
[edit] External links
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