In 1871, the Colorado Springs Company laid out the towns of La Font (later called Manitou Springs) and Fountain Colony. Within a year, Fountain Colony was renamed Colorado Springs and officially incorporated.

Colorado Springs is near the base of Pikes Peak, which rises 14,115 feet (4,302 m) above sea level, making it the highest mountain on Colorado's southern front range. The summit was named after American explorer Zebulon Pike, though it was first called "Heey-otoyoo'" by the Arapaho people, which means "long mountain".

In the 1890's, gold was discovered on the western slope of Pikes Peak. It was one of the richest gold strikes in American history. Almost overnight, the Cripple Creek Mining District grew from an isolated cattle pasture to the home of more than 50,000 people. By the turn of the 19th century, Colorado Springs was nicknamed "the city of millionaires."

The Tesla Experimental Station was built in 1899 by inventor Nikola Tesla for his study of the use of high-voltage, high-frequency electricity in wireless power transmission. Tesla chose Colorado Springs because it is one of the most active lightning strike areas in the United States. He used the lab for only one year. On 7 January 1900, the famous inventor made the final entry in his Colorado Springs journal. In 1904, he was sued for unpaid bills, and the lab was torn down. Its contents were auctioned off to satisfy Tesla's debts.

In 1893, at the age of 33, Katharine Lee Bates took a train trip to Colorado Springs. Several of the sights on her trip inspired her and found their way into her famous poem "America the Beautiful", including the majestic view of the Great Plains from high atop Pikes Peak.

Doctors believed that the mineral waters of nearby Manitou Springs had healing effects and that the dry climate and mountain air were helpful to those with TB. Although the dry air and waters did not "cure" tuberculosis, these factors did help the disease to regress, and by the 1880s and 1890s, more than a third of the residents of Colorado Springs were tuberculosis patients.

The Libertarian Party was officially formed on December 11, 1971, in the home of Colorado Springs resident Luke Zell. The founding of the party was prompted in part due to concerns about the Nixon administration, the Vietnam War, conscription, and the introduction of fiat money.

Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman stars Jane Seymour as Dr. Michaela Quinn, a physician who leaves Boston in search of adventure in the Old American West and settles in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

Along with the Rothschild's giraffe, the reticulated giraffe is the most common giraffe found in zoos. The Cheyenne Mountain Zoo in Colorado Springs, Colorado is said to have the largest reticulated giraffe herd in all of North America.

Believe it or not, Bigfoot has reportedly been spotted in Colorado more than 100 times in recent years, including several sightings in Pike National Forest, just west of Colorado Springs.