Colorado Springs in El Paso County, Colorado — The American Mountains (Southwest)
Precious red stone
| | Red Rock Canyon Open Space | |
Courtesy of Theresa Hilton Small, August 30, 2025
1. Precious red stone Marker
Anthony Bott, one of the founders of Colorado City, quarried Dakota Sandstone from the east face of the hogback (highest ridge) in the 1870s and 1880s. These were simple but significant operations for supplying community needs. Vertical slabs of stone were cleaved along bedding planes with a pry bar and loaded into wagons. Large-scale quarry operations in the massive domes of Permian-age Lyons Sandstone began about 1888. After the arrival of heavy, steam-powered cutting equipment and hoisting derricks, large quantities of cut stone were removed by several companies. Cut blocks were staggeringly large, about 6x7x10 feet and weighing over 25 tons. In one year, during 1889 and 1890, the Colorado Midland Railroad shipped 600,000 cubic feet of stone. Quarrymen and geologists recognized the sandstone's remarkable uniformity of texture, grain, color and cohesiveness. These attributes made it an ideal construction material in an era of grand public structures and mansions, and before widespread use of structural steel and concrete. We know now that after many years of exposure, the stone is prone to weathering and
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Standing Today
Newspapers in the 1890s reported that large quantities of Lyons Sandstone (often called Manitou Sandstone in the building trade) were being shipped by rail to cities along the Front Range and to major cities in the Midwest and Texas. Still standing in Denver are two large office buildings, several churches, and many historic residences constructed of Red Rock Canyon Lyons Sandstone during the early 1890s.
Did You Know?
Quartz grains derived from decomposed granites (igneous rocks) are principal original sources of sand particles in the Lyons and Dakota sandstones. Much of the Lyons Sandstone has a secondary source, in that it was probably eroded and reworked from the older, underlying Fountain Formation.
Photo captions:
[Left]: Anthony Bott
[Middle]: The Kenmuir Quarry site was a bustling operation, running seven days a week. Photos courtesy Colorado Springs Pioneers Museum, Starsmore Center for Local History.
[On right]: Architectural detail on the Union Printer's Home in Colorado Springs.
Erected by City
Courtesy of Theresa Hilton Small, August 30, 2025
2. View of markers & the Kenmuir Quarry.
This marker is in the center. The others cover flora.
Topics. This historical marker is listed in this topic list: Natural Features. A significant historical year for this entry is 1888.
Location. 38° 50.597′ N, 104° 52.99′ W. Marker is in Colorado Springs, Colorado, in El Paso County. It can be reached from High Street 0.4 miles west of Ridge Road. Located within the Kenmuir Quarry area. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 3550 W High St, Colorado Springs CO 80904, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Regionally, this marker is in Colorado’s Front Range and in Pikes Peak Region. It is also in the American Mountain West. Globally, it is in North America, the Rocky Mountains, the Western Hemisphere, the Western World, and the Anglosphere. Historically, it finds itself in what was once the Comancherνa.
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within 2 miles of this marker, measured as the crow flies: Welcome to Red Rock Canyon Open Space (approx. 0.6 miles away); Old Fort and Stockade (approx. one mile away); Colorado City, First Territorial Capital (approx. 1.1 miles away); The Original Colorado City (approx. 1.1 miles away); Templeton Block (approx. 1.1 miles away); Birth of a Town (approx. 1.2 miles away); Cabin on the Move (approx. 1.2 miles away); Old Colorado City (approx. 1.2 miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Colorado Springs.
Also see . . . History of the Red Rock Canyon Open Space - City website. (Submitted on August 30, 2025, by Mark Hilton of Montgomery, Alabama.)
Credits. This page was last revised on August 30, 2025. It was originally submitted on August 30, 2025, by Mark Hilton of Montgomery, Alabama. This page has been viewed 110 times since then and 20 times this year. Photos: 1, 2. submitted on August 30, 2025, by Mark Hilton of Montgomery, Alabama.
Editor’s want-list for this marker. Photo of the Union Printer's Home on South Union Blvd in Colorado Springs. • Can you help?
