Colorado Springs General Palmer’s Legacy And Why It’s Still A Big Deal Today

Press release from the City of Colorado Springs:

March 12, 2021

General Palmer, courtesy Colorado Springs Pioneers Museum

On March 13, 1909, Colorado Springs founder General William Jackson Palmer died at the age of 72. Schools, businesses, and trains stopped, and flags flew at half-mast in Colorado Springs. The Gazette published a multiple page article for his obituary to celebrate all the things he accomplished in his lifetime. Summing it up, then mayor William H. Spurgeon said Palmer was “the soldier, the builder of an empire, the philanthropist, the friend of the people, whose life was a blessing.”

There are many things in Colorado Springs to remind us of our city founder – the statue of him on horseback in the intersection of Platte and Nevada avenues, the many places that bear his name, our vast park system that he laid the foundation for, and the lasting institutions he provided funding and land to establish. But who was William Jackson Palmer and why do we still make such a big deal about his legacy today?

“To be fully engaged as a citizen you have to be aware of your community’s history, and to do that in Colorado Springs, you have to know Palmer,” says Colorado Springs Pioneers Museum Director Matt Mayberry. “You don’t have to be a historian, but just be curious about your community.”

Palmer was a Civil War hero, a railroad magnate, a visionary city founder, and a generous benefactor. According to Mayor Suthers, Palmer’s legacy is that the city he envisioned has not just been built but continues to thrive as one of the most desired cities in America to live and visit. A city that for 150 years has continued to take advantage of our magnificent surroundings as a primary tool for economic development, and where entrepreneurs and visionaries continue to come and add new and exciting layers to our vibrant city.

“Colorado Springs is an art colony, college town, military installation, destination for the high-tech industry, and home to the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic headquarters,” says Mayberry. “Peel back those layers and you still find Palmer’s healthful, attractive community with an extensive park system, trails galore, red sandstone spires, and that ever-present mountain.”

Says Suthers, “We can’t necessarily put ourselves in the shoes of someone in 1871, but it is important to continue to consider General Palmer’s vision that Colorado Springs would always be a unique place, not just a city built by fortune seekers, and ask ourselves ‘are we adding to or detracting from its beauty’? Our continuing mission is the same as his was, to create a city that matches our scenery, a shining city at the foot of a great mountain.”

Learn more about the life, vision, and legacy of General William Jackson Palmer.

Colorado Springs is celebrating its sesquicentennial in 2021. Visit ColoradoSprings.gov/150 to learn more.

This press release was produced by the City of Colorado Springs. The views expressed here are the author’s own.