Editing Manitou Springs, Colorado (section)

==History==
General [[William Jackson Palmer]] and Dr. [[William Abraham Bell]] founded Manitou Springs in 1872, intending the town to be a "scenic health resort". Bell's home, [[Briarhurst Manor]], is open to the public as a fine dining restaurant, which is listed on the National Register of Historic places. In 1876, the town was incorporated.<ref name="MS Welcome">{{cite web | url=http://www.manitouspringsgov.com/welcome | title=Welcome to Manitou Springs | publisher=City of Manitou Springs | access-date=May 18, 2013 | archive-date=October 6, 2018 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181006141207/http://www.manitouspringsgov.com/welcome | url-status=dead }}</ref> "Manitou Springs has been the quintessential tourist town since the 1870s, when visitors discovered the healing waters the Ute Indians had been drinking for years. Many of the town's mineral springs still function today and the water is free."<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.colorado.com/cities-and-towns/manitou-springs | title=Manitou Springs | publisher=Colorado Tourism Office | access-date=May 18, 2013}}</ref>
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===Springs compromised in the 1970s===
In the 1970s, [[Woodland Park, Colorado|Woodland Park]], {{convert|19|mi|km}} up [[Ute Pass]], built a [[sewage treatment]] plant on top of the [[fault line]] that forms the pass. As a result, many of the springs were made undrinkable during the bulk of the 1980s, but this has since largely been corrected.{{cn|date=September 2016}}
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===Historic district===
{{main|Manitou Springs Historic District}}
In 1980, the [[Manitou Springs Historic District]] was formed by the Historic Preservation Committee to manage development, renovation and preservation within the town.<ref name="MS Welcome" /> It is a [[National Register of Historic Places]] listing<ref name="NRHP HD">[http://www.nationalregisterofhistoricplaces.com/CO/El+Paso/state2.html National Register of Historic Places in El Paso County, Colorado.] American Dreams. Retrieved May 3, 2013.</ref> and one of the country's largest National Historic Districts.<ref name="Peterson p. 197">{{cite book|author=Eric Peterson|title=Frommer's Denver, Boulder & Colorado Springs|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BtgoHcMDmCwC&pg=PA197|access-date=May 4, 2013 |date=January 29, 2009|publisher=John Wiley & Sons|isbn=978-0-470-46523-3|page=197}}</ref>

===Waldo Canyon fire===
In June 2012, the entire city was evacuated due to the [[Waldo Canyon fire]] nearby. Parts of western [[Colorado Springs, Colorado|Colorado Springs]] were also evacuated. Manitou Springs did not suffer any fire damage, and the city was under evacuation orders from only 1:30&nbsp;a.m. Monday until 8 p.m. the same day. There was no fire damage visible from Manitou Springs, and all businesses reopened.
<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.gazette.com/articles/blaze-140753-fire-side.html |title=Fire at 3,600 acres &ndash; and growing &#124; fire, county, canyon - WALDO CANYON FIRE - Colorado Springs Gazette, CO |access-date=June 30, 2012 |archive-date=July 1, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120701173216/http://www.gazette.com/articles/blaze-140753-fire-side.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>

===Waldo Canyon flash flood===
On the afternoon of August 9, 2013, the city was inundated by a [[flash flood]] entering the northern edges of the city via roadways and natural channels as it descended from the flooded-out US Hwy 24. Traffic was stopped in both directions as the highway barriers formed a river drifting several occupied cars down a runoff ditch. The strong current made a path down Manitou Avenue from Cavern Gulch, as well as Canon Avenue, meandering turbulently through streets, homes, businesses, and [[spillways]], damaging 20 homes, 8 of them significantly. The flood water threatened buildings and parking lots along [[Fountain Creek]], and closed a portion of Manitou Avenue, which reopened later that evening.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.denverpost.com/ci_23579061/flash-flooding-near-waldon-canyon-burn-scar-area | title=Waldo Canyon flooding causes damage to 20 homes | date=July 2013 | publisher=Denver Post | access-date=February 25, 2015}}</ref>