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June 5, 1905 marked the opening of Dr. Edwin Solly’s Cragmor Sanatorium on the site now occupied by the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs.

General William Jackson Palmer donated 100 acres and $50,000 for this enterprise.

In honor of the 100th anniversary of institutional presence on this site, a series of presentations and walking tours offered the campus community opportunities to become better acquainted with the archaeology, history, flora and fauna, geology, and extraordinary philanthropy and vision associated with this site.

A goal of this anniversary celebration was to help members of the UCCS community develop a deeper sense of place through learning more about our environment and its history. A strong sense of place encourages us to become more attentive stewards of our natural and cultural heritage.

The University, like the sanatorium before it, occupies a privileged location on south facing bluffs opposite the foothills of the Rocky Mountains and opposite Pikes Peak.

The topography of rugged bluffs, ravines, some steep and some gradual slopes offers a number of different ecozones and provides a rich diversity of plant life. The fairly recent addition of the Heller Estate added an area which has been more protected from development which offers an even richer diversity of flora and fauna.

This site aims to provide basic information about the cultural and natural resources of the 521 acres which compose the present campus of the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs. Resources for further information are included. Where appropriate, potential research questions or projects which might be undertaken by future students or faculty are included. We would like to avoid being the type of campus referred to in the following quotation from a well known university professor.

“Four years in a place called a campus culminated in no great understanding of either that place or of the art of living responsibly there or anywhere else.” p. 210 David Orr. “The Liberal Arts, the Campus, and the Biosphere.” HARVARD EDUCATIONAL REVIEW 60(2): 205-216