The Iron Springs neighborhood is located in lower Englemann Canyon, along Ruxton Creek.

The springs were considered sacred grounds where Native Americans drank and soaked in the mineral water to replenish and heal themselves.

Ute, Arapaho, Cheyenne and other plains tribes came to the area, spent winters there, and "share[d] in the gifts of the waters without worry of conflict."

[3][4][5][6] Explorer Stephen Harriman Long made note of the water's healing properties in 1820.

[5] His expedition's botanist and geologist, Edwin James, noted the healing benefits of the water; He was also the first European man believed to have climbed Pikes Peak.

[2]: 7  Recognizing the extent to which Native Americans considered the site to be sacred, Ruxton wrote: "...the basin of the spring (at Manitou) was filled with beads and wampum, and pieces of red cloth and knives, while the surrounding trees were hung with strips of deer skin, cloth and moccosons (sic).

[11] In 1890, Joseph G. Heistand had the Ute Iron Springs pavilion torn down and rebuilt as a two-story structure, the second floor was a photographic gallery.

[19]: 752 [2]: 24 [20][c] In the 1920s, William S. Crosby drilled two streams, which combined made a sweet tasting soda water, named Twin Springs.

[26][d] That year, the establishment could serve more than 200 people in its hotel and cottages, which had hot and cold running water and steam heat, in addition to electricity.

[19]: 737 Construction of a Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad spur from Colorado Springs to Manitou began in 1880.

[9] The railway offered service between Manitou and Green Mountain Falls[32]: 55  through Ute Pass.

[2]: 42 In 1895, the Colorado Springs and Interurban Railway electric trolley line provided transportation from Manitou Avenue to the Manitou and Pike's Peak Railway depot on Ruxton Avenue on a trolley called the "Dinky".

[12] The "avid collector of mineral specimens" operated a curio shop near the cog railway station.

Weir leased the "new casino" near the Manitou and Pike's Peak Cog Railway depot and the Ute Iron Spring in 1895.

It has a formal, modern façade of red brick with two large arched windows with fanlights on the front of the building.

When the construction project was completed, the trail was converted to a cable car attraction to take visitors to the top of Mount Manitou, where there was a picnic area and refreshment stand.