Brookside, CO

Brookside is a Fremont County statutory town of 236 residents in the 2020 census, on the south side of Canon City along Colorado Highway 115. The town began in 1888 as a community around the Brookside Coal Mine and was incorporated in 1913. At about 5,348 feet, it sits in the dry foothills west of the Arkansas River valley, sharing a ZIP code and regional services with Canon City.

ATTRPublic domain

Brookside is mostly residential, with a few businesses, the Fremont County Head Start program, town offices, and homes along the highway. The old mining connection still accounts for the town's name and its placement among the coal camps south of Canon City. Brookside also sits between Canon City, Florence, Williamsburg, Coal Creek, and Rockvale, so its small boundary is surrounded by a web of nearby municipalities. A town hall, water service, and highway frontage now occupy the same valley where coal once drew workers and helped establish the settlement. The town remains tied to Canon City's services.