Fountain, CO

Fountain's first settlement predates both the railroad and the recorded town plat. The city dates its founding to 1859. Survey and construction crews for the Denver and Rio Grande Railroad reached the small community in 1870, and the town plat was recorded on January 14, 1871; the Santa Fe line followed in 1878. Fountain later grew along the creek and transportation corridor immediately east of Fort Carson and south of Colorado Springs. Its military connection is visible in the bureau's 2020–2024 profile, which counted 4,043 veterans. The city runs one continuous-loop bus route between the Royalty Place park-and-ride and Pikes Peak State College. Its summer 2025 timetable included weekday, Saturday, and holiday service, with stops at Metcalfe Park, Fountain Library, the Jimmy Camp open-space walkway, county health offices, and a Mountain Metro transfer.

ATTRUser:WesterlyRider / CC BY-SA 3.0

Fountain's park system includes reservable gazebos, pavilions, multi-use fields, and ballfields at places such as Metcalfe, Aga, and Fountain Mesa parks, along with Cumberland Green Disc Park. Water treatment is another consequential municipal operation. In 2016, PFOS and PFOA above the federal lifetime health advisory were detected in wells serving Fountain and nearby communities; the Air Force attributed the contamination to military activities at Peterson Air Force Base and supplied treatment systems. Fountain began distributing granular-activated-carbon-treated groundwater in June 2018 after certified tests found PFAS at nondetectable levels. The city reports routine system sampling and weekly testing at each treatment unit.