The Colorado Institute of the Education of the Mutes (now Colorado School for the Deaf and Blind) was founded by Jonathan R. Kennedy and opened on April 8, 1874. The school began with a Territorial appropriation of $5,000. It first operated in a rented house with seven students. Kennedy, who had worked at the Kansas State School for the Deaf, was the director of the school. He and his wife had children who attended the school.[3][4]William Jackson Palmer donated land to build a permanent school on Knob Hill, 1 mile (1.6 km) east of Colorado Springs.[3][4] In 2014, there are 500 students across the state.[4]
The inventor Nikola Tesla's wireless power experimental station was located on Knob Hill at a site near the current Kiowa and Foote Streets, between the Colorado School for the Deaf and Blind and the Union Printers' Home.[8] It was built and operated in 1899 and was torn down in 1904.[9] A street car came to Knob Hill, at that time at the edge of the prairie.[10]
St. Francis Hospital
The St. Francis Hospital was built on Institute Heights at the east end of Pike's Peak Avenue, near the Knob Hill street car line.
Other
The Pikes Peak Gun Club was on Knob Hill near the city limits.
The Knob Hill Auction Company held monthly auctions on the hill to sell horses.[11] Livestock was sold weekly on Knob Hill, where there was also a nearby cafe.[12]
Annexation
In 1950, 3,612 people lived in Knob Hill.[13] On June 14 of that year, Knob Hill was annexed into Colorado Springs and became the Knob Hill neighborhood.[14]
Kathleen Murphy Beatty; Phillippa Ormond Kassover; University of Colorado at Colorado Springs (1983). The Knob Hill Neighborhood Survey. University of Colorado.
Colorado Springs (Colo.). Community Development Department; Colorado Springs (Colo.). City Planning Department (1984). Knob Hill: Neighborhood Redevelopment Plan. The Department.