Cañon City was established in 1851, and by 1852 it had a population of 800. The town had a blacksmith shop, two stores, two hotels, one temperance hall, one bakery, two billiard saloons, two express houses, two saw mills, a post office, and a one-room school. In 1891 most of the town moved upstream to Dedrick, where new strikes of gold were made.