FLORENCE, a city of Fremont county, Colorado, U.S.A., on the Arkansas river, 33m. W.N.W. of Pueblo, at an altitude of 5,187 feet. It is on Federal highway 5o, and on the State highway running north through Phantom Canyon and south to the San Isabel national forest; and is served by the Denver and Rio Grande Western and the Santa Fe railways. The population was 2,629 in 192o, and was 2,475 in 1930 by the Federal census. An irrigated agricultural district adjoins Florence on the east, and in the mountains to the south famous head lettuce is grown for the eastern markets. There is a large zinc smelter in the city, and two refineries which handle oil from the northern part of the State as well as from the local field. Just east of Florence are two cement plants, with an annual output of over 2,000,000 barrels. Coal mines touch the city boundaries, and the lead mined in the Greenhorn mountains is shipped from here. Florence is a centre for many excursions. The city maintains a camp for motorists in the mountains of the San Isabel forest, 2 2m. south. The city was settled about 1875 and incorporated in. 1887.