Boulder County encompasses 740 square miles of the western plains and Rocky Mountains in north central Colorado. The county straddles three unique geographic zones: mountains in the west, plains in the east, and a natural trough that runs between the…

Burlington was a small homestead community along St. Vrain Creek, near present-day Longmont. Founded in 1860 by prospector Alonzo N. Allen, Burlington was named after Burlington, Iowa. The settlement grew to a population of about 150 before the Chicago…

Built in 1892 by local businessman James K. Sweeny, the Victorian mansion at Third and Terry Streets in Longmont was acquired by Thomas and Alice Callahan, two of the city’s leading residents, in 1896. The Callahans conducted extensive renovations and…

The Chicago-Colorado Colony (1871–73) established the city of Longmont near the confluence of St. Vrain and Left Hand Creeks in 1871. Financed by wealthy Chicagoans and consisting mostly of immigrants from the Midwest, the colony was an agricultural…

As Europe stumbled into war in late July and early August 1914, Coloradans viewed the conflict with mixed emotions. Some favored the English, French, Italians, Russians, and their allies. Others preferred the Germans and Austrians and their friends. The…

In 1881–82 rancher and businessman William Henry Dickens built the Dickens Opera House at the corner of Third and Main Streets in downtown Longmont. The two-story opera house, with Dickens’s Farmers National Bank on the first floor and an auditorium on…

The Hover Home and Farmstead is a historic mansion and agricultural property on the west edge of Longmont. Retired pharmacist Charles Hover and his wife, Katherine, bought the farm in 1902 and built the mansion in 1913–14. Over the next several decades,…

The Kuner-Empson Cannery at Third and Martin Streets in Longmont canned vegetables from farms on the northern Front Range from 1892 to 1970. Originally built by industrialist John H. Empson in 1889, the cannery was one of the first major industrial sites…

Built in 1913, the Carnegie Library at Fourth and Kimbark Streets in Longmont served as the city’s public library until 1972, when it was remodeled to house city offices. The Longmont Carnegie Library was one of thousands of similar libraries donated to…

The East and West Side Historic Districts in Longmont are located east and west of Main Street and south of Longs Peak Avenue. They contain many of the city’s earliest homes. The East Side Historic District includes 67 historic houses and was added to…

Mary Carr (1838–1933) was a dedicated philanthropist, cofounder of Longmont’s first public school and one of its first teachers, charter member of the National Woman’s Relief Corps, and an activist for women’s suffrage and equality. She helped shape…

In September 2013, Colorado’s Front Range, from Fort Collins south to Colorado Springs, experienced some of the most dramatic and devastating floods in state history. In the hardest-hit areas, the rainfall beginning September 9 and ending September 16…

William Henry Dickens (c. 1842–1915) was a homesteader, farmer, and businessman in the St. Vrain valley. A prominent early citizen of Longmont, Dickens built the Dickens Opera House, established Farmers National Bank, and helped organize the Farmers…