Boulder Apartment Reviews

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Boulder Information

Gold seekers established the first non-native settlement in Boulder County on October 17, 1858 at Red Rocks near the entrance to Boulder Canyon. Less than a year later, on February 10, 1859, the Boulder City Town Company was organized by A.A. Brookfield, the first president, and 56 shareholders. Four thousand forty-four lots were laid out at a purchase price of $1,000 each, a price that was later lowered in order to attract more residents.

Part of the Nebraska Territory until February 28, 1861, when the Territory of Colorado was created by the U.S. Congress, Boulder City grew slowly. It developed as a supply base for miners going into the mountains in search of gold and silver. Boulder City residents provided these miners with equipment, agricultural products, housing and transport services, and gambling and drinking establishments.

Competition among Boulder County settlements for new residents and businesses was intense. As a mining supply town, Boulder residents were more settled than in the mining camps. Economic stability was a necessity and residents encouraged the establishment of railroad service, hospital and school buildings, and a stable town government.

Boulder's first schoolhouse was built in 1860 at the southwest corner of Walnut and 15th Street, the first in the territory. Also in 1860 a group of Boulder residents began lobbying to have the University located in Boulder. By 1874 Boulder had won the designation, secured a donated 44.9 acre site and raised $15,000 to match a similar grant by the state legislature. Construction of Old Main signaled the opening of the University, with classrooms, auditorium, office and the President's living quarters all located there.

Transportation was improved in 1873 with railroad service coming to Boulder. Gradually tracks were laid to provide service to Golden and Denver and to the mining camps to the west. In 1890 the railroad depot was constructed on Water Street (now Canyon Boulevard) and 14th Street.

City government was formalized on Saturday, November 4, 1871 when the town of Boulder was incorporated. The first mayor, Jacob Ellison, was elected for a two month term in 1878.

By 1880 Boulder's population had passed the 3,000 mark, which was the minimum required by state statutes for the incorporation of a city of the second class. This step was taken on April 3, 1882, and that month a new town hall was completed in time for the first meeting of the council of the newly formed city government. Designation of Boulder as the county seat occurred in 1867 and led to the construction of the first courthouse at its present site in 1883. It burned to the ground in 1932 and was replaced by the current courthouse in 1934.