Longmont, Colorado

Longmont was founded in 1871 by a group of people from Chicago, Illinois. Originally called the Chicago-Colorado Colony, led by president Robert Collyer, the men sold memberships in the town, purchasing the land necessary for the town hall with the proceeds. As the first planned community in Boulder County, the city streets were laid out in a grid plan within a square mile. The Longmont, Colorado Territory, post office opened on April 14, 1873.^[11] The city began to flourish as an agricultural community after the Colorado Central Railroad line arrived northward from Boulder in 1877. The Town of Longmont was incorporated on November 15, 1885.^[1]

In 1925, the Ku Klux Klan gained control of Longmont's City Council in an election. They began construction of a large pork-barrel project, Chimney Rock Dam, above Lyons and marched up and down Main Street in their costumes. In the 1927 election they were voted out of office, and their influence soon declined. Work on Chimney Rock Dam was abandoned as unfeasible, and its foundations are still visible in the St. Vrain River.^[12][13]

In 1955, United Airlines Flight 629 exploded over Weld County, Colorado, 8 miles east of Longmont, killing 44 passengers and crew.^[14]

During the 1960s, the federal government built the Denver Air Route Traffic Control Center in Longmont, and IBM built a manufacturing and development campus near Longmont. Longmont Foods was a turkey processor that once supplied turkey products throughout the United States. For example, turkey hot dogs with the Longmont Foods label were sold throughout the U.S. In 1950 they constructed a large plant on southern Main St. that received trucks full of live turkeys. The company was eventually purchased by Butterball and then closed 2011.^[15] As agriculture waned, more high technology has come to the city, including companies like Seagate and Amgen; Amgen closed its Longmont campus in 2015. In April 2009, the GE Energy Company relocated its control solutions business to the area.^{[citation needed]}

The downtown along Main Street, once nearly dead during the 1980s, has seen a vibrant revival in the 1990s and into the 21st century. During the mid-1990s, the southern edge of Longmont became the location of the first New Urbanist project in Colorado, called Prospect New Town, designed by the architects Andrés Duany and Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk.

Longmont was the site of Colorado's first library, founded in 1871 by Elizabeth Rowell Thompson, though it lasted up to a year before its collection of 300 books was lost. Following this, Longmont also was the site of one of Carnegie's libraries with the single-story structure being opened in 1913. It remained open until August 7, 1972, when, due to overcrowding with approximately 22,000 books within the space, it was closed just a week before the new library that had been constructed next door was opened.^[16]

In May 2013, the Longmont City Council voted to finance and build out its own municipal gigabit data fiber-optic network, known as NextLight, to every house and business over a three-year period starting in late 2013.

Longmont is located in northeastern Boulder County and extends eastward into western Weld County. U.S. Highway 287 (Main Street) runs through the center of the city, leading north 16 miles (26 km) to Loveland and south 34 miles (55 km) to downtown Denver. State Highway 119 passes through the city south of downtown and leads southwest 15 miles (24 km) to Boulder and east 5 miles (8 km) to Interstate 25.

The elevation at City Hall is 4,978 feet (1,517 m) above sea level. St. Vrain Creek, a tributary of the South Platte River, flows through the city just south of the city center.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Longmont has a total area of 27.6 square miles (71.6 km²), of which 26.2 square miles (67.8 km²) is land and 1.5 square miles (3.8 km²), or 5.30%, is water.^[17]

According to the Köppen Climate Classification system, Longmont has a cold semi-arid climate, abbreviated Bsk on climate maps. The hottest temperature recorded in Longmont was 106 °F (41 °C) on July 7, 1973, and June 27, 1994, while the coldest temperature recorded was −38 °F (−39 °C) on January 16, 1930.^[18]

Longmont is home to the Boulder County Campus of Front Range Community College, the St. Vrain Valley School District, and to a number of private schools. Longmont is also home to the Master Instructor Continuing Education Program (MICEP) a voluntary accreditation program for aviation educators.

There is also a municipal public library. As of 2019^[update] there was deliberation over whether to establish a library district and to have the library publish news. That year the library's director stated, in the words of Corey Hutchins of the Columbia Journalism Review, "lacks resources and hasn’t kept up with the city’s growth".^[27]

Longmont has bus service to Denver and Boulder as part of the RTD transit district. Longmont is connected to Fort Collins, Loveland, and Berthoud via a FLEX regional bus service.

As of 2024^[update], the FasTracks project plans to extend RTD's commuter rail B Line to Longmont, which could be completed in the early 2040s.

In 2012, Longmont was recognized by the League of American Bicyclists as a silver-level bicycle-friendly community. Longmont is one of 38 communities in the United States to be recognized with this distinction. It is the only city in Colorado placed at the silver level that is not a major tourist center or a university city.^[28]

Vance Brand Airport is a public-use airport owned by the city. It currently has no scheduled passenger flights, but it is popular for general aviation.^[29]

The Longmont Leader (formerly the Longmont Observer)^[30] is the local daily newspaper.

The Longmont Times-Call, while bearing the city's name, is published from Boulder and is operated by Alden Global Capital of New York City.^[31]

Longmont's radio stations include KRCN, KGUD, and KKFN. Sports radio is broadcast on KKSE-FM from a tower about 10 miles (16 km) southeast of Longmont. Also located nearby is KDFD, a Fox News Radio affiliate with a conservative talk format. The KDFD (760 AM) transmitter site is about 15 miles (24 km) east of Boulder.

NPR programming can be heard on Colorado Public Radio stations KCFR from Denver, and KCFC (AM) in Boulder. The NPR affiliate KUNC from the Fort Collins-Greeley market can also be heard in Longmont.

Longmont is also served by Pacifica Radio affiliate KGNU, a non-commercial community radio station from Boulder.

According to the city's 2020 Annual Comprehensive Financial Report,^[32] the top employers in the city are:

Longmont's median household income was $89,720 per year in 2022. The largest industries in Longmont as of 2022 are manufacturing (7,188 people); professional, scientific, and technical services (6,533 people); and retail trade (6,066 people).^[33]

Due to its proximity to Rocky Mountain National Park, Longmont is home to many hotels, restaurants, and other businesses that cater in part to the tourists visiting the park each year. In addition, Longmont supports a thriving craft brewing industry as well as many recreational and travel-related businesses. Local breweries include two of the nation's largest craft brewers,^[34] Left Hand and Oskar Blues, as well as many others. Other businesses support skiing and other snowsports, bicycling, and rock climbing.

Longmont also features a Saturday Farmers Market and is known for its 'maker' community.^[35]

Longmont is a home rule municipality. Its current city charter was adopted in 1961, and has been amended numerous times since.^[36][37] Longmont is governed by a seven-member City Council, which consists of the directly-elected mayor of Longmont and six additional councilmembers.^[38] Of the six councilmembers, three are elected from one of three wards, and three are elected from the city at-large.^[39] The mayor is elected for a term of two years, and each councilmember is elected for a term of four years.^[38] Regular city elections in Longmont are held on the first Tuesday in November of odd-numbered years.^[40] The officials elected at each regular city election alternate between (1) the mayor, the councilmembers from Wards One and Three, and one councilmember elected at-large, and (2) the mayor, the councilmember from Ward Two, and two councilmembers elected at large.^[37]

Longmont operates under a council-manager system of government, with a city manager acting as the city's chief administrative officer.^[41] The city manager is appointed by and serves at the pleasure of the City Council.^[37]

This is a list of individuals who have served as mayor of Longmont.^[42]

• Valarie Allman (b. 1995), discus gold medalist in the 2020 Olympics and 2024 Olympics; graduate of Silver Creek High School^[52]
• Greg Biekert (b. 1969), American football player and coach; played football for Longmont High School^[53]
• David Bote (b. 1993), MLB player; Longmont native^[54]
• Vance D. Brand (b. 1931), NASA astronaut; graduate of Longmont High School^[55]
• Elizabeth A. Fenn (b. 1959), Pulitzer Prize–winning historian; Longmont resident^[56]
• Andrea Gibson (1975–2025), Poet Laureate of Colorado; Longmont resident^[57]
• Terry Johnson (b. 1935), engineer and entrepreneur^[58]
• John R. Kelso (b. 1831), congressman and author; Longmont resident^[59]
• Kody Lostroh (b. 1985), Professional Bull Riders World Champion 2009; Longmont native^[60]
• David Pauley (b. 1983), MLB pitcher; graduate of Longmont High School^{[61][better source needed]}
• Jack Reynor (b. 1992), Irish actor; born in Longmont^{[62][better source needed]}
• Kristen Schaal (b. 1978), comedian and actress; raised in Longmont^[63]
• Dan Simmons (b. 1948), Hugo Award–winning author; Longmont resident^[64]
• Kimiko Soldati (b. 1974), diver at the 2004 Olympics; raised in Longmont^[65]
• Fred Stone (b. 1873), stage and film actor; lived in Longmont^[66]
• William Oxley Thompson (b. 1855), fifth President of The Ohio State University; founder of the short-lived Longmont Presbyterian College^[67]
• Ed Werder (b. 1960), Dick McCann Award–winning sports reporter; attended Longmont High School^[68]

Longmont has established a sister city relationship with:

• Chino, Nagano, Japan
• Ciudad Guzmán, Jalisco, Mexico
• Northern Arapaho Tribe, Wind River Reservation, Wyoming

• Denver-Aurora-Greeley, CO Combined Statistical Area
• Front Range Urban Corridor
• List of municipalities in Colorado
• List of populated places in Colorado
• List of post offices in Colorado
• Chivington Drive: the council took the decision to rename the city street following two decades of protests that it honored the soldier who was responsible for the Sand Creek Massacre of 1864.