- Mar 26, 2025
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Fort Collins, Colorado's county seat and most populous city, is a home rule municipality. The 2020 census counted 169,810 people in the city, up 17.94% from 2010. Fort Collins is the main city of the Front Range Urban Corridor and the Fort Collins, CO Metropolitan Statistical Area. Colorado's fourth-largest city. Fort Collins is 56 miles (90 km) north of Denver, the Colorado State Capitol, on the Cache La Poudre River. Colorado State University and Front Range Community College's Larimer campus are in midsize Fort Collins.
Northern Arapaho inhabited the Cache la Poudre River Valley near Fort Collins. Friday, an Arapaho leader, interpreter, negotiator, and peacemaker, attended school in St. Louis, Missouri. In the 1860s, he was expelled from Colorado after befriending white settlers.
Fort Collins was established in 1864 as an Army outpost. It replaced Camp Collins on the Cache la Poudre River near Laporte. Camp Collins was built during the mid-1860s Indian wars to protect the newly relocated Overland mail route. In June 1864, a flood destroyed the camp for Overland Trail travelers. After that, the fort commander wrote to Colonel William O. Collins, commandant of Fort Laramie in southeast Wyoming, suggesting a site several miles downstream. Two companies of the 11th Ohio Volunteer Cavalry manned the post without walls.
Settlers arrived near the fort immediately. Fort decommissioned in 1867. The city's historic "Old Town" is next to the fort site. The town was platted in 1867, and the first school and church opened in 1866. In 1868, Fort Collins civilians, led by local businessman Joseph Mason, moved the county seat from LaPorte to Fort Collins.
An agricultural colony in 1872 sparked the city's population boom. Hundreds of settlers built lots south of Old Town. New settlers and older residents clashed in the 1873-incorporated town, causing political divisions. Classes began in 1879 at Colorado Agricultural College, founded in 1870.
Fort Collins developed an identity in the 1880s as elegant homes and commercial buildings were built. Early industries included sheep slaughter, sugar-beet farming, and stone quarrying. By the early 1900s, the area was known as the "Lamb feeding capital of the world" due to the college and agricultural experiment station's beet top industry. The Great Western sugar processing plant was built in neighboring Loveland in 1901.
Despite the Great Depression and drought, the city grew slowly in the early 1900s. Population doubled and economic prosperity followed World War II. Modern buildings replaced old ones. The Great Western sugar factory closed in 1955 and a new city charter adopted a council-manager form of government in 1954 as part of revitalization. Colorado State University's enrollment doubled in the 1960s, making it the city's main economic force by century's end.
From the late 1890s until student activism ended it in 1969, Fort Collins was known as a conservative city. Civil rights activism and anti-war protests raised city tensions, including the burning of CSU buildings.
Fort Collins rapidly expanded south in the late 20th century, adding regional malls. In the 1980s, the Downtown Development Authority revitalized Fort Collins' Old Town and city growth management became political priorities. After 31 hours of rain, the city experienced a flash flood in late July 1997. Colorado's heaviest urban rainfall occurred. The city suffered $5 million in damages and five deaths. Colorado State University's library was flooded, costing $140 million.
Fort Collins is 60 miles north of Denver, Colorado, and 45 miles south of Cheyenne, Wyoming, at the base of the northern Front Range Rocky Mountain foothills. 4,982 ft (1,519 m) above sea level. Horsetooth Reservoir and Horsetooth Mountain—named for a tooth-shaped granite rock that dominates the city's western skyline—are geographical landmarks. Clear days reveal Longs Peak southwest of the city.
Fort Collins has Spring Creek and Cache La Poudre River.
At the 2020 US Census, the town had 37,423 acres (151.444 km2), including 807 acres (3.265 km2) of water.
Fort Collins has a Köppen BSk cold semi-arid climate. Summers are hot and winters are long and cold (with frequent warm spells due to downslope winds, and somewhat less common intervals of severe cold). December, the coldest month, averages 31.1 °F (−0.5 °C). Snowfall averages 51.4 inches (1.31 m) from early September to May. Average precipitation is 15.88 inches (403 mm).
Colorado State University students dominate Fort Collins' culture. The city has several well-known microbreweries, a college-town music scene, and school-year housing for its large college population. In late summer, the Downtown Business Association hosts Bohemian Nights at NewWestFest, which featured local food, music, and businesses. The Fort Collins Symphony Orchestra and national Broadway tours perform at the Lincoln Center.
Local culture includes brewing and cycling. Fort Collins hosts the Colorado Brewer's Festival in late June. The festival attracts 30,000 people and features 45 Colorado breweries. The Tour de Fat, hosted by New Belgium Brewing Company, attracts 20,000 costumed cyclists.
The annual Colorado Marathon descends the Poudre Canyon and finishes in downtown Fort Collins. On Labor Day, the Bolder Boulder hosts the FORTitude 10K. Since 1973, the Horsetooth Half Marathon has drawn local runners.
The 1941-founded Fort Collins Museum showcases the region's culture and history. The Fort Collins Museum has over 30,000 artifacts, temporary and permanent exhibits, educational programs, and four historic structures in the outdoor Heritage Courtyard.
The Center for Fine Art Photography, University Center for the Arts, FCMOA, and Bas Bleu Theatre Company are arts organizations. In 2016, Berea College in Kentucky acquired Fort Collins' 2012 Arts Incubator of the Rockies (AIR) for its College Crafts Program.
Council-manager government governs Fort Collins. The mayor of a seven-member City Council is elected in April of odd-numbered years for a two-year term. Fort Collins' first-term mayor is Jeni Arndt. Even-numbered districts are elected in April 2023, and odd-numbered districts in April 2025.
Representative Joe Neguse represents Fort Collins, Colorado's 2nd Congressional district's largest city (Democrat). The city is divided between the 52nd and 53rd districts of the Colorado House of Representatives, represented by Cathy Kipp and Andrew Boesenecker, respectively. Fort Collins' three state legislators are Democrats. Larimer County offices and courts are in Fort Collins, the county seat.
Larimer County, Colorado's Fort Collins. It's Larimer County's seat. It is the 4th largest city in Colorado and the 157th largest in the US with 177,556 residents in 2023. Since the 2020 census, Fort Collins' population has grown by 4.56% to 169,810, 1.48% annually. Fort Collins has 3,105 people per square mile over 58 miles.
Fort Collins has 17.7% poverty and an average household income of $87,406. In recent years, the median rent was and the median house value was. Fort Collins' median age is 29.9, 29.5 for men and 30.3 for women.
Fort Collins is 65 miles from Denver on the Cache La Poudre River.
