Fort Collins, one neighborhood at a time

Fort Collins grew outward from a fort site on the Cache la Poudre River, first along the river, then square to the compass, then south toward the college and beyond. Each stage left a neighborhood with its own feel, and several are now protected as historic districts. This is a walk through some of them, north to south.

How the city draws its lines

The City of Fort Collins recognizes its oldest areas through its Historic Preservation office, which keeps two kinds of districts. City Council designates local landmark districts by ordinance: Old Town (1979), Sheely Drive (2000) and Whitcomb Street (2013). Two districts are on the National Register of Historic Places: Old Town (1978) and Laurel School (1980). The office's online Historic Resources Map shows every district and individual landmark, and the Fort Collins History Connection holds research on individual properties.

For everyday neighborhood life, the City's In Your Neighborhood pages offer a free block party trailer, the Next Level Neighborhoods leadership program and help with neighbor conflicts through Conflict Transformation Works.

Old Town

Old Town is where the city keeps its oldest commercial buildings. The National Register district centers on Linden and Walnut Streets and runs northeast past Jefferson Street, taking in early railroad and industrial buildings. The local district includes landmarks such as the Linden Hotel, the Northern Hotel and the Avery Block. The early town was laid out parallel to the river, which is why the oldest blocks sit at an angle to the rest of the grid, according to the Fort Collins History Connection. Old Town Square, a pedestrian plaza ringed by shops and restaurants, is the neighborhood's living room year-round.

The River District

Just north of Old Town, the River District sits along the Poudre, where Colonel William Collins set aside land around Willow Street for the military reservation on August 20, 1864. Today it mixes long-time industrial businesses with galleries, music venues, restaurants and new housing. At Willow and Linden, Andy Dufford's granite columns, In Praise of the Poudre, light up at dusk, and eleven etched pavers by Susan Dailey tell the district's history underfoot. The Poudre River Whitewater Park and the Poudre Trail are a short walk away.

Head east along Lincoln Avenue and you reach Odell Brewing, employee-owned and independent since 1989, which built its brewhouse there in 1994 and runs a taproom with a dog-friendly patio and daily food trucks.

Across the river: Buckingham, Andersonville and Alta Vista

Northeast of the river, on its floodplain, are three neighborhoods built for workers at the sugar factory, which was completed in late 1903 and processed its first beets in January 1904. Buckingham was founded in November 1902 on land owned by banker Charles Buckingham. Andersonville grew from worker housing on Peter Anderson's land in 1903. Alta Vista followed in 1923, when the company sold lots and supplied materials for adobe homes, according to Colorado State University's Public and Environmental History Center. Germans from Russia were recruited first, and Hispanic families became the majority in later decades. Together the neighborhoods are known as the Tres Colonias. Buckingham joined the city in 1906, while Andersonville and Alta Vista were not annexed until 1974.

The Museo de las Tres Colonias, an adobe house museum, tells that story of beet work and community life. Admission is free, and it opens by request for tours and school visits.

Laurel School and the streets near campus

South and east of downtown, the Laurel School Historic District is the largest of the city's two National Register districts: 217 acres of bungalows and late Victorian homes from the 1870s through the 1930s, with 549 contributing buildings, several by builder-architect Montezuma Fuller. It reaches as far as the 1200 block of Remington Street, close to Colorado State University. Many of its homes are also City Landmarks.

On the edge of the campus area, Avogadro's Number on South Mason Street is a restaurant and music room with a large patio, a Tuesday open mic and a calendar of local bands, blues and dance nights.

Two smaller districts are worth a detour. Whitcomb Street protects thirteen homes from the original 1873 plat and the Loomis Addition. Sheely Drive, off West Prospect Road, keeps eleven mid-century Modern homes tied to the business and civic leaders of the mid-1900s.

North College

College Avenue keeps going north across the river from Old Town, and on North College is the Fort Collins Bike Co-op, a community-owned, volunteer-run shop at 1501 North College that sells refurbished bikes and parts, takes donations and runs an open shop where people learn to fix their own.

Midtown

South of campus, Midtown follows College Avenue between Prospect and Harmony roads, the corridor the City studied in its Midtown in Motion plan to make room for walking, biking and transit. The MAX bus rapid transit line runs parallel along the Mason corridor, linking Midtown with CSU and downtown. Recycled Cycles, locally owned since 1978, sits on South Mason, selling new and used bikes and running repairs and rentals a short ride from the MAX line.

No single map captures every corner of Fort Collins, but these places show how the city grew: from the river, to the college, and on south. Pick one, park the car and walk it.