Boulder is a large mountain city located about 25 miles northwest of Denver. With approximately 100,000 people (according to 2010 estimates) spread over just 26 square miles, Boulder has one of the largest population densities in the state. Located in the Boulder Valley, the area where the Rocky Mountains meet the Great Plains, the city boasts some of the most stunning geography nationwide. The Flatirons, a line of massive flat rock formations, are located just west of the city.
Locals say that the town is full of Tesla-driving, kombucha-drinking know-it-alls who only take breaks from snowboarding to drink craft beer and smoke. True or not, it’s also a beautiful college town boasting 300 miles of hiking trails, a thriving culinary scene, fantastic local music, and year-round sunshine.
Lined with restaurants, shops and people watching opportunities, Pearl Street is the heart and soul of Boulder. Here, in the center of historic downtown, locals and visitors stroll the brick-paved pedestrian walkway, linger on sun-dappled benches and restaurant patios, shop to their hearts’ content, and stop to watch street performers. Four blocks of Pearl are closed to traffic, but the fun continues to stretch for blocks in either direction.
In the mid-1800s, Boulder was filled with abundant wildlife including buffalo, antelope and elk. The valley served as the winter home and hunting grounds to nomadic bands of Indigenous people. The Arapaho, on the plains, and the Utes, in the mountains, are the two tribes most associated with Boulder’s recent past.
In the fall of 1858, a group of prospectors from Nebraska made their way to what is now called Boulder Creek. After finding gold in a stream near present-day Gold Hill in the mountains west of Boulder, they made their settlement permanent, breaking a promise to Chief Niwot and his band of Southern Arapahos who lived in what is now Boulder.
On February 10, 1859, the group of 60 prospectors established the Boulder City Town Company, named for the large number of boulders they found in nearby streams.
Never mind that the settlement was in violation of the 1851 Treaty of Fort Laramie, which granted the land to the Plains Indians, the town founders divided up the acres into 4,044 lots and priced them at $1,000 each. The price was much higher than in other towns like Denver, and the lots didn’t sell quickly.
News of gold discoveries near Denver and at Gold Run spread and led to the “Rush to the Rockies” in the spring of 1859. Some 100,000 prospectors, mostly men, set out for the Rocky Mountains hoping to make their fortunes.
Boulder grew slowly at first. In 1871, the fledgling city was incorporated as the Town of Boulder, with a population of just over 340 residents.
Boulder was one of many destinations in the American Southwest for people suffering from tuberculosis. At the time, the only recommended medical treatment for the ailment was a high, dry climate, and nutritious food.
In the 1890s, Dr. John Harvey Kellogg set up the Sanitarium Boarding Home on University Hill in 1893, run by the Seventh Day Adventists. The house was soon full to capacity and was replaced by the Boulder Colorado Sanitarium on Mapleton Hill in 1896.
The new sanitarium no longer catered to tuberculosis patients but instead became a full-fledged health resort offering the latest medical and alternative medicine treatments to care for mind, body and spirit. Good nutrition was key, and the sanitarium sold health foods like whole-grain bread and granola to patients and residents for decades, setting the stage for the natural healing and health-food movement that is today integral to the culture of Boulder.
In the late 1960s, hippies, the anti-establishment youth of our nation, were leaving home and discovering places to congregate with like-minded peers. The CU campus was vibrant with student activism that addressed women’s rights, racial inequality and the Vietnam War with demonstrations and sit-ins. Combined with a burgeoning rock and roll music scene on University Hill, Boulder was a perfect place to attract hippies. They came in droves via hitchhiking and Volkswagen buses with long hair, blue jeans and an alternative outlook on life. Conservatives in Boulder called it an invasion.
Eventually, the “hips” and the “straights” found a way to coexist in Boulder. Many hippies stayed in town, starting alternative businesses like the Cotangent and Phantasmagoria for counterculture fashion, and Celestial Seasoning for teas.