Loveland Colorado Now and Then
Loveland is known nation wide as the sweetheart city and is located 45 miles north of Denver on the I-25 corridor. in recent years Loveland has grown at a very rapid rate. the 2000 census had 50, 600 living in Loveland Colorado. the population has been estimated at near 60, 000 now. More Information About Loveland
The city is also known nationally as the  "gateway to the Rockies". Just west of the city is the Big Thompson Canyon which certainly qualifies as an entrance to the Rockies. A short drive up the canyon is the small village of Estes Park Colorado and Rocky Mountain National Park.

That is the present and now a little information on how it all started. Like all the towns in this area Loveland too had it's ancient visitors as far back as 10,000 or more years. The recent Native Americans especially the Utes lived and hunted here. The Ute trail to the summer highlands started just west of Loveland and ends near Grand Lake on the western side of the continental divide.

In 1858 the settler's arrived but were by no means the first Europeans here. That was the French and English trappers who hunted, trapped and fish west of Loveland and most of the Rockies. The first settler here was said to be Mariano Medina. He established his settlement near Namaqua just west of the present city on Highway 34. The settlement was located on the Big Thompson River. The river being very important to all settlements during those times. The Medina family grave site is still located there in a park.

Downstream from where the Medina's a flour mill was located in 1867  was a community called Old Saint Louis.  One mile west of downtown Old St Louis the railroad established a line from Denver to Cheyenne in 1877. David Barnes a farmer laid out a town next to the tracks on his farm. Loveland's first developer named the town after his good friend W.A.H. Loveland coincidently the President of the Colorado Central Railroad at that time. There is an article I recently saw at auction sale written in 1883. This article described the area as follows. "The magnificent young commonwealth of Colorado has much to boast of her marvelous mines, her wonderful grazing lands, her superb agricultural districts, her splendid cities, and her unprecedented march to progress, but more than all else, her self made men, or rather the men that made Colorado what she is. Foremost among them was W.A.H Loveland."

Loveland's roots are in agriculture. With the railroad it quickly established itself as a shipping point for the cattle ranchers and for the lumber companies which had sprung up to supply the ever growing town. In 1901 the Great Western Sugar company established it's first sugar plant. This companies sugar mills can still be seen in most of the small towns of this area. In Loveland it is just south of highway 34 on the eastern edge of the old downtown area. However, Great Western has few left in actual production.

Back in 1954 when I first came through Loveland heading for Ft. Collins to visit a high school friend. Loveland was a sleepy little town by most standards but the people I knew from Loveland then seemed to be a happy bunch. About 5,000 people were residents of Loveland then. The shopping district was about three to four blocks long and two blocks wide. It did straddle US 287 so every one drove through the middle of town. It was and still is the entrance to Rocky Mountain National Park 40 miles or so west. One of the really nice features of Loveland is there lake, called of course Lake Loveland. The kids I knew back then all gravitated toward the lake for swimming and water skiing. Truly a young persons place then. Now the same is true but it is more family oriented. The lake is on west US 34.

Ah but then came the 60's and the 70's with Hewlett Packard, Kodak, Water Pik and others moving to the area, growth started in earnest. This was almost considered a gold rush but the gold was employment. Many times towns in this area have been called "one of the fastest growing" in America. another title often bestowed is "a great place to retire". These titles of course can be good or bad depending on your view. This growth has continued to this day and at the moment shows no sign of slacking off.

Today Loveland is fast becoming the center of the Northern Colorado Triangle area. This triangle is made up of Loveland, Ft Collins and Greeley. In 2005-2007 Loveland has grown by leaps and bounds as the I-25 Highway 34 intersection becomes a developers and builders dream. Shopping Centers, medical centers, residential building and offices are springing up everywhere as the interchange of I-25 and US 34 races toward it's full potential.

There are articles through out this site if you are interested in the growth of our fair city. Read more... Loveland Colorado will be growing for quite sometime as more industry and service companies find out about how good it is to live here compared to the east and west coast. Loveland is the center for universities, culture, the arts and shopping. See the links at left to view all of Loveland Colorado advantages.