Fort Collins, situated on the Cache la Poudre River, is the largest city and county seat of Larimer County, Colorado. It is a large college town (home to Colorado State University) in the north central region of the state, along what is known as the Colorado Front Range. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 118,652.

History

Fort Collins was founded as a military outpost of the United States Army in 1864. A previous encampment, known as Camp Collins , on the Cache La Poudre River near present-day Laporte, was destroyed by a flood in June 1864. Afterwards, the commander of the fort wrote to Colonel Collins at Fort Laramie, suggesting that a site several miles further down the Poudre would make a good location for the fort. The fort never had walls.

Settlers began arriving in the vicinity of the fort nearly immediately. The fort was decommissioned in 1868 and the original fort site is now the location of the present downtown of the city. The town was formally incorporated in 1873. For more information see the Fort Collins Library' local historical archives. http://library.ci.fort-collins.co.us/

Geography

Fort Collins is located at 40°33'33" North, 105°4'41" West (40.559238, -105.078302). The city is situated just east of the Rocky Mountain foothills of the Northern Front Range approximately 70 miles north of Denver, Colorado. Prominent geographic landmarks include Horsetooth Reservoir and Horsetooth Mountain- so named because of a tooth shaped granite rock that dominates the city's western skyline.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 122.1 km² (47.1 mi²). 120.5 km² (46.5 mi²) of it is land and 1.6 km² (0.6 mi²) of it is water. The total area is 1.27% water.

Demographics

As of the census² of 2000, there are 118,652 people, 45,882 households, and 25,785 families residing in the city. The population density is 984.4/km² (2,549.3/mi²). There are 47,755 housing units at an average density of 396.2/km² (1,026.0/mi²). The racial makeup of the city is 89.63% White, 1.02% Black or African American, 0.60% Native American, 2.48% Asian, 0.12% Pacific Islander, 3.61% from other races, and 2.53% from two or more races. 8.77% of the population are Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There are 45,882 households out of which 29.0% have children under the age of 18 living with them, 44.9% are married couples living together, 7.9% have a female householder with no husband present, and 43.8% are non-families. 26.0% of all households are made up of individuals and 5.9% have someone living alone who is 65 years of age or older. The average household size is 2.45 and the average family size is 3.01.

In the city the population is spread out with 21.5% under the age of 18, 22.1% from 18 to 24, 31.5% from 25 to 44, 17.0% from 45 to 64, and 7.9% who are 65 years of age or older. The median age is 28 years. For every 100 females there are 100.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there are 99.7 males.

The median income for a household in the city is $44,459, and the median income for a family is $59,332. Males have a median income of $40,856 versus $28,385 for females. The per capita income for the city is $22,133. 14.0% of the population and 5.5% of families are below the poverty line. Out of the total population, 8.3% of those under the age of 18 and 5.8% of those 65 and older are living below the poverty line.

The largest employer in Fort Collins is Colorado State University. Other major employers in Fort Collins include Hewlett Packard, Poudre Valley Hospital and the Poudre School District.

External links

• Fort Collins City Government
• Colorado State University
• Fort Collins Community Portal
• 3.7 Gigapixel aerial photo (much higher res than Terraserver)