About Longmont

The area we now know as Longmont, Colorado was first inhabited by the Clovis people about 14,000 years ago. The people were known as hunters and made many fancy tools from bone and ivory. Some of the remains of these tools have been found in the area. About 1,000 years later, the Folsom people inhabited the area hunting bison. In the 1500s, the area was inhabited by the Cheyenne, Dakota, Arapaho, Kiowa and Comanche Native Americans who hunted in the area. The area was first explored by Major Stephen H. Long for the United States Army. He discovered the large mountain near the town and named it Long's Peak. One of the earliest settlers in the area was Alonzo M. Allen and his stepson William H. Dickens who settled in the area in 1859. Three years later the town had a post office and stagecoach stop. The town really began to prosper following promotional advertising by William N. Byers in the Rocky Mountain News. He proclaimed the area as great for industry, temperance, and morality. A group of men from Chicago soon moved to the area naming it the Chicago-Colorado Colony.

To build the town the residents sold memberships to the town for $155. The early residents were very industrious and built irrigation ditches to solve the water problems of these early residents. These irrigation ditches caused J.H. Empson to open the J. H. Empson Cannery in 1887 canning many vegetables, especially peas. The company claimed to be the largest pea cannery in the world. Today residents use the Longmont, Co yellow pages to find information. The town stayed mainly an agricultural hub until very recently. In the 1970s and 1980s Longmont's population exploded with the technology industry. Today many companies in town make computer hard drives. In 2009, Money Magazine named Longmont as one of the top 100 places to live.The coldest month of the year in Longmont is January, with an average low temperature of 12 degrees. In January the average daily high is 42 degrees. The warmest month is July with an average daily high of 84 degrees. The coldest day ever recorded in Longmont, Colorado, was in February 1951 with -36 degrees. The hottest temperature ever recorded in Longmont, Colorado, was in June 1994 and in July 1973 at 106 degrees. The wettest month of the year is May with an average rainfall of 2.41 inches. Today, residents find weather instruments using the Longmont, Co business directory.

Written by Lyndsey Morgan