BOULDER COUNTY AT A GLANCE...
Straddling the unique territory between the rolling, eastern plains and the craggy peaks of the Continental Divide, Boulder county is situated along Colorado's northern Front Range of the Rocky Mountains.

The territory within Boulder County became part of the United States with the Louisiana Purchase in 1803. Settlement by homesteaders, gold miners, farmers, coal miners and traders left both physical and cultural imprints still visible in present day Boulder County.

Today, Boulder County covers 750 square miles. Urban, suburban and rural communities occupy roughly 80 square miles, while the remainder of the county is forested or lies in agricultural production.

In recent decades, the population of Boulder County has grown steadily. The decade between 1907 and 1980 witnessed a 44% increase in the number of people living here. Since then, population has increased by nearly 20% every ten years. By 2010, the population is projected to swell to 350,000.

Boulder County is comprised of a diverse array of communities, each with their own particular history, culture and sense of aesthetic values. Boulder, the county seat, is the largest city in the county and has a reputation for its policies regarding growth management and open space preservation.

Longmont* to the northeast has a history linked to agriculture and is now one of the county's fastest growing cities. Surburban-style communities, such as Lafayette, Superior* and Broomfield* have expanded in the eastern part of the county, while towns built around the old mining hubs like Nederland and Lyons are reminders of the county's past. Nearly 50,000 Boulder County residents live in unincorporated areas, like Gold Hill, Niwot and Eldorado Springs.

*Represents communities which lie only partially in Boulder County.