The following is a timeline of the history of the city of Boulder, Colorado, United States.
19th century 1858 October 17 – A group of gold prospectors from Fort St. Vrain 30 mi. to the east camp in Red Rocks on Boulder Creek in modern-day Settler's Park at the mouth of Boulder Canyon. This was in Arapaho territory, near the camp of Southern Arapaho chief Chief Niwot (Left Hand) (1825–64) in Valmont Butte. Chief Niwot rode to their camp to warn them to leave, but changed his mind after being given food and liquor. He welcomed the visitors, but not before uttering the Curse of the Boulder Valley: "People seeing the beauty of this valley will want to stay, and their staying will be the undoing of the beauty." Southern Arapahos Are Part of Boulder's Spirit 1859 January 15 – gold is discovered in Gold Hill, Colorado above Left Hand Canyon in NW Boulder. February 10 – the Boulder City Town Company is formed, and the town laid out into 4,044 lots, offered for $1,000 each.https://bouldercolorado.gov/visitors/history 1861 February 28 – the Territory of Colorado is created by the U.S. Congress, causing Boulder to no longer be part of Nebraska Territory. November 7 – legislation is passed making way for the state university to be located in Boulder. 1869 – Boulder County News begins publication. 1870 Denver and Boulder Valley Railroad begins operating. Population: 323 1871 November 4 – town incorporated in violation of the Treaty of Fort Laramie. 1873 – Railroad begins operating. 1875 September 20 – the first cornerstone is laid for the first building (Old Main Building) on the University of Colorado campus. Colorado Banner newspaper begins publication. Boulder High School established. 1876 August 1 – Boulder becomes part of new State of Colorado. 1877 – September 5 – The University of Colorado at Boulder officially opens. 1878 The first mayor, Jacob Ellison, is elected for a two-month term. January – Mary Rippon, first female professor at the University of Colorado, joined the faculty. 1880 – The town passes the 3,000 population mark, making it eligible for incorporation. 1882 April 3 – Boulder is incorporated as a 2nd class town, and later that month a new town hall is completed in time for the first meeting of the city council. 1883 The first courthouse is built. The University of Colorado Medical School opens. 1885 – Denver, Marshall and Boulder Railway begins operating. 1890 Boulder Railroad Depot built. Boulder Camera begins publication. Population: 3,300. 1891 – Feeny Opera House active (approximate date). 1892 Highland School built. University of Colorado Law School established. 1893 – Philharmonic Club formed. 1895 – Crockett Ricketts elected mayor. 1896 – Colorado Sanitarium in business. 1898 Chautauqua Auditorium built. Colorado & Southern Railway in operation. Boulder Citizen's Band established, now the Boulder Concert Band 1900 Colorado Chautauqua established. Population: 6,150.
20th century
1900s–1940s 1902 Boulder Oil Field well begins operation. University of Colorado Museum of Natural History founded. 1906 Curran Opera House opens. University of Colorado College of Commerce established. 1907 Boulder adopts an anti-saloon ordinance. Carnegie Library built. 1909 Denver, Boulder and Western Railroad begins operating. Hotel Boulderado opens. 1910 – Population: 9,539. 1916 Statewide prohibition starts in Colorado, ending with the repeal of national prohibition in 1933. Florence Molloy and Mabel MacLeay start a taxi service in Boulder. 1918 – Lucile Buchanan is first black female graduate from University of Colorado Boulder. 1923 – Macky Auditorium opens. 1924 – Colorado Stadium opens. 1926 – Rialto Theatre built. 1929 – Denver Municipal Airport begins operating. 1932 – The courthouse burns down, and is rebuilt in 1934. 1937 – Balch Fieldhouse (arena) opened. 1941 – Civic Symphony Orchestra founded. 1942 – US Navy School of Oriental Languages moves from California to Boulder and begins training recruits to the US Navy and the Marine Corps in Japanese.Roger V. Dingman, Deciphering the Rising Sun: Navy and Marine Corps codebreakers, translators, and interpreters in the Pacific War (Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 2009). 1944 – Boulder Historical Society established. 1947 – KBOL radio begins broadcasting. 1948 Andrews Arboretum established. Conference on World Affairs begins at the University of Colorado. 1949 – Sommers–Bausch Observatory built.
1950s–1990s 1950 Population: 19,999.The Colorado Daily, January 12, 2010 1952 U.S. National Bureau of Standards-Atomic Energy Commission Cryogenic Engineering Laboratory in operation. Denver-Boulder Turnpike opens. 1953 – Colorado Daily in publication. 1954 – September: U.S. National Bureau of Standards (now known as National Institute of Standards and Technology) facility dedicated. 1955 – Denver Regional Council of Governments formed. 1956 – Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp. (commonly Ball Aerospace), opens. 1958 Boulder Philharmonic Orchestra founded. Colorado Shakespeare Festival begins. 1963 – Crossroads Mall in business. 1966 – Attention Homes opens its first home on 14th St. 1967 – U.S. National Center for Atmospheric Research Mesa Laboratory built. 1969 – Regional Transportation District (public transit system) organized. 1970 City "comprehensive plan" created. Paladin Press in business. 1971 Boulder Arts and Crafts Cooperative founded. Penfield Tate, Boulder's first and only black mayor, elected to Boulder City Council. 1973 – Vajradhatu headquartered in Boulder. 1974 – Naropa Institute and Jack Kerouac School of Disembodied Poetics established. 1974 – a series of bombings kill six Chicano activists (Los Seis de Boulder). 1975 KBVL radio begins broadcasting. March 26 – Boulder County Clerk Clela Rorex issued first same-sex marriage license in U.S. 1976 Colorado Music Festival begins. Residential-growth management ordinance approved. 1977 Pearl Street Mall constructed. KBCO begins broadcasting. 1978 Community radio station KGNU begins broadcasting 1979 Colorado University Events Center (arena) opens. Bolder Boulder 10K footrace begins. 1980 – Kinetics Conveyance Race begins.Denver Post, January 15, 2010 1983 – January 1: Polar Bear Plunge begins. 1986 Sister city relationship established with Lhasa, Tibet. 1987 Farmer's Market opens.http://www.bcfm.org/ Sister city relationship activated with Dushanbe, Tajikistan. 1988 – Colorado MahlerFest begins. 1989 – Rocky Mountain Spiritual Emergence Network Times begins publication. 1990 – Radio Reading Service of the Rockies founded. 1991 Culinary School of the Rockies founded. eTown (radio program) begins broadcasting. 1993 Mountain Sun pub in business. Boulder Weekly begins publication. 1994 Denver International Airport begins operating. Sister city relationship established with Yamagata, Japan.https://bouldercolorado.gov/sister-cities/yamagata-japan Boulder Community Network online. 1995 September 15: First location of Illegal Pete's opens. 1996 Boulder Area Trails Coalition founded. Smoking ban enacted. Murder of JonBenét Ramsey 1998 October 31: Naked Pumpkin Run begins. Bob Greenlee becomes mayor. Dushanbe Tea House opens. Bent Lens Cinema founded. 2000 Sister city relationship established with Ciudad Mante, Mexico. Moondance Film Festival begins.
21st century
2002 — Spot Bouldering Gym in business. 2004 Mark Ruzzin becomes mayor. Shoot Out 24 Hour Filmmaking Festival begins. Boulder Chamber Orchestra founded. 2005 — Boulder Adventure Film Festival begins. 2006 November: Carbon tax approved. Twenty Ninth Street shopping center in business. Bikes Belong coalition headquartered in Boulder (approximate date). 2007 Communikey Festival begins. October – Outdoor gear co-op REI opens prototype green store on 28th St. 2009 Susan Osborne becomes mayor, succeeded by Matthew Appelbaum. Jared Polis becomes Colorado's 2nd congressional district representative. Sister city relationship established with Kisumu, Kenya. 2010 — Population: 97,385. Radio station KBCO leaves Boulder for Denver Tech Center studios Fourmile Canyon fire burns over 400 homes. 2011 November: Municipal electric utility approved. Boulder Food Rescue active. 2012 — National Institute of Standards and Technology Precision Measurement Laboratory dedicated. 2013 Falling Fruit (urban agriculture map) launched. September — record-setting major flood disruption 2014 Galvanize opens Boulder location 2016 October — Sen. Bernie Sanders headlines ColoradoCare healthcare-for-all ballot Amendment 69 rally at CU Farrand Field Nov. 10 — US36 shut down briefly as anti-Trump protesters march 2017 October — OpenStreetMap State of the Map U.S. conference at CU Folsom Field 2018 Ban on assault weapons, bump stocks, large magazines Boulder History Museum, rebranded as Museum of Boulder, opens in former Masonic Lodge on Broadway Radio station KGNU celebrates 40th anniversary, commemorated with Museum of Boulder exhibit 2021 March 21 — A mass shooting occurs at a King Soopers supermarket in Boulder. 2025 June 1 — 2025 Boulder fire attack
See also History of Boulder, Colorado List of mayors of Boulder, Colorado National Register of Historic Places listings in Boulder County, Colorado Education in Boulder Denver-Aurora-Boulder Combined Statistical Area Timeline of Colorado history Timelines of other cities in Colorado: Aurora, Colorado Springs, Denver
References
Bibliography
Published in the 19th century
Published in the 20th century
Published in the 21st century
External links
Boulder Library. Carnegie Branch Library for Local History Photograph Collection Digital Public Library of America. Items related to Boulder, Colorado, various dates