Old Town Longmont
Longmont, CO

Founded in 1871 — Boulder County’s Most Authentic Downtown

Longmont was established in 1871 by a group of settlers from Chicago who formed the Chicago-Colorado Colony — a cooperative agricultural community modeled on Horace Greeley’s Union Colony to the north. The colony purchased land near the confluence of St. Vrain Creek and Left Hand Creek, laid out a grid of streets one mile square, and built the town that became the foundation for what is now the largest city in Boulder County. The streets they platted in 1871 are still the streets of Old Town Longmont. The grid is still intact. And several of the structures built by those original colonists are still standing, inhabited, and on the National Register of Historic Places.

The Historic Eastside and Historic Westside districts flank Main Street south of Longs Peak Avenue and contain some of the finest domestic architecture from the late 19th and early 20th centuries in the entire region. The Historic Eastside — 67 houses added to the National Register in 1986 — is the older of the two, built mostly in the Victorian Queen Anne style that was fashionable during Longmont’s coal-era boom years. The Historic Westside — 118 houses added in 1987 — reflects the agricultural wealth that followed, with larger Edwardian Vernacular and American Foursquare homes on bigger lots. Together they represent over 150 years of continuous residential occupation on the same blocks, and the architectural density and maturity of that streetscape is something that no amount of money can replicate in a newer development.

Main Street today is a Colorado Certified Creative District — a state designation awarded in 2014 recognizing the concentration of galleries, creative businesses, craft breweries, restaurants, and arts venues in the downtown core. The Dickens Opera House at 3rd Avenue and Main Street, built in 1881 and one of the first opera houses in Colorado, now houses The Passenger restaurant within its beautifully restored historic shell. Cheese Importers, a combination retail shop, bistro, and working cheese warehouse, occupies the site of Longmont’s historic power plant. Left Hand Brewing Company, one of Colorado’s most decorated craft breweries and a nationally recognized pioneer of nitro-packaged craft beer, is a half mile east on 1st Avenue. The combination of genuine architectural history and a dining and arts scene that has organically developed over decades rather than being planned into existence is what distinguishes Old Town Longmont from every newer neighborhood in the city.

Boulder County’s Central Hub — Diagonal Highway to Boulder in 20 Minutes

Old Town Longmont sits at the geographic center of the city — Main Street is the axis, and the historic districts extend east and west from it. Boulder is approximately 20 miles southwest via the Diagonal Highway (CO-119), a straightforward commute that makes Longmont the most accessible affordable alternative to Boulder proper. Denver is approximately 40 miles southeast via US-36 or I-25. Rocky Mountain National Park and Estes Park are roughly 30 miles northwest — a proximity that Longmont residents use regularly for weekend hiking, and that visitors coming from the Denver metro often make Longmont a base for.

Within Old Town itself, daily life runs largely on foot or by bike. Roosevelt Park, Thompson Park, and the St. Vrain Greenway trail system are accessible from the neighborhood without a car. The Longmont Saturday Farmers Market, held in the downtown area, is a walkable summer institution. For grocery runs, King Soopers and other commercial options are a short drive from the historic core. RTD bus service connects Longmont to Boulder and Denver for commuters who prefer transit.

Roosevelt Park, Thompson Park, and the St. Vrain Greenway

• Roosevelt Park (Ice Pavilion in winter · festivals in summer)
• Thompson Park (donated 1871 · historic anchor)
• St. Vrain Greenway Trail (multi-use · runs through city)
• Left Hand Creek Trail (linear park · trail connection)
• Longmont Museum & Cultural Center (Main Street)
• Firehouse Art Center (rotating galleries · former firehouse)
• Longmont Saturday Farmers Market (downtown · seasonal)
• Longmont ArtWalk (monthly · Main Street galleries)
• Concerts on the Plaza (summer · downtown)
• Twin Peaks Golf Course (18-hole public · short drive)
• McIntosh Lake Nature Area (short drive · trails, wildlife)
• Rocky Mountain National Park (30 min northwest)

Roosevelt Park hosts the Longmont Ice Pavilion — a beloved outdoor ice skating rink set up each winter that draws families from across the city. In summer the same park anchors Longmont’s outdoor events calendar. Thompson Park, established on land donated by Elizabeth Thompson at the colony’s founding in 1871, is among the oldest public parks in Boulder County and has been a neighborhood gathering space for more than 150 years. The St. Vrain Greenway trail, running along St. Vrain Creek through the city, is the primary multi-use corridor connecting Old Town to the broader Longmont trail network.

Education in Old Town Longmont

Old Town Longmont is served by St. Vrain Valley School District (SVVSD), one of the most consistently growing and improving public school districts in Colorado. The school pipeline for the historic district area typically runs through Longmont High School at the high school level. Elementary and middle school assignments vary by specific address within the neighborhood.

All Longmont addresses are served by St. Vrain Valley School District (SVVSD). School attendance boundaries vary significantly by address — always verify your specific elementary and middle school assignment directly with SVVSD before purchasing.

Where Old Town Longmont Residents Eat

Old Town Longmont’s dining scene is the reason Boulder County food writers regularly make the drive north. The concentrated density of independently owned restaurants, craft breweries, cideries, and coffee shops in a six-block downtown core is remarkable for a city of Longmont’s size — and the prices are consistently 30 to 40 percent below what comparable quality commands in Boulder. For residents who live here, this dining scene is a walkable daily asset, not a weekend destination.

The Institutions That Make Old Town Old Town

Old Town Longmont is the part of the city that the rest of Longmont points to when someone asks why they moved here. The farmers market, the art walks, the Dickens Opera House, the creek trails, the ice skating rink in winter — these are the accumulated institutions of a genuine community rather than the programmed amenities of a master-planned development. For buyers who want to live in the part of Longmont that generates the stories people tell about Longmont, this is it.