Thousands of years ago from the molten rock of a new planet, the area around Broomfield knew the upheavals that created the Rocky Mountains to the west. Ancient animals roamed the area, becoming the fossils that draw paleontologists to the vicinity today. Down through the centuries, glaciers and floods carved the area into the plains that produced rolling pastures that became drawing cards for deer, elk and bison. These game animals drew Native Americans to the area: Apaches, Cheyenne and Arapaho, nomads who foraged and hunted as they followed the migrating game.
"Modern" history brought the area around Broomfield into the United States in 1803 as part of the Louisiana Purchase. The area was successively recognized as part of the Missouri Territory, Nebraska and Kansas until 1861 when the Colorado Territory was created. In 1876, the Broomfield area officially joined the union when Colorado became a state.
Pike’s Peak to the south, Mount Evans to the west, Long’s Peak to the northwest and the vast plains on the east bound the area which has become known as Broomfield. In the territorial days, trappers and traders survived on the hides of beaver and the meat and hides of the bison. They were followed by people who succumbed to "Gold Fever" after the 1849 discovery of gold in California, the 1850 discovery in Ralston Creek south of Broomfield in what is now Arvada, and the 1859 discovery in Boulder Creek. The westward migration was on in earnest. Railroad companies gobbled up the West through the beneficence of the U.S. government and Broomfield’s destiny was begun.
In 1873 the Colorado Central Railroad brought a line north from Golden. This line ran approximately where the south frontage road of U.S. 36 runs, and swerved south toward Golden east of Wadsworth Blvd. On the north, it connected with the Union Pacific in Cheyenne, Wyo. The Denver, Utah and Pacific Railroad first laid down rails in 1881 in the area now in the vicinity of 120th Ave. and Wadsworth. The company completed a line to Lyons, northwest of Boulder, by absorbing the Colorado Northern Railroad line between Erie and Canfield, a small town west of Erie. When the Burlington and Missouri River Railroad began backing the Denver, Utah and Pacific in 1889, the railroad was converted to a standard gauge rail.
After years of mergers, acquisitions, name changes and changes in control, two railroad companies, the Union Pacific and the Colorado and Southern, emerged. In 1901, the Colorado and Southern added a third rail from Denver to Boulder to allow narrow gauge trains to operate over the existing tracks.
In 1904, the Colorado and Southern formed the Denver and Interuban Railway, and by 1908, the big cars were serving Broomfield on a regular basis, taking passengers to Denver, Westminster, Marshall, Boulder, Superior, Valmont and Louisville on its Main Line. By 1909, Broomfield had 19 passengers per day coming through town, prompting construction of a new depot which stood at the corner of present-day 120th Ave. and Old Wadsworth. In 1909, it was possible to board in Broomfield for almost any point in the U.S., Canada or Mexico. But Broomfield’s foray into international travel was short-lived. In 1919, the third rail to Boulder was removed. In 1926, the Interurban ceased operation, and the era of the "horseless carriage" began.
Soon, Broomfield had a garage, then two, and a "filling station." They joined the Grange Hall, a hotel and general store, flour mill, cheese factory, bank, creamery, grain elevator, restaurants, lumber yard and a barbershop. In the 1920s, the area also boasted a sugar beet dump, a pickle factory and about a dozen residences. From 1900 to 1957, about 100 people lived on farmland in the area.
In 1950, construction began on the Boulder Turnpike, a toll road, and one of the first paved roads in the area. It stretched between Wadsworth and Boulder, with a tollbooth in Broomfield. The road’s cost was paid by the tolls. In 1955, the new Broomfield began. Turnpike Land Co. had purchased land in the area, and today’s Broomfield was conceived as a master planned community billed as a model city.
The rest, as they say, is history.
The first filing -- that area north of 120th between Main St. and U.S. 287 -- was built, elementary school classes were held in "cottage schools" built by the developers, and a shopping center sprouted where a lake had once stood in the area which is now home to Target.
By 1961 when the city incorporated, the population had grown to 6,000. Emerald School was up and running, as was Kohl School. In 1962, a school serving junior and senior high school students opened, and a gym was added in 1964. The high school was begun in 1963, and classes started in the fall of 1964. These schools still stand, and after several remodels, they were combined into the current Broomfield High School in use today. Birch School was built in 1971 and opened in the fall of that year. Broomfield Heights Middle School opened in 1982.
In 1974, the city passed its charter and became a home-rule city adopting the Council-Manager form of government, with an elected mayor and city council, and a professional city manager.
Broomfield continued its growth, annexing south into Jefferson County in1969, east of Main St. in 1969, Greenway Park in 1970, into a small portion of Adams County in 1971 and the Westlake Village subdivision in 1972. In 1988 and 1989, the city annexed north into Weld County, thus spanning portions of four counties.
Schools in the Broomfield portions of those counties are served by several school districts. In the Adams County portion, new schools opened in the mid-1970s: Centennial Elementary and Westlake Village Middle School . Mountain View Elementary opened in the early 1980s. High school students in the Adams County portion of Broomfield currently attend Northglenn or Horizon high schools. A new elementary school north of 136th Ave. will open in 1999, and Legacy High School at 136th and Zuni will open in the fall of 2000.
Portions of what is now Interlocken joined the city in 1983 and 1986, and Broomfield’s premier employment center began. Access to the area improved with 1995 annexations along 96th St., and the completion of the 96th St. interchange in 1996, built with public and private funds. The promise of a bright future continued with the 1996 announcement that high-tech giant SUN Microsystems was coming to Broomfield, followed by notice of Level 3’s intentions in the spring of 1998. The 1998 groundbreaking of Flatiron Crossing, an upscale shopping area, assured Broomfield of a long-anticipated retail sales tax base. More business opportunities for the city expanded when properties near the mall site and the new interchange annexed for mixed-use commercial development in 1998.
In the late 1990s, Broomfield made history. To help alleviate the problems and confusion in accessing services with the City of Broomfield being the only city in the state to lie in portions of four counties, residents sought relief in a constitutional amendment creating a City and County of Broomfield. The amendment passed on November 3, 1998, giving the city a three-year transition period in which to organize to become Colorado’s 64th county. The state’s newest county -- The City and County of Broomfield -- officially took effect on November 15, 2001.
Broomfield’s estimated population is 42,169 (2003). The city and county spans nearly 33.6 square miles. The Broomfield City and County Building sits at an elevation of 5,344 feet, more than a mile above sea level!
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