Louisville, Colorado
Encyclopedia
Louisville is a Home Rule Municipality in Boulder County
, Colorado
, United States
. The population was 18,937 at the 2000 census
. Louisville began as a rough mining community in 1877, suffered through a period of extraordinary labor violence early in the 20th century, and then, when the mines closed in the 1950s, made a transition to suburban residential community. Note that, unlike the city with a similar name in Kentucky
, this city's name is pronounced "Lewis-ville" and not "Louie-ville."
and Weld counties known as the Northern Coalfield. The town was named for Louis Nawatny, a local landowner who platted his land and named it for himself. Incorporation came several years later, in 1882.
The Northern Coalfield proved to be highly productive, and eventually some 30 different mines operated within the current boundaries of Louisville, though not all at the same time. During the years of peak production (1907–09) twelve mines were in operation in Louisville, including the Acme Mine whose two million tons of coal came from directly beneath the center of town. The presence of many independent mining companies in Louisville saved the town from becoming a "company town", wholly owned and dominated by a single mining company.
Coal from the Northern Coalfield was sub-bituminous (low grade) and could not be transported long distances because of problems with self-combustion. Mining generally took place in winter months since that was the period that demanded fuel for heating. During the summers the miners played in local baseball
leagues, with the home field named "Miners Field."
A great deal of mythology
has arisen around the stories of tunnel
s that connected saloons throughout the city, but these have proven to be unfounded and undocumented. Instead, during labor conflicts many citizens found refuge in dirt basements to avoid errant bullets being fired from mine compounds into the city. From 1910–14 the Northern Colorado Coalfields were in the midst of a strike by the United Mine Workers of America and the Rocky Mountain Fuel Company
based on working conditions, pay, and working hours. When miners walked out on the Hecla Mine (northeast) of Louisville the company hired the Baldwin Felts Detective Agency to guard the mine compound. A machine gun and spotlight were placed in a tower on the Hecla property and, when miners took out their frustration by shooting their guns at the compound, the detectives responded by returning their fire by randomly firing at the town.
Eventually the coal remaining in the Northern Coalfield became increasingly uneconomical to mine, and the last coal mines operating in Louisville closed in the 1950s.
As of 2007, the City of Louisville offers its residents a Recreation/Senior Center, 26 city parks, extensive open space buffer zones, 20 miles (32.2 km) of trails and bicycle paths, and a new $9 million public library with study rooms, teen areas, and a fireside reading room. The Louisville Public Library has long had one of the highest circulation rates in the State of Colorado.
of 2000, there were 18,937 people, 7,216 households, and 4,950 families residing in the city. As of the census
of 2010 there were 18,376 people. The population density
was 2,223.6 people per square mile (858.2/km²). There were 7,389 housing units at an average density of 867.6 per square mile (334.8/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 91.17% White, 0.93% African American, 0.54% Native American, 3.55% Asian, 0.08% Pacific Islander, 1.83% from other races
, and 1.90% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 5.02% of the population.
There were 7,216 households out of which 41% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 56% were married couples
living together, 9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 31% were non-families. 22% of all households were made up of individuals and 5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.6 and the average family size was 3.1.
In the city the population was spread out with 29% under the age of 18, 6% from 18 to 24, 36% from 25 to 44, 23% from 45 to 64, and 6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females there were 98.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 95 males.
The median
income
for a household in the city was $69,945, and the median income for a family was $81,512. Males had a median income of $57,159 versus $36,659 for females. The per capita income
for the city was $31,828. 3% of the population and 2% of families were below the poverty line. 2% of those under the age of 18 and 6% of those 65 and older were living below the poverty line.
According to the United States Census Bureau
, the city has a total area of 8.6 square miles (22.2 km²). 8.5 square miles (22.1 km²) of it is land and 0.04 square miles (0.1 km²) of it (0.47%) is water.
Boulder County, Colorado
Boulder County is the sixth most populous of the 64 counties of the state of Colorado of the United States. The county seat is Boulder. The most populous municipality in the county and the county seat is the City of Boulder...
, Colorado
Colorado
Colorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. The population was 18,937 at the 2000 census
United States Census, 2000
The Twenty-second United States Census, known as Census 2000 and conducted by the Census Bureau, determined the resident population of the United States on April 1, 2000, to be 281,421,906, an increase of 13.2% over the 248,709,873 persons enumerated during the 1990 Census...
. Louisville began as a rough mining community in 1877, suffered through a period of extraordinary labor violence early in the 20th century, and then, when the mines closed in the 1950s, made a transition to suburban residential community. Note that, unlike the city with a similar name in Kentucky
Louisville, Kentucky
Louisville is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kentucky, and the county seat of Jefferson County. Since 2003, the city's borders have been coterminous with those of the county because of a city-county merger. The city's population at the 2010 census was 741,096...
, this city's name is pronounced "Lewis-ville" and not "Louie-ville."
Early history
The town of Louisville dates back to the start of the Welch Mine in 1877, the first coal mine in an area of BoulderBoulder, Colorado
Boulder is the county seat and most populous city of Boulder County and the 11th most populous city in the U.S. state of Colorado. Boulder is located at the base of the foothills of the Rocky Mountains at an elevation of...
and Weld counties known as the Northern Coalfield. The town was named for Louis Nawatny, a local landowner who platted his land and named it for himself. Incorporation came several years later, in 1882.
The Northern Coalfield proved to be highly productive, and eventually some 30 different mines operated within the current boundaries of Louisville, though not all at the same time. During the years of peak production (1907–09) twelve mines were in operation in Louisville, including the Acme Mine whose two million tons of coal came from directly beneath the center of town. The presence of many independent mining companies in Louisville saved the town from becoming a "company town", wholly owned and dominated by a single mining company.
Coal from the Northern Coalfield was sub-bituminous (low grade) and could not be transported long distances because of problems with self-combustion. Mining generally took place in winter months since that was the period that demanded fuel for heating. During the summers the miners played in local baseball
Baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...
leagues, with the home field named "Miners Field."
A great deal of mythology
Mythology
The term mythology can refer either to the study of myths, or to a body or collection of myths. As examples, comparative mythology is the study of connections between myths from different cultures, whereas Greek mythology is the body of myths from ancient Greece...
has arisen around the stories of tunnel
Tunnel
A tunnel is an underground passageway, completely enclosed except for openings for egress, commonly at each end.A tunnel may be for foot or vehicular road traffic, for rail traffic, or for a canal. Some tunnels are aqueducts to supply water for consumption or for hydroelectric stations or are sewers...
s that connected saloons throughout the city, but these have proven to be unfounded and undocumented. Instead, during labor conflicts many citizens found refuge in dirt basements to avoid errant bullets being fired from mine compounds into the city. From 1910–14 the Northern Colorado Coalfields were in the midst of a strike by the United Mine Workers of America and the Rocky Mountain Fuel Company
Rocky Mountain Fuel Company
The Rocky Mountain Fuel Company was a coal mining company located in Colorado, operating mines in Louisville, Lafayette, and other locations north and west of Denver. The mine was founded by John J. Roche to supply coal to sugar beet factories. During the 1930s, the company was the...
based on working conditions, pay, and working hours. When miners walked out on the Hecla Mine (northeast) of Louisville the company hired the Baldwin Felts Detective Agency to guard the mine compound. A machine gun and spotlight were placed in a tower on the Hecla property and, when miners took out their frustration by shooting their guns at the compound, the detectives responded by returning their fire by randomly firing at the town.
Eventually the coal remaining in the Northern Coalfield became increasingly uneconomical to mine, and the last coal mines operating in Louisville closed in the 1950s.
Recent events
In recent years, Louisville has been recognized in four publications as one of the best places to live and raise a family in the United States- In July 2005, CNN/Money and MoneyMoney (magazine)Money is published by Time Inc. Its first issue was published in October 1972. Its articles cover the gamut of personal finance topics ranging from investing, saving, retirement and taxes to family finance issues like paying for college, credit, career and home improvement...
magazine ranked Louisville fifth on their list of the 100 best places to live in the United States. Criteria included financial, housing, education, quality of life, leisure and culture, and weather data. - In May 2006, Bert Sperling & Peter Sander, authors of the book Best Places to Raise Your Family: The Top 100 Affordable Communities in the U.S., ranked Louisville first on their list of best places in the U.S. to raise a family.
- In August 2007, CNN/Money and MoneyMoney (magazine)Money is published by Time Inc. Its first issue was published in October 1972. Its articles cover the gamut of personal finance topics ranging from investing, saving, retirement and taxes to family finance issues like paying for college, credit, career and home improvement...
magazine again ranked Louisville third on their list of the 100 best places to live in the United States.
- In July 2009, CNN/Money and MoneyMoney (magazine)Money is published by Time Inc. Its first issue was published in October 1972. Its articles cover the gamut of personal finance topics ranging from investing, saving, retirement and taxes to family finance issues like paying for college, credit, career and home improvement...
magazine named Louisville the Winner and ranked first on their list of 100 best places to live in the United States.
- In July 2011, CNN/Money and MoneyMoney (magazine)Money is published by Time Inc. Its first issue was published in October 1972. Its articles cover the gamut of personal finance topics ranging from investing, saving, retirement and taxes to family finance issues like paying for college, credit, career and home improvement...
magazine again named Louisville the Winner and ranked first on their list of 100 best places to live in the United States, the second time it has graced the top slot of the magazines annual listing.
As of 2007, the City of Louisville offers its residents a Recreation/Senior Center, 26 city parks, extensive open space buffer zones, 20 miles (32.2 km) of trails and bicycle paths, and a new $9 million public library with study rooms, teen areas, and a fireside reading room. The Louisville Public Library has long had one of the highest circulation rates in the State of Colorado.
Demographics
As of the censusCensus
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population. The term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common...
of 2000, there were 18,937 people, 7,216 households, and 4,950 families residing in the city. As of the census
Census
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population. The term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common...
of 2010 there were 18,376 people. The population density
Population density
Population density is a measurement of population per unit area or unit volume. It is frequently applied to living organisms, and particularly to humans...
was 2,223.6 people per square mile (858.2/km²). There were 7,389 housing units at an average density of 867.6 per square mile (334.8/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 91.17% White, 0.93% African American, 0.54% Native American, 3.55% Asian, 0.08% Pacific Islander, 1.83% from other races
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...
, and 1.90% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 5.02% of the population.
There were 7,216 households out of which 41% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 56% were married couples
Marriage
Marriage is a social union or legal contract between people that creates kinship. It is an institution in which interpersonal relationships, usually intimate and sexual, are acknowledged in a variety of ways, depending on the culture or subculture in which it is found...
living together, 9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 31% were non-families. 22% of all households were made up of individuals and 5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.6 and the average family size was 3.1.
In the city the population was spread out with 29% under the age of 18, 6% from 18 to 24, 36% from 25 to 44, 23% from 45 to 64, and 6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females there were 98.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 95 males.
The median
Median
In probability theory and statistics, a median is described as the numerical value separating the higher half of a sample, a population, or a probability distribution, from the lower half. The median of a finite list of numbers can be found by arranging all the observations from lowest value to...
income
Income
Income is the consumption and savings opportunity gained by an entity within a specified time frame, which is generally expressed in monetary terms. However, for households and individuals, "income is the sum of all the wages, salaries, profits, interests payments, rents and other forms of earnings...
for a household in the city was $69,945, and the median income for a family was $81,512. Males had a median income of $57,159 versus $36,659 for females. The per capita income
Per capita income
Per capita income or income per person is a measure of mean income within an economic aggregate, such as a country or city. It is calculated by taking a measure of all sources of income in the aggregate and dividing it by the total population...
for the city was $31,828. 3% of the population and 2% of families were below the poverty line. 2% of those under the age of 18 and 6% of those 65 and older were living below the poverty line.
Education
There are six public schools, six private schools, and two libraries in Louisville. The public secondary schools are Monarch High School, Monarch K-8 and Louisville Middle School.Geography
Louisville is located at 39°58′34"N 105°8′39"W (39.976035, −105.144067).According to the United States Census Bureau
United States Census Bureau
The United States Census Bureau is the government agency that is responsible for the United States Census. It also gathers other national demographic and economic data...
, the city has a total area of 8.6 square miles (22.2 km²). 8.5 square miles (22.1 km²) of it is land and 0.04 square miles (0.1 km²) of it (0.47%) is water.
Climate
Community Attractions and Lifestyle
Louisville's historical downtown includes Steinbaugh Pavilion, which is used for a concert venue during summer street fairs and an ice rink in the winter months.See also
- Boulder Metropolitan Statistical Area
- Colorado municipalitiesColorado municipalitiesThe U.S. state of Colorado currently has 271 active incorporated municipalities, including 196 towns, 73 cities, and two consolidated city and county governments.-Municipal government:...
- Denver-Aurora-Boulder Combined Statistical AreaDenver-Aurora-Boulder Combined Statistical Areathumb|300px|Map of the 12-county Denver-Aurora-Boulder Combined Statistical AreaThe Denver-Aurora-Boulder, CO Combined Statistical Area is a United States Census Bureau defined Combined Statistical Area located in the Denver region of the state of Colorado...
- Front Range Urban CorridorFront Range Urban CorridorThe Front Range Urban Corridor is an oblong region of urban population located along the eastern face of the Southern Rocky Mountains in the U.S. states of Colorado and Wyoming. The corridor derives its name from the Front Range, the mountain range that defines the west central boundary of the...
External links
- City of Louisville website
- Louisville Chamber of Commerce (official website)
- Colorado Hometown Weekly (Louisville Weekly Newspaper)