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1906 Map of Fort Collins

Name: 1906 Topographic Map of Fort Collins
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1963
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1963

About this map

The Cache La Poudre River winds through this early twentieth-century landscape, anchoring the development of Fort Collins and the surrounding agricultural valleys. The city's core is already well-defined by a grid system, centered around the Colorado State Agricultural College. To the west, the topography shifts abruptly into the ridges of the Front Range, where canyons like Rist Canyon and Soldier Canyon cut through the uplift.

Evidence of early industrial and transit networks is visible in the numerous irrigation works such as the Larimer and Weld Ditch and the path of the Colorado and Southern R R. Smaller settlements like Stout and Ingleside are connected by specialized rail spurs like the Stout Branch, while the Empire Mine highlights the era's extraction activities near Happy Hollow Gulch. The map meticulously details a complex system of reservoirs, including Terry Lake and Richard Lake (Res No 6), essential for supporting the region's burgeoning farming economy.