Longmont, Boulder County, Colorado Genealogy

Longmont was founded in 1871 as a colony by Chicago-Colorado Colony group. They purchased a square mile of land just north of Burlington Colorado, and divided it into house lots and parks, etc. -- an early planned community. It was named for Long's Peak, a tall mountain visible from town, which in turn was named for Stephen Long, who led an exploratory expedition through the area in 1820. The St Vrain Historical Society has information about early settlers. P O Box 705, Longmont, CO 80502, phone 303 776-1870 or website http://www.stvrainhistoricalsociety.org/

Longmont is located in the northeast corner of Boulder county, and a small portion of current Longmont is in Weld county.

In Burlington, Boulder County, Colorado, the first gold rush settlers arrived in 1858 and the town became a post office in 1862 because the stagecoach stopped there. The little community later merged with Longmont and yielded the town name in 1873. The current Burlington Colorado is in Kit Carson county.

Churches
Longmont had ten houses of worship by 1903. In 1920 Dr. Harry Huntington, Methodist minister emeritus, compiled the following list of local churches with their dates of organization. Where the community is not listed, the church is in Longmont.

United Methodist, Erie, 1867

United Methodist, Niwot, 1870

First United Methodist, 1871 current phone number for access to early records 303 776-3523 350 11th Avenue, Longmont CO 80501

Central Presbyterian, 1872

First Congregational, UCC, 1872 current phone number for access to early records 303 776-4940 1500 9th Avenue, Longmont CO 80501

Ryssby, 1878  merged with First Lutheran see below

St Stephens Episcopal, 1881

St John the Baptist Catholic, 1882

First Lutheran, 1887 current phone number for access to early records 303 776-2800 803 3rd Ave, Longmont CO 80501

Congregational UCC, Lyons, 1889

First Baptist, 1890

First Christian, 1891

Bethlehem Lutheran, 1901  current phone number for access to early records 303 776-3290 1000 15th Ave, Longmont CO 80501

Christian Science, 1902

U. Methodist, Hygiene, 1903

Longmont Bible Chapel, 1905

Rinn United Methodist, 1905

Lyons United Methodist, 1907

Mead United Methodist, 1907

Longs Peak United Methodist, 1907

Cemeteries
Mountain View Cemetery - Has about 22,000 interments. The Longmont Genealogical Society recently added their information to www.FindaGrave.com. For more information than on that site, contact LGS, they have a book and CD of interment information. http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~colgs/

Address:

620 11th Avenue Longmont Colorado USA 80501 Phone: 303-776-1036 Burlington Cemetery - Has about 250 interments. All interments, except possibly some very recent ones, are on www.findagrave.com. The Longmont Genealogical Society also has a Burlington Cemetery page at http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~colgs/burlington_cemetery.htm. It contains some history of the Cemetery and links to online photos of some of the gravestones.

People can still be buried at Burlington Cemetery and if you are interested in information on recent burials, BCA president Jeff Pickett can be reached at 303-532-9086.

Address:

South Sunset Street Longmont, CO 80501 Ryssby Cemetery - is the churchyard of a Lutheran church built by early Swedish immigrants. Contact the Longmont Genealogical Society for more information They have a book and CD of interment information, which includes many obituaries. Address:

9000 N 63rd St Longmont, CO 80503

Foothill Garden of Memory - is owned and operated by Carroll-Lewellen Funeral Services. The burials are more recent and it estimated there are about 6,000. The Longmont Genealogical Society is currently working with Carroll-Lewellen to record the burials and photogragh the gravestones. They are in the beginning stages of this project and more information will be posted here when it becomes available. Some of the burials are listed on www.findagrave.com.

Address:

14241 N. 107th Street North of Longmont, Colorado on HWY 287

Newspapers
In Longmont, Colorado the local paper is the Longmont Times-Call. The same family corporation publishes similar papers in other nearby communities, such as Loveland, Lafayette, Louisville, and Erie. Although there is a local focus, they publish general news - national and international as well as sports, business, and health information.

The Longmont Times' first issue was in 1888, but did not publish continuously. The Longmont Call began in 1899, and the last issue of each of these papers was May 19, 1931. They became the Longmont Times-Call as of May 20, 1931.

Other changes for this local paper was a name change in January, 1959 to the Longmont Daily Times-Call. On July 7, 1985 they published their first Sunday edition.

A name and subject card index exists at the Longmont Public Library for both the Times and the Call, and the Times-Call until February 2008. The paper began an online edition in 2004, and further card indexing is not deemed necessary. There are plans to extend the online archive back to 1990. Microfilm of the paper is also located at the library, and that continues to be updated.

To access this information, the Longmont Public Library has microfilm and readers available at no charge except for copies. From a distance, possibly the most thorough local helper would be the Longmont Genealogical Society, reachable at http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~colgs/.

Newspaper holdings at the Longmont Public Library, 409 4th Avenue Longmont, CO 80501 General Information Desk: (303) 651-8470

This is an excellent public library with very helpful staff. Modern microfilm readers are available next to the newspaper film drawers, and the card index is also right there. The librarian at the Periodicals desk shows new patrons where to find the film and how to use the readers.

Card index by name and subject for the following: Longmont Ledger 1879-1935 Times-Call 1927 – 1977 and 1978 – February 2008 (now available online) (The genealogist for the Longmont Genealogical Society states that the card index for the Ledger skips some names in the community news sections.)

Microfilmed Newspapers Longmont Press August 8, 1872 August 28,1872 to November 6, 1872 October 2, 1872 (on a different microfilm) March 1, 1874 June 10 and 17, 1875 March 15 and 22, 1879 July 19 and 26, 1879 August 16, 1879 December 20, 1879 March 5 and 12, 1881 July 22, 1882

Longmont Press Supplement December 13, 1887

Longmont Inter Ocean March 21, 1875

Burlington Free Press May 5, 1871 (Burlington was a small community just south of the colony that became Longmont in 1871. They merged with Longmont and yielded the name Burlington in 1873, and Burlington, Colorado is now the name of a town on the Kansas border.)

Lyons Recorder from December 12, 1890 to October 23, 1942 (some missing) (Lyons is a small community founded in 1880 and 12 miles west of Longmont.)

Valley Home and Farm June 29, 1878

Colorado Press February 21, 1872 and July 24, 1872

Real Estate Bulletin April 1879

Home Mirror August, October 1891

Longmont Ledger September 8,1879 to August 2, 1940

Longmont Times March 1888 June 23, 1888 October 4, 1892

Daily Times December 30, 1896

Longmont Call from October 14, 1899 to May 19, 1931 (August 1918 to April 1927 destroyed by fire)

Longmont Times from March 28, 1927 to May 19, 1931

Longmont Times-Call from May 20, 1931 to present (changed name in 1959 to Longmont Daily Times-Call)

Online since 2004 at www.times-call.com, and there are plans to post older editions back to 1990.

To have someone search old Longmont records, contact the Longmont Genealogical Society at http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~colgs/.