Editing Loveland, Colorado (section)

==History==
The Loveland area was a hub for French fur trappers in the late 18th and early 19th centuries.<ref name=Gannett /> Mariano Medina built the first settlement in the area, [[Fort Namaqua]], in 1858.<ref name="Hellmann2006">{{cite book|author=Paul T. Hellmann|title=Historical Gazetteer of the United States|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5aFyDLBIjJ8C&pg=PA1942-IA116|date=February 14, 2006|publisher=Routledge|isbn=1-135-94858-5|page=1942}}</ref> It was a [[trading post]] and [[stage station]], and the site is now Namaqua Park.<ref name="Roadside">{{cite book|title=From the Grave: A Roadside Guide to Colorado's Pioneer Cemeteries|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nB0dLs8N6OkC&pg=PA217|publisher=Caxton Press|isbn=978-0-87004-565-3|page=217}}</ref>

The nearby [[Big Thompson, Colorado Territory#History|Big Thompson, Colorado Territory]], post office opened on November 12, 1862.<ref name=CPO>{{cite book|title=Colorado Post Offices 1859–1989|first1=William H.|last1=Bauer|first2=James L.|last2=Ozment|first3=John H.|last3=Willard|date=1990|publisher=[[Colorado Railroad Museum|Colorado Railroad Historical Foundation]]|location=[[Golden, Colorado]]|isbn=0-918654-42-4}}</ref> The [[Namaqua, Colorado Territory#Namaqua|Namaqua, Colorado Territory]], post office operated from January 28, 1868, until January 3, 1879.<ref name=CPO/> The [[Loveland, Colorado Territory]], post office operated from April 4, 1872, until January 24, 1873.<ref name=CPO/> Colorado became a state on August 1, 1876.<ref name=Colorado_Statehood_Proclamation>{{cite web |url=https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/proclamation-230-admission-colorado-into-the-union|title=Proclamation 230—Admission of Colorado into the Union|author=[[Ulysses S. Grant]] |date=August 1, 1876|publisher=The American Presidency Project|access-date=December 24, 2024}}</ref>

Loveland was officially founded in 1877<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.cityofloveland.org/about|title = About &#124; Northern Colorado Law Enforcement Training Center}}</ref> along the newly constructed line of the [[Colorado Central Railroad]], near its crossing of the [[Big Thompson River]]. It was named in honor of [[William A. H. Loveland]],<ref name=Gannett>{{cite book|last=Gannett|first=Henry|title=The Origin of Certain Place Names in the United States|url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_9V1IAAAAMAAJ|year=1905|publisher=U.S. Government Printing Office|page=[https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_9V1IAAAAMAAJ/page/n190 191]}}</ref> the president of the Colorado Central Railroad. The city was founded one mile (1.6&nbsp;km) upstream from the existing small settlement of St. Louis, the buildings of which were moved to the site of Loveland. The Big Thompson post office moved to Loveland on January 10, 1878, and the Town of Loveland was incorporated on April 30, 1881.<ref name=MuniIncCO/>

For the first half of the 20th century, the town was dependent on agriculture. The primary crops in the area were [[sugar beet]]s and [[sour cherries]]. In 1901 the [[Great Western Sugar Company]] built a factory in Loveland, which remained as a source of employment until its closure in 1977. During the late 1920s, the Spring Glade Orchard was the largest cherry orchard west of the [[Mississippi River]]. At that time the cherry orchards produced more than [[United States dollar|$]]1 million worth of [[cherry|cherries]] per year. A series of droughts, attacks of blight, competition from growers in other states (particularly Michigan<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.reporterherald.com/2016/07/16/lovelands-cherry-industry-beginning-to-end/|title = Loveland's cherry industry, beginning to end|date = July 16, 2016}}</ref>), and finally a killer freeze destroyed the industry. By the late 1960s, cherries were no longer farmed at scale, although orchards remained in southeast Loveland and nearby Masonville into the 1990s. In the late 20th century, the economy diversified with the arrival of manufacturing facilities by [[Hewlett-Packard]], [[Teledyne]], and Hach, a [[water quality]] analysis equipment manufacturer. A new [[Hospital|medical center]] has added a substantial amount of employment in that sector.

===Sundown Town===
Loveland was known as a [[Sundown town|"sundown town."]] "Sundown towns" were racially segregated communities that excluded non-white travelers from remaining in their borders after the sun set. "The primary purpose of these towns was to enforce racial purity and to create an environment where white residents could live without any interaction with or proximity to Black individuals. These towns used intimidation, threats, and sometimes violence to enforce their unwritten rules that people of color should leave Town before Sundown."<ref name="nu">{{cite web |title=Sunset UnLimited: The Enduring Racist Legacy of America’s Sundown Towns |url=https://www.nuorigins.com/sunset-unlimited-the-enduring-racist-legacy-of-americas-sundown-towns/ |website=Nu Origins |access-date=16 May 2025}}</ref>

Before 1960, signs welcoming travelers to Loveland read, "“Welcome to Loveland – Elev. 5000 – Nationally Famous Sweetheart Town – Won’t You Stay Awhile – Industrial Opportunities – Diversified Agriculture.” A smaller handmade sign read, “We observe the [[Jim Crow laws|Jim Crow Laws]] here.”"<ref name="LRH">{{cite news |last1=Lowe |first1=Olivia |title=Loveland wasn’t immune to nation’s divided past |url=https://www.reporterherald.com/2016/07/02/loveland-wasnt-immune-to-nations-divided-past/ |publisher=Loveland Reporter-Herald |date=July 2, 2016}}</ref> According to the 2020 census, the Black population of Loveland makes up less than 1%, and the Hispanic population is 12%.<ref name="LRH" /> In the early 1900s, neighborhoods and Homeowner Associations prevented people of color from purchasing homes.<ref name="denver7">{{cite news |last1=Smith |first1=Micah |title=Sundown towns: Uncovering Colorado's dark past, dangers for Black people staying out after sunset |url=https://www.denver7.com/news/local-news/sundown-towns-uncovering-colorados-dark-past-dangers-for-black-people-staying-out-after-sunset |agency=Denver 7 |date=February 26, 2021}}</ref>

Loveland has the largest percentage of residents in Colorado who solely identify as white. The city council began discussing racism and equity in 2019, but "[a]fter nearly two years and at least six meetings that prominently featured the issue, almost no action has been taken by city councilors."<ref name="kunc4">{{cite news |last1=Rayes |first1=Adam |title=Loveland, Colorado Splinters Over Racist Sundown Town Past And Increasingly Diverse Future |url=https://www.kunc.org/2021-09-13/loveland-colorado-splinters-over-racist-sundown-town-past-and-increasingly-diverse-future |agency=KUNC |date=September 13, 2021}}</ref> One resident recalled, "A visiting team didn’t spend the night in the city after the game because they had Black players."<ref name="kunc3">{{cite news |last1=Rayes |first1=Adam |title='We Were Here First': Native American, Mexican Residents Reflect On Life In Loveland, A Former Sundown Town |url=https://www.kunc.org/culture-identity/2021-09-30/we-were-here-first-native-american-mexican-residents-reflect-on-life-in-loveland-a-former-sundown-town |date=September 30, 2021}}</ref> All non-white residents were treated with disrespect, not just Black people. A Mexican and Native-American resident whose family migrated to the area stated, "We were recruited for cheap labor and allowed to live here and still treated pretty poorly. That was still more of a privilege than what Black people dealt with … Both are wrong, is what it comes down to."<ref name="kunc3" />

=== 2013 & 1976 floods ===
On September 12, 2013, a historic flood affected numerous areas in Colorado. It rained heavily for four consecutive days, causing most rivers and creeks to overfill their banks. [[Estes Park, Colorado|Estes Park]] received {{convert|8|to|12|in}} of rain, causing Lake Estes to overfill its banks. This prompted a lot of water to be released out of the dam, causing the [[Big Thompson River]] to swell. The flooding river caused sections of U.S. Highway 34, the main highway from Loveland to Estes Park, to collapse. The Big Thompson caused major flooding in Loveland, and caused numerous road closures because of flood waters. The Loveland/Fort Collins area received about {{convert|4|in}}, which is relatively less significant compared to the amount of rain other places received. This flood is often compared to the [[Big Thompson Flood|Big Thompson Flood of 1976]], both of which are considered to be about a 1 in 500 chance of occurring in a given year, also called a "500-year flood", by the USGS and Colorado Department of Natural Resources standards and data respectively.<ref>{{cite web |author1=Heidi Schram |title=Hydrologic Evaluation of the Big Thompson Watershed |url=https://dnrftp.state.co.us/DWR/DamSafety/GROSS%20SSPMP/CDOT%20Big%20Thompson%20Hydrology%20_JACOBS_2014-08.pdf |website=Colorado Department of Natural Resources |access-date=April 28, 2021 |page=21 |date=August 2014}}</ref> Two people died as a result of the 2013 flooding in Larimer county while 144 people were killed in the 1976 flood, with 5 bodies in the 1976 incident never found.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Duggan |first1=Kevin |title=Recovering after rivers rage |url=https://www.coloradoan.com/story/news/local/2014/09/05/september-flood-anniversary-colorado/15151647/ |access-date=April 28, 2021 |work=Coloradoan |date=September 5, 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Pohl |first1=Jason |title=40 years later: Scores killed in Big Thompson Flood |url=https://www.coloradoan.com/story/news/2016/07/29/big-thompson-flood-killed-scores/87524858/ |access-date=April 28, 2021 |work=Coloradoan |date=July 29, 2016}}</ref>