Editing Westminster, Colorado (section)

==History==
[[File:Westminster CO Historic Place.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.2|Westminster University, also known as [[Westminster Castle]], is listed on the [[National Register of Historic Places]] and overlooks the city of [[Denver]].]] [[Gold]] discovered in the [[South Platte River|South Platte River Valley]] in 1858 brought national attention to the area that would become Westminster, Colorado. The promise of fortune and [[Homestead Act of 1862|The Homestead Act of 1862]] encouraged many [[American pioneer|pioneers]] from the east to settle in [[Colorado]] rather than continue on to California.<ref name="cityofwestminster.us">{{Cite web|title=The Early Settlers|url=https://www.cityofwestminster.us/Government/WestminsterHistory/TheEarlySettlers|access-date=August 24, 2021|website=www.cityofwestminster.us}}</ref> Before the settlements came, wildlife like [[Pronghorn|antelope]] and [[American Bison|buffalo]] made their homes in the area. There is also evidence of [[Arapaho]] Indians near the Crown Point (Gregory Hill) area.<ref name = "early settlers">{{cite web | title = The Early Settlers | work = Historic Westminster, Colorado | url = http://www.ci.westminster.co.us/ExploreWestminster/AbouttheCity/WestminsterHistory/TheEarlySettlers.aspx | publisher = City of Westminster | access-date = October 24, 2012 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20121115154240/http://www.ci.westminster.co.us/ExploreWestminster/AbouttheCity/WestminsterHistory/TheEarlySettlers.aspx | archive-date = November 15, 2012 | url-status = dead }}</ref> Westminsters' first permanent settler was Kentucky farmer Pleasant DeSpain, who built his home in 1870 on 160 [[acre]]s (near what is now West 76th Avenue and Lowell Street).<ref>{{Cite web|date=December 24, 2011|title=On History: Despain Junction was spot of early life in area|url=https://www.broomfieldenterprise.com/ci_19610684/|access-date=August 24, 2021|website=Broomfield Enterprise|language=en-US}}</ref> The area became known as DeSpain Junction and attracted other settlers including Edward Bruce Bowles, who in 1881 constructed a brick [[Italianate]] house now known as the [[Bowles House (Westminster, Colorado)|Bowles House]]. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1988. The village of DeSpain Junction grew into a small farming community and continued to attract new settlers despite the difficulty of farming in Colorado's arid climate.<ref name="cityofwestminster.us"/> Connecticut real estate developer C.J. Harris arrived in DeSpain Junction in 1885 and purchased the DeSpain farm, among others. Harris combined the separate homesteads and divided it into smaller tracts of land, which he sold to fruit farmers. Harris renamed DeSpain Junction with his own name and the area was referred to as Harris, Colorado.<ref name="cityofwestminster.us"/> In 1890, New Yorker Henry T. Mayham convinced the Denver Presbytery to build a university on land that he owned in Harris. After delays caused by the [[depression of 1893]], the school was built from red sandstone quarried in Colorado's [[Red Rocks Park|Red Rocks]] region. The curriculum was patterned after Princeton University and was referred to as the "Princeton of the West". The school was incorporated as Westminster University of Colorado, and classes began in 1908 with one year's tuition costing $50 ($1,411 in 2018).<ref>{{cite web |url=https://westegg.com/inflation/infl.cgi |title=The Inflation Calculator |website=westegg.com |publisher=Morgan Friedman |access-date=November 18, 2019 }}</ref> The school ceased operating in 1917, when all students in attendance left to fight in [[World War I]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=The Princeton of the West|url=https://www.cityofwestminster.us/Government/WestminsterHistory/ThePrincetonoftheWest|access-date=August 24, 2021|website=www.cityofwestminster.us}}</ref> In the following decade it operated as a church and school. In 1911, Harris voted to incorporate as a city and changed its name to Westminster, in honor of the university which is now on the National Register of Historic Places.

In July 2006, it was ranked as the 24th best place to live in the US by ''[[Money Magazine|Money]]'' magazine.<ref>{{cite news| url=https://money.cnn.com/magazines/moneymag/bplive/2006/top100/ | work=CNN | title=MONEY Magazine: Best places to live 2006: Top 100 1-25}}</ref>

===Bell Tower===
Westminster City Hall features a 14-story bell tower topped by a pyramid shaped steel mesh structure. The 130-foot spire, which is widely known and referenced as a community landmark, was first conceptualized as a symbolic tie and tribute to the clock tower of [[Westminster Palace]] in England known as [[Big Ben]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=Bell Tower|url=https://www.cityofwestminster.us/Government/WestminsterHistory/BellTower|access-date=August 24, 2021|website=www.cityofwestminster.us}}</ref> The unveiling of the Bell Tower in 1986 was attended by the then mayor of [[Westminster, England]]. An [[English Oak]] can be seen on the City Hall property today- a gift to Westminster, Colorado, from Westminster, England.