Bustling Business Center Began in the 1880s

After Berthoud moved from its original location on the Little Thompson river bottom to its present site in the winter of 1883-84, the town began to grow into a bustling agricultural center of southern Larimer County. The town’s first businesses, built upon services required by farmers from the outlying rural areas, were located in a three-block business district that straddled the Colorado & Southern railroad tracks.

In 1900 when Berthoud was firmly established at its new location the local newspaper listed the town’s businesses as, “Two department stores, two general stores, two drug stores, two novelty stores, two restaurants and bakeries, two livery barns, one implement store, one jewelry store, one millinery store, one meat market, one lumber yard, one newspaper and printing office, one harness shop, one barber shop, one bank, one machine repair shop, three physicians, two dentists, two carpenter shops, one feed mill, two paint shops, one plasterer, three blacksmith shops, one large hotel, one graded school, three churches, seven fraternal organizations, one mill and elevator company, one boot and repair shop.”

The newspaper’s report qualified Berthoud as a “live town” with all the services required for the further growth and development of the town and surrounding agricultural community.

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