12 Towns Near Denver With The Strangest Names You'll Ever See
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R. Phillips
Author
The 19th century was a time of tremendous growth and change in Colorado, and as you cruise our scenic highway and byways, you’ll notice many humorous, mysterious, and sometimes hard to pronounce communities, towns, and cities, with names dating back to the gold rush days. Paradox, Stoner, and No Name are a few of my personal favorites from around the state, but there are a number of towns near Denver that boast equally intriguing nomenclatures. Here are 12 little gems with the strangest names you ever did see.
Located in a sparsely populated area east of Denver, is the unincorporated community of Last Chance, reportedly named so because it was the only spot travelers could secure fuel and provisions for many miles. Not much has changed.
Established around 1870 and "Home of the World's First Rodeo," Deer Trail is a quaint statutory town in Arapahoe County with approximately 600 residents and a total area of 1.1 square miles. Wonder if Barney Fife is the Deputy Sheriff?
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Buckskin Joe is one of many mining settlements turned ghost towns in Colorado, with roots dating back to the late 1800s. Buckskin Joe was a mining district established in 1859 near present-day Alma, but it lost the county seat to Fairplay in 1867, now all that remains is its cemetery and its memories.
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My grandmother always said, "Idle hands are the devil's workshop," but I imagine if you live in the rustic unincorporated community of Idledale in Jefferson County, you probably keep your hands pretty busy.
Lazy Acres is situated on a picturesque ridge northwest of Boulder at 7,000 feet. With a population of roughly 900 and an unemployment rate of about 4.20%, Lazy Acres residents are anything but lazy. (Insert 420 joke here.)
Boulder County is chocked full of charming little communities with endearing names, and Sugarloaf and its namesake mountain are no exception.
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Gunbarrel may just be another neighborhood to you, but the name actually dates back to the 1860s, when stagecoaches traveled from Boulder to Longmont on Gunbarrel Road, aptly named on account of its straightness.
The city of Fort Lupton in Weld County, Colorado, is a place, "Where Tradition Builds The Future," and is named in honor of Lieutenant Lancaster Lupton, who built a trading post there in 1840.
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What began as a 12-acre mobile subdivision called Space City in 1961, became the incorporated Town of Lochbuie in 1974, named after the founder's ancestral home in Scotland.
Tabernash is one of many Colorado cities, towns, and communities that bear a Native American name, and in this case, one paying homage to a Ute Indian who was slain by white settlers in 1878 in a conflict over land.
Nestled in the Roosevelt National Forest is a teeny tiny town dating back to the 1890s, which was first called Happy Valley, then Eldorado, and later shortened to Eldora. Before it became a mining town, the area was first settled by the Arapaho and Ute Indians.
Just up the road is the lovely town of Nederland, tucked away in a relative flat valley at 8,236 feet. The area became known to miners as "the Netherlands" or "low lands" in the early 1800s, and when the town was incorporated in 1874, the people chose Nederland as the new name.
Want to know more about Nederland? See why we think it’s one of Colorado’s most unique, must-visit towns.
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