This Colorado city impressed Disneyland’s Main Street

When Walt Disney commissioned Harper Goff to assist design Disneyland’s Main Street, Goff didn’t must look far for inspiration. He discovered it within the brick facades and towers of his childhood hometown, Fort Collins, Colorado, with the buildings’ late Victorian period architectural particulars making their manner into his 1951 sketches for Walt Disney. Goff poured his nostalgia for the easier days of his childhood into each element of Disneyland, making certain that every youngster who visited may really feel the identical magic.

Fort Collins nonetheless embodies the attraction of a perfect American city. Frequently ranked among the many nation’s finest locations to stay, it’s a popularity locals proudly affirm. The metropolis takes that honor significantly, rigorously preserving its historic structure and walkable downtown on the foot of the Rocky Mountains—qualities that make life right here really feel really idyllic.

Ghost cities

Fort Collins started in 1862 as Camp Collins, a modest navy put up that rapidly reworked right into a thriving settlement after its relocation in 1864 resulting from flooding. Just months after opening to homesteaders, surveyors laid out Old Town alongside the river, and chic Victorian buildings quickly adopted—buildings that may later encourage Disney artist Harper Goff.

As the neighborhood grew, so did its thirst for water. To meet the demand, engineers constructed Horsetooth Reservoir, at the moment the town’s largest playground for boating, swimming and fishing. But creating the reservoir got here at a price: the flooding of the outdated mining city of Stout. Whispers persist of a ghost city beneath the waves, the place a long-lost college bell nonetheless tolls underwater. The reality is much less eerie—the bell survives, safely housed in The Archive on the Fort Collins Museum of Discovery, and most of the city’s buildings have been demolished earlier than the reservoir was constructed. 

Perfect views of the reservoir and the encircling foothills might be attained via a average 1.4 mile hike alongside the Well Gulch Nature Trail at Lory State Park. Be positive to select up a path information, because it corresponds with numbered interpretative indicators to present extra particulars on what you’re viewing as you meander via a canyon and up in direction of the overlook. On foggy mornings, the reservoir has an eerie look, good for scanning for indicators of the ghost city. Those searching for an extended hike can head to the Horsetooth Mountain Open Space, the place a five-mile laborious hike alongside Horsetooth Rock Loop Trail comes with the reward of a view of Longs Peak and Mount Meeker in Rocky Mountain National Park.

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Bricks and blooms

Any Fort Collins expertise could be incomplete with no stroll down Walnut Street. The 1882 metropolis corridor and firehouse—one of many very buildings later recreated, in miniature, on Disneyland’s Main Street—now homes two native gathering areas: Old Firehouse Books, an impartial bookstore, and Happy Lucky’s Tea House, dwelling of Colorado’s largest tea choice. Pick your favourite from the Great Wall of Tea. In addition, the unique fireplace pole nonetheless stands close to the register, a reminder of the constructing’s previous. Just a number of blocks away, round a nook, the previous Linden Hotel opened in 1898 with its turret and arched home windows. Now, the decrease ground homes Nature’s Own, a geology and memento store, whereas the 2 higher flooring are a personal residence. It was right here, amid these streets and storefronts, that younger Harper Goff roamed. The son of the promoting supervisor for the Fort Collins Express Courier, Goff grew up surrounded by structure that may later spark his creativeness.

It’s price exploring the alleyways in Old Town, as they regularly home hidden gems akin to outlets and brilliant murals. The metropolis has made a aware effort to convey splashes of shade, with the FC Mural Project lately celebrating the completion of its a centesimal mural by native artists. Not to be missed is Jazz Alley, with a double decker mural painted by artist Terry McNerney over a number of years, that includes the well-known musical faces of Fort Collins. Painted pianos additionally dot the outside areas, and passersby are inspired to play them.

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Old Town Square sits on the beating coronary heart of downtown Fort Collins, offering a gathering house with seating, a stage and a splashpad for kids and canine. Large planters spill over with vibrant blooms, many first examined at Colorado State University’s Flower Trial Gardens, a few 10-minute drive away. Here, plant breeders from world wide ship new varieties to show they will stand up to Colorado’s robust local weather. Locals vote on their favorites, and the winners typically make their option to backyard facilities nationwide. Open to the general public, the trial backyard has develop into a neighborhood treasure—its paver and mulch paths are fashionable with walkers, joggers and loads of four-legged companions.

Where to eat and drink

Keep savoring the city’s historical past at eating places that pay homage to its previous. Founded in 1933, Silver Grill Cafe serves its beloved, large cinnamon rolls alongside basic breakfast favorites in a historic 1800’s constructing. Get a refreshing break on the retro-inspired Edison’s Ice Cream, positioned within the outdated Northern Hotel constructing, the place the scent of the cinnamon waffle cones handrolled and baked all through the day permeates the air. And for a real native favourite, step into Town Pump, the oldest bar on the town, often called a lot for the characters who frequent it as for what simply could be the smallest historic bogs round. 

Have afternoon tea on the Duchess Tea Room, cease by for an off-the-cuff diner expertise at Big Al’s Burgers and Dogs, take pleasure in handmade pasta at RARE Italian, seize a cup of native, truthful commerce espresso at Mugs, or take a cooking class open air, discovering locally-grown flavors as geese fly overhead The Gardens on Spring Creek with their Garden to Fork program.

Where to remain in Fort Collins

Two inns place guests within the coronary heart of Old Town Fort Collins. History lovers will admire a keep at The Armstrong Hotel, a 1923 landmark rigorously renovated to protect its historic attraction. Rooms characteristic views of a few of most iconic streets and a speakeasy within the basement completes the step again in time. The Elizabeth Hotel caters to music lovers, with an instrument lending library and turntables in each room. Carrying on this theme, one of many suites options its personal child grand piano. Each lodge is inside simple strolling distance of Old Town outlets and eating places.

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