Berthoud, Colorado
| Town of Berthoud, Colorado | |
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| Statutory Town | |
Entering Berthoud from the east.
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| Nickname(s): The Garden Spot of Colorado | |
 Location of Berthoud shown within the State of Colorado |
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 Town of Berthoud, Colorado
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| Coordinates: 40°17′05″N 104°57′56″W / 40.284667°N 104.965504°WCoordinates: 40°17′05″N 104°57′56″W / 40.284667°N 104.965504°W | |
| Country |
 United States
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| State |
 State of Colorado
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| Counties |
Larimer County Weld County |
| Incorporated | August 28, 1888 |
| Named for | Edward L. Berthoud |
| Government | |
| • Type | Statutory Town |
| • Mayor | Steve Mulvihill |
| • Mayor pro tem | Chris Buckridge |
| Area | |
| • Total | 4.1 sq mi (10.5 km2) |
| • Land | 4.0 sq mi (10.3 km2) |
| • Water | 0.1 sq mi (0.2 km2) 2.22% |
| Elevation | 5,030 ft (1,533 m) |
| Population (2010) | |
| • Total | 5,105 |
| • Estimate (2013) | 5,394 |
| • Density | 1,200/sq mi (490/km2) |
| Time zone | MST (UTC-7) |
| • Summer (DST) | MDT (UTC-6) |
| ZIP Code | 80513 |
| Area code(s) | 970 |
| INCITS place code | 0806255 |
| GNIS feature ID | 0178065 |
| Website | Town of Berthoud |
The Town of Berthoud is a Statutory Town in Larimer and Weld counties in the U.S. state of Colorado. The town population was 5,105 at the 2010 United States Census. Berthoud is situated north of the Little Thompson River, approximately halfway between the cities of Fort Collins, Colorado and Denver, Colorado along the Front Range Urban Corridor.
White settlers first came to the present-day Berthoud area in the early 1860s, following the Colorado Gold Rush. Many settlers filed homestead claims, but most bellied up and left the valley to hardier souls who ranched and farmed the arid prairie that straddled the river bottom.
In 1872, a miner-turned-rancher from Central City, Colorado, Lewis Cross, staked the first homestead claim where the Colorado Central Railroad planned to cross Little Thompson creek. When the tracks were laid through the valley in 1877 a depot, section house, and water tank were installed at this strategic site. The tiny settlement known as Little Thompson was renamed Berthoud in honor of Edward L. Berthoud, who had surveyed the rail route through the valley.
Over the next few years the settlement grew to include a handful of homes, a blacksmith shop, a mercantile store, a small grain elevator, and a log cabin that served as school and church for the community.
In the early 1880s, the Colorado Central Railroad recognized that Berthoud's location on the river bottom caused their steam-powered locomotives to labor excessively to ascend the grade out of the valley. At their urging, during the winter of 1883-84, the buildings of the town were loaded on skids and pulled by teams of draft animals to the town's present-day location on the bluff one mile (1.6 km) north of the river.
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