LONGMONT

city, Boulder county, northern Colorado, U.S., on St. Vrain Creek between the South Platte River and foothills of the Rocky Mountains, at an elevation of 5,000 ft (1,524 m), 30 mi (48 km) northwest of Denver. Founded in 1871 as a farming community of the Chicago-Colorado Colony Company, it was named for Maj. Stephen H. Long, discoverer of Longs Peak, 28 mi (45 km) west. The Colorado Central Railroad arrived in 1873, and Longmont grew as a processing and shipping point for livestock and farm crops from the surrounding lands irrigated by the Colorado-Big Thompson water-diversion project. Industries include sugar beet processing, vegetable canning, and the manufacture of automotive filters, chemicals, pickup campers, and electronic equipment. Roosevelt National Forest (including Rocky Mountain National Park) is to the west. Inc. town, 1885; city, 1961. Pop. (1990) city, 51,555; Boulder-Longmont PMSA, 225,339.