Broomfield

History

The Broomfield post office opened on September 26, 1884. Historians speculate that the town was named for the sorghum grown in the area, also known as broomcorn, which had stalks that were sold to make brooms and whisk brooms. Several railroads figure in the development of this area. The Colorado Central Railroad built a narrow-gauge line from Golden in 1873; the Denver, Utah and Pacific Railroad arrived in 1881; and the Denver, Marshall and Boulder Railway built a line through what is now Broomfield in 1886. The Denver, Utah and Pacific was widened to standard gauge in 1889. One of the early names for the area was Zang's Spur, after the railroad spur serving Adolph Zang's grain fields. The Denver–Boulder Turnpike was constructed through the Broomfield area to speed automobile travel between the state capital of Denver and the university city of Boulder. Construction of the toll road began in 1950 and the turnpike was opened to traffic on January 19, 1952, with the sole toll plaza at Broomfield with access to U.S. Route 287 through the town. The toll to travel from Federal Boulevard in Adams County to Broomfield was 10 cents and the toll from Broomfield to Boulder was 15 cents, or 25 cents for the whole route. City leaders felt increasing chagrin with the need to deal with four different county governments, four separate county sales tax bases, and four separate court districts. They began pushing to make Broomfield a consolidated city-county similar to Denver, reasoning that they could provide services more responsively if Broomfield had its own county government. The city sought an amendment to the state constitution to create a new county. The amendment was passed in 1998, after which a three-year transition period followed. On November 15, 2001, Broomfield…

Geography

Broomfield is located midway between Denver and Boulder along U.S. Routes 36 and 287. At the 2020 United States census, Broomfield had a total area of , including of water. According to the A. W. Kuchler U.S. potential natural vegetation types, Broomfield would have a Bouteloua/buffalograss (65, commonly known as grama grass) vegetation type and a shortgrass prairie (17) vegetation form.

Race & ethnicity

Most-observed species

• House Finch

  Haemorhous mexicanus (P.L.Statius Müller, 1776) · Aves
  62,950
• Red-winged Blackbird

  Agelaius phoeniceus (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  57,888
• Black-capped Chickadee

  Poecile atricapillus (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  54,562
• Northern Flicker

  Colaptes auratus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  54,375
• American Robin

  Turdus migratorius Linnaeus, 1766 · Aves
  54,058
• Mallard

  Anas platyrhynchos Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  53,162
• Canada Goose (canadensis Group)

  Branta canadensis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  52,726
• European Starling

  Sturnus vulgaris Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  50,873

Largest nearby schools

• Legacy High School
  High · BROOMFIELD · 2,230 students · 20.6:1 ratio
• Broomfield High School
  High · BROOMFIELD · 1,645 students · 20.8:1 ratio
• Prospect Ridge Academy
  Other · BROOMFIELD · 1,453 students · 20.2:1 ratio
• Westlake Middle School
  Middle · BROOMFIELD · 909 students · 18.6:1 ratio
• Thunder Vista P-8
  Elementary · BROOMFIELD · 794 students · 17.6:1 ratio
• Aspen Creek K-8 School
  Elementary · BROOMFIELD · 748 students · 16.6:1 ratio
• Mountain View Elementary School
  Elementary · BROOMFIELD · 544 students · 16.5:1 ratio
• Meridian Elementary School
  Elementary · BROOMFIELD · 541 students · 18:1 ratio

Most recent

• M 3 — 2025-10-17
  11 km NNE of Black Forest, Colorado
• M 2.7 — 2025-06-13
  7 km SE of Erie, Colorado
• M 2.5 — 2020-10-24
  2 km ESE of Georgetown, Colorado
• M 2.9 — 2019-03-30
  7 km NE of Greeley, Colorado
• M 3 — 2016-11-06
  8 km ENE of Greeley, Colorado
• M 2.7 — 2016-11-06
  8 km ENE of Greeley, Colorado