Sunshine

History

Gold ore was discovered in Sunshine in 1873, and many prospectors moved to the area to seek their fortunes. By 1876 Sunshine was a booming mining camp, with a population of 1,200. Sunshine had a post office, a schoolhouse, a newspaper, The Sunshine Courier, several hotels and boarding houses, two mercantile firms, three blacksmiths, and two saloons. Sunshine built a stone schoolhouse in 1900, which is still in good condition and used for community events. Noted for its sophisticated construction and neoclassical design, the building was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1989. As gold became harder to find and extract, most mines shut down, and by 1908 Sunshine's population dwindled to about 200. Ranching was prevalent after World War I, with just a few mines still operating. The remaining mines were closed in July, 1942, by a decree of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, as the United States geared up for production of wartime materials.

Geography

Sunshine is located in central Boulder County, in the hills northwest of the city of Boulder. It is bordered by the Crisman CDP to the south, and the Glendale and Lazy Acres CDPs are to the north. The Sunshine CDP has an area of , all land.

Race & ethnicity

Most-observed species

• American Robin

  Turdus migratorius Linnaeus, 1766 · Aves
  43,881
• Black-capped Chickadee

  Poecile atricapillus (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  42,915
• House Finch

  Haemorhous mexicanus (P.L.Statius Müller, 1776) · Aves
  42,265
• Northern Flicker

  Colaptes auratus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  38,880
• Red-winged Blackbird

  Agelaius phoeniceus (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  33,766
• Canada Goose (canadensis Group)

  Branta canadensis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  32,773
• Blue Jay

  Cyanocitta cristata (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  32,614
• Mallard

  Anas platyrhynchos Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  31,487

Most recent

• 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
• M 2.6 — 2016-08-23
  2 km SSE of Eaton, Colorado