In the 1800s when gold nuggets tumbled down a creek and people found them, panners and miners stuck around to find more. The businesses that supported them followed. And a town was formed. Such is the origination story of Golden, which was officially founded in 1859. The combination of gold in Clear Creek, running water, flat land for easy development, and prime proximity to the mountains made it an ideal spot to settle. Those qualities still attract new kinds of settlers. Industry flourishes here, as does ingenuity. All you have to do is look at the Coors Brewery downtown, attend a lecture at the Colorado School of Mines, or imagine the breakthrough science happening behind the solar panels of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory for evidence of both. And when the brain needs a respite from all that big thinking, opportunities for recreation and leisure are literally in every direction. Situated 18 miles west of Denver, 18 miles south of Boulder, 9 miles from Morrison’s famed Red Rocks Amphitheatre, and literal steps from the Rockies’ foothills, Golden is away from it all while being close to it all.
As a community, we remain relatively small, but not small-minded. We are both self-sufficient and supportive. We are bonded by an appreciation of the surrounding scenery and the recreational escapes it holds. We are committed to the care and education of our young people as evidenced by our high-performing schools and the welcome presence of one of America’s top-rated public research universities, which we simply call “Mines.” We embrace new businesses. We safeguard our size, infrastructure, and resources by being one of the few towns in Colorado with a 1 percent growth cap. We are, after all, a community committed to our history, our present and our future. And we are a community of families, college students, couples, singles and old-timers who like to “remember when.” It takes all of us to create the very best Golden.
