Greeley, Colorado

The City of Greeley is the Home Rule Municipality that is the county seat and the most populous municipality of Weld County, Colorado, United States. Greeley is in northern Colorado and is situated 49 miles (79 km) north-northeast of the Colorado State Capitol in Denver. According to the 2012 Census, the population of the city is 95,357, making it the 12th most populous city in the state of Colorado. Greeley is a major city of the Front Range Urban Corridor.

History

Early history

The town was named after Horace Greeley, editor of the New-York Tribune. It was founded as the Union Colony in 1869, an experimental utopian society, but the name was later changed in honor of Horace Greeley. Colorado Governor Benjamin Eaton declared Greeley an official city on April 6, 1886.

Greeley was built on farming and agriculture but kept up with most modern technologies as they grew. Telephones were in town by 1883 with electric lights downtown by 1886. Automobiles were on the roads alongside horse drawn buggies by 1910. KFKA became one of the first radio stations to broadcast in the USA in 1922 and the Greeley Municipal Airport was built in 1928. Greeley housed two POW camps in 1943, during World War II. One was for German POWs and the other was for Italian POWs. A vote to allow the sale of alcohol passed by a mere 477 votes in 1969, thus ending Temperance in the city.

The Greeley Philharmonic Orchestra was started in 1911. In 1958, Greeley became the first city to have a Department of Culture. Greeley is still growing and changing today, its population has more than doubled since 1970.

Latham

Greeley is located in (or just west of) the area previously occupied by the Overland Trail station of Latham (originally called the Cherokee City Station). The Latham station (also known as Fort Latham) was built in 1862 and named in honor of Milton S. Latham, one of California's early senators. The stagecoach station was at the confluence of the South Platte River and the Cache la Poudre River. It is believed that here occurred the birth of the first white child born in Colorado, a girl. Fort Latham was the headquarters of the government troops during the Indian conflicts of 1860-64 and the county seat (the post office being called Latham).

Union Colony

Greeley began as the Union Colony, which was founded in 1869 as an experimental utopian community "based on temperance, religion, agriculture, education and family values." by Nathan C. Meeker, a newspaper reporter from New York City. Meeker purchased a site at the confluence of the Cache la Poudre and South Platte Rivers (that included the area of Latham, an Overland Trail station), halfway between Cheyenne and Denver along the tracks of the Denver Pacific Railroad formerly known as the "Island Grove Ranch". The name Union Colony was later changed to Greeley in honor of Horace Greeley, who was Meeker's editor at the New York Tribune, and popularized the phrase "Go West, young man".

Geography

Greeley is located at 40°24′54″N 104°43′26″W (40.415119, -104.723988). Elevation above sea level is 4,658 feet.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 30.0 square miles (78 km²), of which 29.9 square miles (77 km²) is land and 0.1 square miles (0.26 km²) (0.30%) is water.

Greeley is bordered on the south by the towns of Evans and Garden City, and the three together are often collectively (although incorrectly) referred to as "Greeley". The Greeley/Evans area is bounded on the south by the South Platte River, and the Cache la Poudre River flows through north Greeley. The intersection of U.S. Highways 85 and 34 is often cited as the location of Greeley, although the actual point of intersection lies within the city limits of Evans. Greeley contains the western terminus of State Highway 257 and borders State Highway 392 on the north.

Climate

Greeley experiences a semi-arid climate (Köppen BSk). High temperatures are generally around 90 °F-95 °F (32 °C) in the summer and 40 °F-45 °F (4 °C) in the winter, although there is significant variation. The hottest days generally occur around the third week of July and the coldest in January. Nighttime lows are near 60 °F (16 °C) in the summer and around 15 °F-20 °F (-9 °C) in the winter. Record high temperatures of 106 °F (41 °C) have been recorded, as have record low temperatures of -25 °F (-32 °C). The first freeze typically occurs around October 10 and the last can be as late as May 4. Extratropical cyclones which disrupt the weather for the eastern two-thirds of the US often originate in or near Colorado, which means Greeley does not experience many fully developed storm systems. Warm fronts, sleet, and freezing rain are practically non-existent here. In addition, the city's proximity to the Rocky Mountains and lower elevation, compared to the mountains west of the city, result in less precipitation and fewer thunderstorms. This is paradoxical, because adjacent areas (mostly farmland) experience between 7 and 9 hail days per year.

The climate in Greeley, as well as all of Colorado, is extremely dry. The Chinook winds coming off the mountains often raise temperatures to near 70 °F (21 °C) in January and February, and sometimes to near 90 °F (32 °C) in April. Greeley's elevation and low year-round humidity means that nighttime low temperatures are practically never above 68 °F (20 °C), even in the very hottest part of the summer. The diurnal temperature range is usually rather wide, with a 50-degree (Fahrenheit) difference between daytime high and nighttime low not uncommon, especially in the spring and fall months. Rapid day-to-day and diurnal fluctuation in temperature is also common.

Demographics

As of the 2010 census, there were 92,889 people, 33,427 households, and 21,250 families residing in the city. The age distribution shows 68,936 residents are age 18 and older and 23,953 residents are under 18 years of age. The age distribution of the population showed 31.3% from 0 to 19, 11.4% from 20 to 24, 25.4% from 25 to 44, 21.1% from 45 to 64, and 10.7% ages 65+. The median age was 30.5 years old. The gender distribution was 49.1% male and 50.9% female. For every 100 females there were 96.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 93.9 males.

The racial makeup of the city was 79.1% White, 1.7% African American, 1.2% Native American, 1.3% Asian, 0.1% Pacific Islander, 13.2% from other races, and 3.4% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 36.0% of the population.

Out of 33,427 total households, 21,250 (63.3%) were family households where at least one member of the household was related to the householder by birth, marriage, or adoption. 12,177 (36.4%) households were non-family households consisting of people living alone and households which did not have any members related to the householder. Of the 21,250 family households, 11,495 (54.1%) had children under the age of 18 living with them.

The population density was 3096.3 people per square mile (1195.5/km²). There were 36,323 housing units at an average density of 1210.7 per square mile (467.5/km²).

The median income for a household in the city was $44,226, and the median income for a family was $55,277. Males had a median, full-time income of $40,122 versus $35,294 for females. The per capita income for the city was $21,372.

15.7% of families and 23.5% of the population had income below the poverty line during the 12 months prior to being surveyed. People with incomes below the poverty line include 32.1% of those under age 18 and 8.9% of those age 65 or over.

The crime rate (per 100,000 people) is below the national average, according to city-data.com. The website gave the city an aggregate crime rating of 289.6 in 2012, against a national average score of 301.1.

Economy

Among the companies based in Greeley are the meatpacker Swift & Company, the outsourcing company StarTek, and the contractor Hensel Phelps Construction. The Colorado/Kansas operations of natural gas utility Atmos Energy are based in Greeley.

Largest employers

According to a 2014-15 economic and demographic profile, the following are the Greeley area's largest employers:

Military

The 137th Space Warning Squadron (137 SWS) is a unit of the Colorado Air National Guard located at Greeley Air National Guard Station, Greeley.

Arts and culture

In 2014 the Greeley Creative District was certified as an official Creative District by the Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade.

Education

Of Greeley residents ages 18+, 82.2% are high school graduates and 25.9% have a bachelor's degree or higher.

Primary and secondary schools

Most areas in Greeley lie in Weld County School District 6.

Four high schools, Greeley Central High School, Greeley West High School, Jefferson High School, and Northridge High School, are in and serve Greeley.

There are four middle schools, which serve grades 6-8: Brentwood Middle, Franklin Middle, Heath Middle, and John Evans Middle.

There are 14 elementary schools in Greeley serving kindergarten through 5th grade: Centennial Elementary, Dos Rios Elementary, East Memorial Elementary, Heiman Elementary, Jackson Elementary, Madison Elementary, Maplewood Elementary, Martinez Elementary, McAuliffe Elementary, Meeker Elementary, Monfort Elementary, Romero Elementary, Scott Elementary, and Shawsheen Elementary.

There are also three charter schools (University Schools, Frontier Academy, Union Colony Preparatory School). Chappelow Arts Literacy Magnet School is the district's renowned arts education K-8 school.

There are at least five private schools inside the Greeley city limits: Trinity Lutheran School, St. Mary Catholic School, Dayspring Christian Academy, Shepherd of the Hills, and Mountain View Academy.

Colleges and universities

Greeley is also home to University of Northern Colorado, Aims Community College, Academy of Natural Therapy, and Institute of Business & Medical Careers.

Sister cities

Greeley is a sister city to Moriya, a city located in Japan's Ibaraki Prefecture. Every other summer 18 students from Moriya come to Greeley for a week-long stay. - Moriya, Japan

Infrastructure

Health care

North Colorado Medical Center is the primary medical facility for Weld County. The hospital opened in 1904 as the Greeley Hospital. The name of the facility evolved over the years to Weld County General Hospital and that became North Colorado Medical Center. The Center is operated by Banner Health based out of Phoenix, Arizona. The hospital recently expanded its facilities and added a new addition which expanded its emergency room and increased the amount of rooms available for patients in other departments.

On June 23, 2011, it was announced that Poudre Valley Health Systems and the University of Colorado Medical School announced a pending joint operations agreement. If approved, it would overtake NCMC as the largest regional hospital in Northern Colorado. In 2010, Greeley Medical Clinic, the largest and oldest medical group in Greeley announced it was affiliating with PVHS.

Government

Since 2006, the Greeley Police Department has received more than $2.3 million of tactical military equipment from the United States Department of Defense (DoD) including a "mine resistant vehicle", 72 5.56 mm rifles, 22 suppressors, and 15 sniperscopes. Prior to 2014, when the information was made public by the DoD in response to public scrutiny over widespread police militarization in the United States, the program details had been closely guarded and little information had been released during the previous 20 years.

Media

In the news and popular culture

On December 12, 2006, the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (I.C.E) staged a coordinated predawn raid at the Swift & Co meat packing plant in Greeley and at five other Swift plants in western states, interviewing illegal workers and hauling hundreds off in buses.

Greeley was featured in the books Fast Food Nation and Chew on This by Eric Schlosser.

In August 2010, Leprino Foods announced plans for a new $270 million factory in Greeley which could employ up to 500 people. Construction began in July 2010.

On May 12, 2014, Greeley was ranked number #5 of 10 "Top Small Cities for Jobs" in a Forbes article. On July 23, 2014 Forbes ranked Greeley as #4 of 10 "List of Best Cities for Job Growth "

Local writers

James A. Michener attended Colorado State College of Education]], now the University of Northern Colorado, in 1936â€"37. He was a social science educator at the training school and at the college from 1936 to 1941. He conceived the idea for his acclaimed 1974 novel Centennial during his stay in Greeley, basing it on the real history of the town and the Colorado region.

Egyptian Islamist Sayyid Qutb studied at the Colorado State College of Education (now the University of Northern Colorado) in 1949. On May 6, 2003, Robert Siegel, the senior host of All Things Considered on National Public Radio reported that Sayyid Qutb wrote a distorted chronology of American history in his book The America I Have Seen (1951). In his book, Qutb stated that Greeley began with wars against the Native Americans and that those wars were still underway in 1949. Qutb also stated that Latinos were pushed out of the Greeley area, towards Central America, prior to the start of the American Revolution. Qutb portrayed Greeley as a hotbed of debauchery, rife with "naked legs" and "animal-like" mixing of the sexes, however, Egyptian political scientist Mamoun Fandy contends that Qutb's critique of America was warning Egyptians of the West, of modernity, and of things they were attracted to. As for Qutb's revulsion over American sexuality, Fandy says there is no evidence that Qutb ever had a sexual relationship in his life.

Notable people

• Dee Bradley Baker, voice actor
• Shane Carwin, professional heavyweight UFC fighter
• Shawn Chacón, professional baseball player drafted by the Rockies
• Reed Doughty, safety for NFL's Washington Redskins

• Anthony Dexter, actor who lived in Greeley after his retirement
• Greg Germann, actor
• Miriam Gideon, composer
• Taryn Hemmings, professional soccer player for the NWSL Chicago Red Stars
• Tom Johnson, composer
• Adolph Lesser, professional musician
• Ted Mack, radio and TV host
• Karl Mahlburg, mathematician
• Gary McMahan, singer/songwriter
• James A. Michener, novelist, attended University of Northern Colorado
• Roy Lewis Norris, serial killer
• Amanda Peterson, actress
• Sayyid Qutb, leading member of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood in the 1950s and '60s lived in Greeley in 1949, which he denounced as a sexual jungle
• Kyle Redman, professional musician
• Tom Runnells, current bench coach for the Colorado Rockies
• Jason Smith, professional basketball player for the New Orleans Pelicans
• Ron Waterman, professional heavyweight UFC fighter
• Connie Willis, science fiction author

See also

• Outline of Colorado
  • Index of Colorado-related articles
• State of Colorado
  • Colorado cities and towns
    • Colorado municipalities
  • Colorado counties
    • Weld County, Colorado
  • Colorado metropolitan areas
    • Front Range Urban Corridor
    • North Central Colorado Urban Area
    • Denverâ€"Auroraâ€"Boulder Combined Statistical Area
    • Greeley, CO Metropolitan Statistical Area
• University of Northern Colorado

References

External links

• City of Greeley website
• Greeley Unexpected
• BandWagon Magazine - Greeley's monthly Live Music, Arts, & Entertainment Publication
• The Crew Presents - Live Music and Entertainment in Greeley
• Greeley Tribune Newspaper/ News
• CDOT map of the City of Greeley
• The Overland Trail
• University of Northern Colorado
• Aims Community College
• Greeley History for Kids
• Photos and Journal site
• Parent Pages Family Directory
• Flickr Greeley Photo Gallery