Longmont, Boulder County, Colorado Genealogy

Longmont was founded in 1871 as a colony by Chicago-Colorado Colony group. They purchased a square mile of land just north of Burlington Colorado, and divided it into house lots and parks, etc. -- an early planned community.

Burlington, Boulder County, Colorado, merged with Longmont and yielded the town name in 1873. The current Burlington Colorado is in Kit Carson county.

In Longmont, Colorado the local paper is the Longmont Times-Call. The same family corporation publishes similar papers in other nearby communities, such as Loveland, Lafayette, Louisville, and Erie. Although there is a local focus, they publish general news - national and international as well as sports, business, and health information.

The Longmont Times' first issue was in 1888, but did not publish continuously. The Longmont Call began in 1899, and the last issue of each of these papers was May 19, 1931. They became the Longmont Times-Call as of May 20, 1931.

Other changes for this local paper was a name change in January, 1959 to the Longmont Daily Times-Call. On July 7, 1985 they published their first Sunday edition.

A name and subject card index exists at the Longmont Public Library for both the Times and the Call, and the Times-Call until February 2008. The paper began an online edition in 2004, and further card indexing is not deemed necessary. There are plans to extend the online archive back to 1990. Microfilm of the paper is also located at the library, and that continues to be updated.

To access this information, the Longmont Public Library has microfilm and readers available at no charge except for copies. From a distance, possibly the most thorough local helper would be the Longmont Genealogical Society, reachable at http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~colgs/.

Newspaper holdings at the Longmont Public Library, 409 4th Avenue Longmont, CO 80501 General Information Desk: (303) 651-8470

This is an excellent public library with very helpful staff. Modern microfilm readers are available next to the newspaper film drawers, and the card index is also right there. The librarian at the Periodicals desk shows new patrons where to find the film and how to use the readers.

Card index by name and subject for the following: Longmont Ledger 1879-1935 Times-Call 1927 – 1977 and 1978 – February 2008 (now available online) (The genealogist for the Longmont Genealogical Society states that the card index for the Ledger skips some names in the community news sections.)

Microfilmed Newspapers Longmont Press August 8, 1872 August 28,1872 to November 6, 1872 October 2, 1872 (on a different microfilm) March 1, 1874 June 10 and 17, 1875 March 15 and 22, 1879 July 19 and 26, 1879 August 16, 1879 December 20, 1879 March 5 and 12, 1881 July 22, 1882

Longmont Press Supplement December 13, 1887

Longmont Inter Ocean March 21, 1875

Burlington Free Press May 5, 1871 (Burlington was a small community just south of the colony that became Longmont in 1871. They merged with Longmont and yielded the name Burlington in 1873, and Burlington, Colorado is now the name of a town on the Kansas border.)

Lyons Recorder from December 12, 1890 to October 23, 1942 (some missing) (Lyons is a small community founded in 1880 and 12 miles west of Longmont.)

Valley Home and Farm June 29, 1878

Colorado Press February 21, 1872 and July 24, 1872

Real Estate Bulletin April 1879

Home Mirror August, October 1891

Longmont Ledger September 8,1879 to August 2, 1940

Longmont Times March 1888 June 23, 1888 October 4, 1892

Daily Times December 30, 1896

Longmont Call from October 14, 1899 to May 19, 1931 (August 1918 to April 1927 destroyed by fire)

Longmont Times from March 28, 1927 to May 19, 1931

Longmont Times-Call from May 20, 1931 to present (changed name in 1959 to Longmont Daily Times-Call)

Online since 2004 at www.times-call.com, and there are plans to post older editions back to 1990.

To have someone search old Longmont records, contact the Longmont Genealogical Society at http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~colgs/. [This assignment has been edited by Diana Ornstead (June 6, 2008).]