List of city nicknames in Colorado explained

This partial list of city nicknames in Colorado includes some of the sobriquets, pseudonyms, and slogans that identify, or have identified, the cities and towns of the U.S. state of Colorado. City nicknames can help in establishing a civic identity, helping outsiders recognize a community or attracting people to a community because of its nickname; promote civic pride; and build community unity.^[1] Nicknames and slogans that successfully create a new community "ideology or myth" are also believed to have economic value. Their economic value is difficult to measure, but there are anecdotal reports of cities that have achieved substantial economic benefits by "branding" themselves by adopting new slogans.^[2]

Some unofficial nicknames are positive, while others are derisive. The unofficial nicknames listed here have been in use for a long time or have gained wide currency.

Nicknames by city

A

• Alamosa – Gateway to the Great Sand Dunes^[3]
• Alma – As High As You Can Get^[4]
• Arvada – Celery Capital of the World (historical)^[5]
• Aspen – America's Canary City^[6]
• Ault – A Unique Little Town
• Aurora – Gateway to the Rockies^[7]

B

• Berthoud – Garden Spot of Colorado^[8]
• Black Hawk – City of Mills (historical)^[9]
• Boulder – The People's Republic of Boulder^[10]
• Breckenridge – The Kingdom of Breckenridge^[11]

C

• Cañon City – Climate Capital of Colorado^[12]
• Carbondale – Ultimate Rocky Mountain Hideout^[13]
• Cedaredge – Southern Gateway to the Grand Mesa^[14]
• Central City – Richest square mile on Earth (historical)^[15]
• Colorado Springs
  • City of Millionaires (historical)
  • Little London
  • Newport in the Rockies (historical)^[16]
  • Olympic City, USA
  • The Springs^[17]
• Creede – There is no night in Creede (historical)^[18]
• Crested Butte
  • Colorado's Last Great Ski Town^[19]
  • Wildflower Capital of Colorado^[20]

D

• Deer Trail – Home of the World's First Rodeo^[21]
• Denver
  • The Mile-High City^[22]
  • Queen City of the Plains (historical)^[23]
  • Queen City of the West^[24]
  • Broncoville^[25]
  • Wall Street of the West^[26]
  • Cow Town^[27]
• Dove Creek – Pinto Bean Capital of the World^[28]
• Durango – Durango Rocks!^[29]

E

• Edgewater – City of Choice^[30]

F

• Fairplay – The Real South Park^[31]
• Fort Collins
  • The Choice City^[32]
  • The Napa Valley of Beer^[33]
  • Fort Fun^[33]
  • FoCo^[34]
• Fort Morgan
  • The Capital of the Plains^[35]
  • The City of Lights^[36]
• Fruita – Home of Mike the Headless Chicken (historical)^[37]

G

• Grand Junction
  • Colorado's Wine Country^[38]
  • River City^[39]
• Greeley
  • City of Churches (historical)^[40]
  • Garden City of the West (historical)^[41]
• Golden – Where the West Lives^[42]
• Gunnison – Gun Rack or Gunniicicle

L

• Leadville – Magic City^[43]
• Limon – The Hub City of the Plains^[44]
• Longmont
  • Longtucky^[45]
  • The Long Apple^[46]
• Loveland
  • Gateway to the Rockies^[47]
  • The Sweetheart City^[48]
• Lyons – Double Gateway to the Rockies (or Double Gateway to Rocky Mountain National Park)^[49]

M

• Manitou Springs – Saratoga of the West

N

• Nederland
  • Home of the Frozen Dead Guy^[50]
  • Ned^[51]

O

• Ouray – Switzerland of America^[52]

P

• Palisade – Peach Capital of Colorado^[28]
• Pueblo
  • Home of Heroes^[53]
  • Pride City^[53]
  • Steel City of the West (historical)^[53]
  • Little Chicago^[53]

S

• Severance – Where the geese fly and the bulls cry^[54]
• Steamboat Springs
  • Ski Town USA^[55]
  • The Boat^[56]
• Sterling – A Colorado treasure^[57]

T

• Tarryall – Grab-all (historical)^[58]
• Telluride – To-hell-you-ride (historical)^[59]

V

• Victor – City of Gold Mines^[60]

W

• Wheat Ridge – Carnation Capital of the World (historical)^[61]
• Woodland Park – The City Above The Clouds

See also

• Bibliography of Colorado
• Geography of Colorado
• History of Colorado
• Index of Colorado-related articles
• List of Colorado-related lists
• Outline of Colorado

External links

• Colorado state government website
• Colorado tourism website
• History Colorado website

38.9972°N -105.5478°W

Notes and References

1. Web site: Muench, David . Wisconsin Community Slogans: Their Use and Local Impacts . University of Wisconsin Extension . December 1993 . April 10, 2007 . https://web.archive.org/web/20130309175857/http://www.uwex.edu/ces/cced/economies/communityindicators/communityslogans.pdf . March 9, 2013.
2. Alfredo Andia, Branding the Generic City :), MU.DOT magazine, September 10, 2007
3. http://www.cityofalamosa.org/ City of Alamosa website
4. http://townofalma.com/wordpress/
5. http://arvada.org/about-arvada/arvada-fun-facts/ Fun Facts
6. http://www.aspenpitkin.com/Living-in-the-Valley/Green-Initiatives/Canary-Initiative/ Canary Initiative
7. https://www.auroragov.org/CityHall/ City Hall
8. http://www.ci.berthoud.co.us/ Garden Spot of Colorado
9. http://www.cityofblackhawk.org/ The City of Mills
10. http://tmatt.gospelcom.net/column/1995/09/06/ The People's Republic of Boulder
11. http://www.gobreck.com/thetown/historictimeline Historic Timeline
12. http://www.canoncity.org/ The Climate Capital of Colorado
13. http://www.carbondale.com/ The Ultimate Rocky Mountain Hideout
14. http://www.cedaredgecolorado.com/ The Southern Gateway to the Grand Mesa
15. http://www.legendsofamerica.com/CO-CentralCityGhost.html Central City, Colorado - The richest square mile on Earth
16. [Marshall Sprague]
17. http://www.chamberorchestraofthesprings.org/ The Chamber Orchestra of the Springs
18. http://www.creede.com/creede.htm It’s day all day in the day time, And there is no night in Creede.
19. http://www.crestedbutte-co.gov/index.asp?Type=B_LOC Colorado’s Last Great Ski Town
20. http://www.crestedbutte-co.gov/index.asp?Type=B_LOC The Wildflower Capital of Colorado
21. http://www.deertrailcolorado.org/ Home of the World's First Rodeo
22. http://www.epodunk.com/slogans/geography.html Claims to Fame - Geography
23. https://web.archive.org/web/20080216221351/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,737166,00.html Queen City
24. Book: Nicknames and sobriquets of U.S. cities, States, and counties . 3rd . Joseph Nathan . Kane . Gerard L. . Alexander Edition . Scarecrow Press . 1979 . 9780810812550 . 31 .
25. Web site: Take money and run with new stadium . Kiszla, Mark . . 2001-01-28 . 2008-03-21.
26. Gentry. Garland. Denver's Famous Street Lighting. Public Service. July 1908. V. 1. 4.
27. Web site: Denver Lives Up To 'Cow Town' Nickname With Stock Show Parade. CBS4 Denver. CBS. 15 January 2017.
28. http://www.epodunk.com/slogans/agriculture.html Claims to Fame - Agriculture
29. http://www.durangogov.org/ Durango Rocks!
30. http://www.edgewaterco.com/ The City of Choice
31. http://fairplayco.us/ The Real South Park
32. http://www.ftcollins.com/fastfacts/ Welcome to Fort Collins
33. http://www.ftcollins.com/visiting/?wwparam=1206114810 Visiting Fort Collins
34. http://fococafe.org/ FoCo Cafe
35. http://www.cityoffortmorgan.com City of Fort Morgan
36. http://www.fortmorgantimes.com/ci_28461323/how-fort-morgan-became-city-lights City of Lights
37. http://www.miketheheadlesschicken.org/ Mike the Headless Chicken
38. http://www.grand-junction.net/ Grand Junction Visitor & Convention Bureau
39. Web site: Grand Junction, CO . Forbes.com . March 29, 2014 . Grand Junction is located along the Colorado River, where it receives the Gunnison River from the south, giving the city its nickname River City.”.
40. http://www.greeleyhistory.org/pages/history.html History of Greeley, Colorado, for Kids
41. http://townofgardencity.com/history History
42. http://www.cityofgolden.net/ City of Golden official website
43. Carl Abbott (2008), How cities won the West: four centuries of urban change in western North America, UNM Press,, . Page 103.
44. http://www.limonchamber.com/ Limon - The Hub City of the Plains
45. https://web.archive.org/web/20160305044533/http://www.theprairiedogblog.com/longmont-hits-puberty/ "Longmont Hits Puberty"
46. https://www.capemaybrewery.com/blog/ties-the-room-together/ "Ties the Room Together"
47. Web site: Visiting . Loveland Chamber of Commerce & Visitor's Center . 17 April 2012 . 19 May 2012 . https://web.archive.org/web/20120519080344/http://www.loveland.org/Visiting/ . dead .
48. Web site: Send Your Valentine's Through the Sweetheart City . Loveland Chamber of Commerce & Visitor's Center . 17 April 2012 . 19 May 2012 . https://web.archive.org/web/20120519061906/http://www.loveland.org/ValentineProgram/ . dead .
49. Web site: About . Town of Lyons, Colorado . 22 February 2013 . https://web.archive.org/web/20130219005612/http://www.townoflyons.com/index.php/about-lyons . 19 February 2013 . dead . dmy-all .
50. http://www.frozendeadguy.com/ The Frozen Dead Guy
51. http://nedfest.org/ NedFest
52. http://www.ci.ouray.co.us/ City of Ouray
53. http://www.pueblo.us/cgi-bin/gt/tpl_page.html,template=1&content=742&nav1=1& About Pueblo
54. http://www.townofseverance.org/ Town of Severance
55. http://www.steamboat.com/ Steamboat Ski Resort
56. http://www.exploresteamboat.com/news/bestoftheboat/ Best of The Boat 2014 Winners
57. http://www.sterlingcolo.com/ Sterling, Colorado - A Colorado Treasure
58. http://www.americantowns.com/co/fairplay/organization/old_red_barn Old Red Barn
59. http://www.michaelrobinsonmusic.com/Telluride.htm To Hell You Ride
60. http://www.victorcolorado.com/ City of Victor official website
61. http://thecarnationfestival.com/wheat-ridge-carnation-festival-history/ Carnation Festival, History