Nederland, Colorado

Town of Nederland, Colorado
—  Town  —
Location in Boulder County and the state of Colorado
Coordinates: 39°57′43″N 105°30′38″W
Country	United States
State	State of Colorado
County	Boulder County
Incorporated (town)	November 15, 1885
Government
• Type	Statutory Town
• Mayor	Joe Gierlach
Area
• Total	1.6 sq mi (4.1 km2)
• Land	1.5 sq mi (4.0 km2)
• Water	0.1 sq mi (0.1 km2)
Elevation	8,228 ft (2,508 m)
Population (2006)
• Total	1,337 (city proper)
• Density	910.5/sq mi (339.3/km2)
Time zone	MST (UTC-7)
• Summer (DST)	MDT (UTC-6)
ZIP code	80466
Area code(s)	303
FIPS code	08-53175
GNIS feature ID	0204702
Website	Town of Nederland

The Town of Nederland is a Statutory Town established in 1885 and located near the Continental Divide and Barker Meadow Reservoir in the mountains of southwest Boulder County, Colorado.

Nederland started as a trading post between Ute Indians and European settlers during the 1850s. The town's first economic boom came when gold, silver, and tungsten ore were discovered near the rich mines of Caribou, in 1859 and near Eldora in 1875.

Today it is better known as a gateway to outdoor recreation in the nearby Indian Peaks Wilderness, Rocky Mountain National Park, Roosevelt National Forest, and the recently established James Peak Wilderness. Nederland is located 15 miles southwest of Boulder, CO, 38 miles south of Estes Park, CO and 50 miles northwest of Denver.

• 

  Nederland,CO - Barker Reservoir

Demographics

As of the census of 2006, there were 1,337 people, 610 households, and 355 families residing in the town. The population density was 909.5 people per square mile (351.8/km²). There were 675 housing units at an average density of 440.4 per square mile (170.3/km²). The racial makeup of the town was 97.06% White, 0.22% African American, 0.43% Native American, 0.43% Asian, 0.57% from other races, and 1.29% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.58% of the population.

The town of Nederland has a total area of 1.6 square miles (4.1 km²), of which, 1.5 square miles (3.9 km²) is land and 0.1 square miles (0.26 km²) (3.14%) is water.

There were 606 households, of which 27.6% had children under the age of 18, 43.9% were married couples living together, 7.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 44.7% were non-families. Of all households, 26.9% were made up of individuals and 2.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.30, and the average family size was 2.81. Median house or condo value in 2009 was $381,955.

In the town the population was spread out with 20.6% under the age of 18, 8.8% from 18 to 24, 46.6% from 25 to 44, 19.9% from 45 to 64, and 4.1% being 65 years of age or older. The median age was 33 years. For every 100 females there were 113.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over there were 112.5 males.

The median income for a household in the town was $50,588, and the median income for a family was $70,159. Males had a median income of $40,521 versus $36,417 for females. The per capita income for the town was $29,111. About 4.2% of families and 8.0% of the population were below the poverty line, including 7.7% of those under age 18 and 4.6% of those age 65 or over.

Geography and climate

Nederland is located at 39°57′43″N 105°30′38″W (39.961986, -105.510604).

Elevation - 8,234 feet (2,510 meters) above sea level.

Nederland, CO
Climate chart (explanation)
J F M A M J J A S O N D     14   35 10     14   38 13     25   42 17     27   49 23     15   58 29     3.5   69 37     2.4   75 43     2   73 41     6.9   65 34     10   55 25     21   43 18     17   37 13 Average max. and min. temperatures in °F Precipitation totals in inches Source: http://www.weatherbase.com/weather/weather.php3?s=878550&refer=&cityname=Nederland-Colorado-United-States-of-America
Metric conversion J F M A M J J A S O N D     351   2 -12     353   3 -11     640   5 -9     673   10 -5     378   14 -2     89   21 3     61   24 6     51   23 5     175   19 1     262   13 -4     533   6 -8     429   3 -11 Average max. and min. temperatures in °C Precipitation totals in mm

Name origin

In the mid-19th century the first homesteaders gave a variety of names for the area. The town was first called Dayton, then Browns Crossing, and then in 1871 when the US Postal Service set up an office the name was changed to Middle Boulder after the creek that flows though the center of town.

In 1873, the Caribou Mine, at an elevation of near 10,000 ft (3,048m) and 6 miles west of town, was sold to the Nederland Mining Company from the Netherlands, which decided it was beneficial to bring the gold ore from Caribou Hill down to the lower elevation and more welcoming climate of Middle Boulder for milling. Middle Boulder eventually acquired, based on casual nomenclature among the miners, the name Nederland, which means low lands in Dutch (and, more importantly, is the official name of The Netherlands in the Dutch language), due to the 2,000 foot elevation difference between the mine and the mill. In 1874 the town was incorporated and adopted Nederland as the official name.

Festivals

Nederland hosts several major events every year, including the diverse NedFest (aka The Nederland Music & Arts Festival), the historical Miners Day celebration, and Frozen Dead Guy Days all next to Barker Meadow Reservoir.

NedFest (aka The Nederland Music & Arts Festival) is Nederland's annual three-day outdoor music, microbrew and camping event. It is located on the shores of Barker Meadow Reservoir in Nederland, Colorado, just 17 miles west of (3,000 ft above) Boulder, Colorado. The music featured at NedFest is in the bluegrass, jazz, jamband and world-beat genres. The first NedFest happened in 1996 at Nederland's Chipeta Park. After a short hiatus it was resurrected in August 1999 at its current site, The Jeff Guercio Memorial Baseball Park, where it has been held ever since. Four to six bands headline each day with solo, duo or trio 'tweener' sets between each band. Artists who have performed at NedFest in the past include:

• Dr. John - New Orleans bluesman
• Steve Kimock - guitar player in Ratdog and other bands
• Sam Bush - mandolinist extrodinare from Newgrass Revival
• Charlie Hunter - plays a unique 8-string guitar/bass-hybrid
• Victor Wooten - bass player of the Bela Fleck & the Flecktones
• Stanley Jordan - jazz guitar legend and innovator of the touch-and-tap technique
• Yonder Mountain String Band - a bluegrass group that formed in Nederland in the late 1990s
• Keller Williams - one man band who loops and uses Stanley Jordan's touch-and-tap technique
• David Grisman - mandolin player who performed with Jerry Garcia in Old & In The Way
• Robert Walter's 20th Congress
• Most members of Leftover Salmon and The String Cheese Incident

A maximum 2,000 tickets are sold per day, and in addition to three full days of music, NedFest also features arts and crafts/merchandise booths, food/beverage booths, information booths and several service booths.

Nederland is also the site of the annual Frozen Dead Guy Days, which occurs every year in early March. The festival commemorates a substandard attempt to practice cryonics on the grandfather of a deported resident using dry ice after several days of warm ischemia..

Legalization of marijuana

On Tuesday, April 6, 2010, Nederland became the second town (after Breckenridge) in Colorado to legalize the sale, purchase, possession, consumption, and transportation, cultivation, manufacturing, dispensing of marijuana and its concentrates and related paraphernalia for persons 21 years of age, and older. Denver was the first city in Colorado to decriminalize marijuana in 2005 with Breckenridge approving decriminalization in 2009.

See also

• Caribou Ranch
• State of Colorado
  • Colorado cities and towns
    • Colorado municipalities
  • Colorado counties
    • Boulder County, Colorado
  • Colorado metropolitan areas
    • Boulder Metropolitan Statistical Area
    • Denver-Aurora-Boulder Combined Statistical Area
    • North Central Colorado Urban Area
    • Front Range Urban Corridor
• United States Forest Service
  • Roosevelt National Forest

External links

• Town of Nederland website
• Nederland Community Center
• Nederland Area Chamber of Commerce
• Nederland Area Recreation Information
• Nederland Community Library
• Nederland Middle/Senior High School
• Nederland Elementary School
• Colorado Wilderness Information
• Nederland Area Historical Society
• Golden Gate Canyon State Park
• Caribou Ranch Open Space
• Mud Lake Open Space
• Eldora Mountain Resort
• DOJO Memorial Uphill-Downhill Race
• Neder-Nederland 5K and 10K Run
• Indian Peaks Mountaineering
• Nathan Lazarus Skatepark
• NedRink - Nederland Ice and Racquet Park
• Nederland-Boulder RTD Bus Schedule
• The Mountain-Ear Newspaper
• Gilpin County News
• Nederland eco-cycle
• Nederland Weather