Stout is a former town in southern

Larimer County Larimer County is a county located in the U.S. state of Colorado. As of the 2020 census, the population was 359,066. The county seat and most populous city is Fort Collins. The county was named for William Larimer, Jr., the founder of Denver. ...

, Colorado in the United States. The town was located in foothills southwest of Fort Collins, just west of the Dakota Hogback. It was established in the 1860s as a camp for workers at the nearby stone quarries in the area. The Union Pacific Railroad invested in quarrying operation in the valley around the town, and at one time

Colorado and Southern Railway The Colorado and Southern Railway was an American Class I railroad in the western United States that operated independently from 1898 to 1908, then as part of the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad until it was absorbed into the Burli ...

built a spur of their rail line from Fort Collins up to the town in order to transport stone for its own use. During its time of operation, Stout was also as a spot for the residents of the nearby town of Fort Collins to buy libations. Fort Collins had a 70 year old prohibition, preventing them from acquiring alcohol in their own. Due to transportation routes made for the stone quarry, it was easy for residents of Fort Collins to travel to Stout. These trips would end in excessive drunkenness, causing outrage from Fort Collins and Stout city officials, who worried about drunk drivers being a danger on the roads. The town was abandoned in 1949 to make way for the inundation of the valley by

Horsetooth Reservoir Horsetooth Reservoir (often known locally as Horsetooth) is a large reservoir in southern Larimer County, Colorado, in the foothills just west of the city of Fort Collins, Colorado. The reservoir runs north-south for approximately 6.5 miles (1 ...

as part of the Colorado-Big Thompson Project. Some of the former town site is located under the southern end of the reservoir. In recent decades, a small community has developed around the south edge of the reservoir, locally known as "South Bay". A sign at the southern end of the reservoir somewhat whimsically proclaims the area as "Stout, population 47-1/2", although the designation is not official it is used by most residents of Fort Collins.

References

Ghost towns in Colorado Former populated places in Larimer County, Colorado {{US-ghost-town-stub