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Superior is a Home Rule Town in Boulder County, Colorado,
United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
, with a small, uninhabited segment of land area extending into Jefferson County. Superior is a suburban community with a population of 13,361 as of 2024. Located in Colorado's Front Range urban corridor, it is close to the cities of
Boulder In geology, a boulder (or rarely bowlder) is a rock fragment with size greater than in diameter. Smaller pieces are called cobbles and pebbles. While a boulder may be small enough to move or roll manually, others are extremely massive. In ...
,
Denver Denver ( ) is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Consolidated city and county, consolidated city and county, the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous city of the U.S. state of ...
, and the foothills of the
Front Range The Front Range is a mountain range of the Southern Rocky Mountains of North America located in the central portion of the U.S. State of Colorado, and southeastern portion of the U.S. State of Wyoming. It is the first mountain range encounter ...
mountains.


History


Geology

Superior is located in Colorado’s Front Range on the western side of the
Denver Basin The Denver Basin, variously referred to as the Julesburg Basin, Denver-Julesburg Basin (after Julesburg, Colorado), or the D-J Basin, is a geology, geologic structural basin centered in eastern Colorado in the United States, but extending into sou ...
and is a part of the
Laramie Formation The Laramie Formation is a geologic formation (geology), formation of the Late Cretaceous (Maastrichtian) age, named by Clarence King in 1876 for exposures in northeastern Colorado, in the United States.King, C. 1876. Report of the Geological Exp ...
. The formation is known for its deposits of bituminous and lignite
coal Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other Chemical element, elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen. Coal i ...
, which led to the area’s development as a
coal mining Coal mining is the process of resource extraction, extracting coal from the ground or from a mine. Coal is valued for its Energy value of coal, energy content and since the 1880s has been widely used to Electricity generation, generate electr ...
hub in the late 1800s. The area became known as the “Northern Field,” covering a 20-mile (32.19 km) radius from the city of Boulder, extending through the present-day counties of Adams, Boulder, Broomfield, Gilpin, Jefferson, Larimer and Weld.


Early Peoples  

The land was originally used by Native American people including the
Arapaho The Arapaho ( ; , ) are a Native American people historically living on the plains of Colorado and Wyoming. They were close allies of the Cheyenne tribe and loosely aligned with the Lakota and Dakota. By the 1850s, Arapaho bands formed t ...
and
Ute Ute or UTE may refer to: * Ute people, a Native American people of the Great Basin * Ute Indian Tribe of the Uintah and Ouray Reservation, Utah * Ute Mountain Ute Tribe, Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah * Southern Ute Indian Tribe of the Southern ...
. It was territory of the Southern Arapaho in February 1861, when
Colorado Territory The Territory of Colorado was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from February 28, 1861, until August 1, 1876, when it was admitted to the Union as the 38th State of Colorado. The territory was organized ...
and Boulder County were created and the tribe was forced to relocate as part of the Treaty of Fort Wise.


Modern History

From the perspective of the United States, the area was on the western edge of the
Kansas Territory The Territory of Kansas was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from May 30, 1854, until January 29, 1861, when the eastern portion of the territory was admitted to the United States, Union as the Slave and ...
when gold was discovered near Idaho Springs, spawning the Colorado Gold Rush of 1859. William C. and Emmaline Hake emigrated from their home in Platteville, Wisconsin as a part of the Colorado gold rush and settled along present-day Coal Creek in 1860. Coal was discovered on the Hake homestead in 1864 after heavy floods exposed a seam along the creek. Hake formalized his ownership of the land in 1870 under the
Homestead Acts The Homestead Acts were several laws in the United States by which an applicant could acquire ownership of government land or the public domain, typically called a homestead. In all, more than of public land, or nearly 10 percent of t ...
. He founded the Town of Superior in 1896, and it was formally incorporated in 1904. It was reportedly named after the “superior” quality of coal found in the area, a sub-bituminous grade rather than the lignite predominant in the Northern Field. In 1892, Hake contracted with James Hood to build the Industrial Coal Mine just south of Coal Creek and present-day Original Town Superior. The mine was fully operational by 1895. In 1900, the Hakes sold the Industrial Mine to Northern Coal and Coke Company, which was acquired by the Rocky Mountain Fuel Company, which owned the mine from 1911 until it closed in 1945.  Northern Coal and Coke and Rocky Mountain Fuel were among the six major coal operators in the Northern Field who signed the first union agreement with the
United Mine Workers The United Mine Workers of America (UMW or UMWA) is a North American Labor history of the United States, labor union best known for representing coal miners. Today, the Union also represents health care workers, truck drivers, manufacturing work ...
District 15 in June 1908. The success of the union movement was attributed in part to the self-sufficient socioeconomic base of the Northern Field, which remained largely agrarian even as the mines flourished. Mining was a winter employment and the majority of miners also held small landholdings, which they farmed in summer. Tw
local history museums
display artifacts from Superior's past. Recollections of members of pioneer families in Superior, including the Hakes and Autreys, are preserved as part of the Maria Rogers Oral History Program at the Carnegie Library for Local History in Boulder, Colorado. After the Industrial Mine closed in 1945, many residents moved out of the area and Superior evolved into a quiet ranching and farming community. The population hovered around 250 until the 1990s, whe
Rock Creek Ranch
Sagamore, and other subdivisions were built in the town and the population rose dramatically to 9,011 by 2000. More recently,
infill In urban planning, infill, or in-fill, is the rededication of land in an Urban area, urban environment, usually Urban open space, open-space, to new construction. Infill also applies, within an urban polity, to construction on any Greenfield land, ...
and th
Downtown Superior
mixed-use development have added additional businesses and residences.


Recent events

Marshall Fire On December 30, 2021, the Marshall Fire swept through southwestern Boulder County, destroying 1,084 structures in Louisville, Superior and unincorporated Boulder County. Of these, Superior lost 398 structures - 393 residential, four commercial and one public. In Original Town Superior, only seven of the historic homes survived. The Sagamore subdivision was totally lost. The Marshall Fire was the most destructive wildfire in Colorado history. It forced the evacuation of 37,000 residents, killed two persons and caused $2 billion in damages. It was attributed to downed power lines and a possible secondary source of a licensed burn. High winds and unseasonably dry conditions were contributing factors. Rocky Mountain Metropolitan Airport In 1960, the Rocky Mountain Metropolitan Airport ("RMMA") was opened on the northern edge of Jefferson County. At the time, the population of Superior was approximately 175 citizens. Since the first flight from RMMA, the airport has continued to experience annual growth. As a result of a perceived national pilot shortage, numerous flight schools have established their base of operations at the airport. This has led to conflict between Superior and RMMA. As a result, the Town of Superior has filed a lawsuit against the airport. Superior also ignored previous letters sent by Jefferson County, who is the airport sponsor, warning the town that the new developments of Rock Creek and schools were too close to the airport, and that these new homes would experience repeated noise events and vibrations. Home Rule On December 10, 2024, Superior held an election adopting a Home Rule Charter.


Geography

Superior is at (39.93119, −105.159085) with an elevation of . It is bordered by the city of
Louisville Louisville is the most populous city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, sixth-most populous city in the Southeast, and the 27th-most-populous city in the United States. By land area, it is the country's 24th-largest city; however, by populatio ...
to the northeast, the city of Broomfield to the east and south, Rocky Flats National Wildlife Refuge to the south, and Boulder Countybr>open space
to the west. U.S. Highway 36, also known as the Denver-Boulder Turnpike, runs along the northeast boundary of the town, and Colorado Route 128A runs along the south.
current land use map
of Superior is maintained by the Planning and Building Department. According to the
United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal statistical system, U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and American economy, econ ...
as of 2021, Superior has a total area of , of which is land and is water.


Climate

According to the
Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...
system, Superior has Dry, Semi-arid, cold climate (''BSk''). According to the
United States Department of Agriculture The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is an executive department of the United States federal government that aims to meet the needs of commercial farming and livestock food production, promotes agricultural trade and producti ...
, the Plant
Hardiness zone A hardiness zone is a geographic area defined as having a certain average annual minimum temperature, a factor relevant to the survival of many plants. In some systems other statistics are included in the calculations. The original and most widely ...
is 6a, with an average annual extreme minimum temperature of .


Amenities and Recreation

Superior has of parks and open space, which is about 31% of its total land area. This includes owned natural space, natural space under conservation easements, and developed open space. Recreational trails (on-road, hard, and soft) extend for . Recreational amenities include 13 playgrounds, 6 pickleball courts, 4 tennis courts, 3 multipurpose fields, 3 baseball/softball fields, 2 outdoor pools, 3 basketball courts, 2 sand volleyball courts, 1 dog park, 1 bike park, 1 skate park, and 1 disk golf course. Th
Superior Community Center
serves as a public venue for diverse uses.


Demographics

As of the 2023 American Community Survey, there were 13,136 people and 4,692 households in Superior. Additional demographic information is available from th
US Census profile of Superior
an
US Census Quick Facts about Superior
Data here are from the 2020 census and 2023
American Community Survey The American Community Survey (ACS) is an annual demographics survey program conducted by the United States Census Bureau. It regularly gathers information previously contained only in the long form of the United States census, decennial census ...
(ACS) 5-year estimates. Age distribution estimates from 2023 showed 5.3% of the population under age 5, 26.5% under age 18, 7.4% from 18 to 24, 29.6% from 25 to 44, 27.5% from 45 to 64, and 9.1% 65 or older. There were approximately 105 males per female, and the median age was 38.1 years. The racial makeup of the town, considering races alone or in combination with one or more other races, was 80.3%
White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...
, 19.4% Asian, 8.1%
Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...
or Latino, and 4.7% some other race, with less than 1% in any other category. A language other than English was spoken at home by 20.9% of the population. Family and household characteristics included 63.2% married-couple families, 17.6% family households with a male householder and no spouse present, and 14.1% family households with a female householder and no spouse present. The average household size was 2.80 and the average family size was 3.22. Housing characteristics estimates from the 2020 Census indicated the
population density Population density (in agriculture: Standing stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geog ...
was . Of the 5,025
housing unit A housing unit, or dwelling unit (at later mention, often abbreviated to ''unit''), is a structure or the part of a structure or the space that is used as a home, residence, or sleeping place by one person or more people who maintain a common hous ...
s reported in the 2020 Decennial Census, 61.7% were owner-occupied. The median value of owner-occupied housing units reported in the 2023 American Community Survey 5-year estimate was $795,500. The median gross rent for the same period was $2,355. Median income levels are high. The
median income The median income is the income amount that divides a population into two groups, half having an income above that amount, and half having an income below that amount. It may differ from the mean (or average) income. Both of these are ways of unde ...
for a household in 2023 (in 2023 inflation-adjusted dollars), according to 2023 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates, was $157,909 +/- $11,968, compared to $92,911 for Colorado. The median income for families was $168,636. The employment rate was 72.2%. About 2.9% of the population were living below the
poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line, or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for ...
, and 54.1% were without health care coverage. Educational levels are also high. Characteristics of residents 25 years and over in 2023 were that 98.8% were high school graduates or higher, 77.1% held a bachelor's degree or higher (which compares with 46.4% for Colorado), and 37.4% held a graduate or professional degree.


Businesses

Superior’s diverse businesses as of 2025 include national chain retailers such as Costco, Petsmart, Safeway, Target, TJ Maxx, Ulta, and Whole Foods, a Tesla service center, and diverse independent retailers, restaurants, service providers, and offices. As of 2025, development was underway on a mixed-use retail/residential development called Downtown Superior. Th
Superior Chamber of Commerce
supports businesses of all types.


Educational Institutions

Superior is part of the Boulder Valley School District (BVSD) and is home to two public schools
Superior Elementary
an
Eldorado PK-8
The home public high school is Monarch High School in neighboring Louisville. The school district's open enrollment policy also allows students to attend any other BVSD public school as long as space is available. Nearby institutions of higher education include the
University of Colorado at Boulder The University of Colorado Boulder (CU Boulder, CU, or Colorado) is a Public university, public research university in Boulder, Colorado, United States. Founded in 1876, five months before Colorado became a Federated state, state, it is the fla ...
,
Naropa University Naropa University is a private university in Boulder, Colorado, United States. Founded in 1974 by Tibetan Buddhist teacher Chögyam Trungpa, it is named after the 11th-century Indian Buddhist sage Naropa, an abbot of Nalanda. The university ...
in Boulder, and Front Range Community College campuses in Longmont and Westminster.


In popular culture

Sections of the 1985 movie '' American Flyers'' were filmed in Superior.


Notable people

*
Marcelo Balboa Marcelo Balboa (born August 8, 1967) is an American former professional soccer player who played as a defender in the 1990s for the United States national team, becoming its captain. He is a member of the National Soccer Hall of Fame. After r ...
– soccer star * Josh Sims – lacrosse player * Jay Moorman – CEO of Chesapeake Technology International


Sister city

Superior has a
sister city A sister city or a twin town relationship is a form of legal or social agreement between two geographically and politically distinct localities for the purpose of promoting cultural and commercial ties. While there are early examples of inte ...
, as designated by
Sister Cities International Sister Cities International (SCI) is a non-governmental organization (NGO) with the goal of facilitating partnerships between communities within the United States and other countries by establishing sister cities. Sister cities are agreements of ...
: * Khandbari,
Koshi Province Koshi Province () is an autonomous Provinces of Nepal, province of Nepal adopted by the Constitution of Nepal on 20 September 2015. It covers an area of , about 17.5% of the country's total area. With the industrial city of Biratnagar as its cap ...
, Nepal


See also

* Jefferson Parkway * Rocky Flats National Wildlife Refuge


References


External links


Town of SuperiorCDOT map of SuperiorHometown Weekly - Superior Edition
{{authority control Towns in Boulder County, Colorado Towns in Jefferson County, Colorado Towns in Colorado Denver metropolitan area