Frederick, Colorado

Frederick, Colorado: A view of the Rockies with some room to grow
Originally published March 27, 2011

Frederick, Colo., is a former coal mining town. Singer and actress Rosemary Clooney used to visit on a regular basis.It’s about 29 miles north of Denver and has become a commuter town, with most of its residents working in the Denver area.

It has also grown tremendously, going from 2,467 people in 2000 to 8,247 in 2009. It’s estimated that the town will have 80,000 people by 2030.

“It seems like people found this community and everyone that comes here loves it,” said Liberta Hattel, who, along with her husband, Mike, was born in Frederick, Colo., and has lived there for more than 70 years.

“I just think that people want to live and raise their children in a smaller community” said Megan Barber, community relation specialist for the town.

Frederick Mayor Eric Doering said over the last 10 years it’s become one of the fastest-growing communities in Colorado.

“Location, location, location,” he said when asked why the community was growing so fast. It’s located near three interstates — I-25, I-70 and I-76. “We are now to the point where we are part of the Denver metropolitan area.”

In 1997, Rosemary Clooney married Dante DiPaolo, Liberta Hattel’s cousin. DiPaolo was a dancer and longtime friend of Clooney’s in California.

The singer came to Frederick numerous times with DiPaolo before she died in 2002.

Frederick is one of three towns in Weld County that make up the Carbon Valley or Tri-Town area. The other two towns are Firestone and Dacono.

Frederick was incorporated in 1907 and was named for Frederick Clark, who owned the land on which the town was built.

It was originally a coal mining area and many of the shafts still exist beneath Frederick.

Mike Hattel said, at one time, there were at least 10 mines in the area. The last one closed in the early 1970s.

The town has changed a lot over the years.

“We used to have a lot of stores downtown,” he said. Many are now gone, including the grocery store. Frederick residents now travel to Firestone or nearby Longmont for groceries.

There are several Italian restaurants, reflecting the town’s Italian heritage.

“Lots of Italians came here and worked the mines,” said Doering, who has been mayor since 2004. “Our Italian roots are very deep.”

“We really don’t have a lot of retail shops,” Barber said. “Most people go to Denver or Boulder,” 18 miles from Frederick.

What the town does have is a lot of parks, 11 of them. Most Frederick residents live within a quarter mile of a park, Barber said.

The biggest is the James Crist Park. It features a wall listing the names of the 450 people who worked in the mines.

To celebrate its mining history, the town has a statue of a miner coming home, with a little boy trying to get in his lunch pail. The statue is part of the town’s Arts in Public Places Program.

Recreation is big in the area. There is a golf course, Lake Milavec for fishing, a recreation center, softball and baseball fields, a pool and many trails for hiking.

But it is not a ski area. The closest ski resort is 42 miles away in Eldora.

“We are close enough to the mountains to see some great views,” Barber said. “But we can also see the plains. We get both extremes.”

One of the best times to visit Frederick is the third week in September, when the Miners Memorial Day Celebration is held. The event, which first took place in 2003, includes everything from a parade to a hot-air balloon rally to equestrian groups.

“We draw crowds of 3,000 to 5,000 people to celebrate the mining heritage,” Barber said. “They come from all over.” The mining museum is located in Town Hall.

The area high school is located in Frederick and has 830 students.

“We lost our high school for many years,” Liberta Hattel said. “They closed it down in 1962 and consolidated it with Longmont. Then in 1979 we got our high school back.”

A $34 million high school is being built and it will be the largest in the district.

Sports are big in the area. Almost everyone is a Denver Broncos fan.

“The Broncos rule here,” Barber said.

High school sports are popular. The Frederick Warriors boys basketball team and two wrestlers went to the state tournament this year. Girls softball and football are also big in the area.

The largest employer in the area is the St. Vrain Valley School District, with 350 employees. Second is Complete Production Services, with 205 employees.

Most people live in single-family homes in the city, which is 13 square miles.

“I’m not surprised at the growth of the area,” said Doering, who came to Frederick 35 years ago. “We had about 1,000 to 1,500 people the first nine years I was here. But the last 10 years it has really taken off.”