Fort Lupton, Colorado

A Brief History of Fort Lupton

Fort Lupton’s name recalls Lancaster Lupton’s adobe trading post, established along the South Platte River in the 1830s. Known as Fort Lancaster, it traded with Cheyenne and Arapaho people and mountain men before the fur-trade economy declined. Later settlement followed the 1859 gold rush, irrigation development and railroad construction. In 1879, William G. Winbourn secured a railroad sidetrack through his property, and in 1881 he established a townsite about a mile south of the original fort. The community became an agricultural center supporting livestock, vegetable processing and other farm industries. The historic trading-post site and modern city represent distinct stages of this valley’s development.