Lafayette, Colorado

A Brief History of Lafayette

Lafayette began as a coal town founded by Mary Miller in 1888 on land from her farm. She named the community for her late husband, Lafayette Miller. Mines brought workers and families to the new settlement, shaping its streets, housing and commercial life. Miller also helped build local institutions: she organized the Miller Bank in 1892, and it became Lafayette Bank in 1902. The bank closed in 1914 after heavy lending to the United Mine Workers. Her influence extended to the Congregational Church, built in 1892 and later adapted as the Mary Miller Theater, a surviving link to the city’s early community life.