Historic Preservation Survey Reports and Historic Context Reports

Historic and architectural surveys and historic contexts are the foundation for understanding the preserving a community's cultural and historic resources. Surveys inform a community about the historic resources it has and why they may be important. Boulder implemented a survey program in 1977 and has completed a total of 16 survey projects. 

Individual survey forms are available on the Carnegie Library for Local History's website.

Boulder Historic Resource Survey and Context Plan

Civic Area East Bookend Historic Survey (2018)

In 2018, the City of Boulder hired a consultant to survey thirteen non-designated properties that are over 50 years old in the Civic Area East Bookend. The majority of the properties were surveyed in the late 1990s; one was surveyed in 2000. The objective of this survey project was to document the non-designated buildings over 50 years old and provide an assessment of the eligibility of the buildings for local landmark designation to help inform the Civic Area East Bookend planning decisions. Visit the Civic Area East Bookend Project webpage for additional information. 

Summary Presentation of Survey Results

• 1300 Canyon Blvd.
• 1724 Broadway
• 1321 Arapahoe Ave.
• 1327 Arapahoe Ave.
• 1703 14th St.
• 1705 14th St.
• 1735-37 15th St.
• 1708 13th St.
• 1710 13th St.
• 1720 13th St.
• 1201 Arapahoe Ave.
• 1301 Arapahoe Ave.
• 1331 Arapahoe Ave.

Survey Reports

• Boulder Inventory of Historic Places (1977)
• Goss-Grove (1985-1986)
• Whittier, West Pearl and Downtown (1988)
• Whittier (1989)
• Highland Lawn and University Hill (1990)
• University Hill, Geneva Park, Grandview Terrace, Floral Park, 4th Street (1992)
• Northern Mapleton Hill (1993)
• Southern Mapleton, Mountain Park-Hayden, Dewey-Portland and Scattered (1994)
• University Hill Commercial (1994) and Uni Hill Commercial Resurvey (2008)
• Newlands and North Boulder (1995)
• Scattered Resources (1995)
• Central Area (1996)
• Mapleton Hill Accessory Building Survey (2004-2005)
• Modern Architectural Structures in Boulder 1947-1977 (2000)
• University Hill (1991) and University Hill Resurvey (2001)
• Post WWII Residential (2010)

Historic Context Reports 

• Foreign Born Immigrants in Boulder, Colorado 1859-1884 by Lysa Wegman-French (1990)
• The Grange Movement in Boulder County by Anne Dyni (1992)
• The Development of Boulder’s University Hill Neighborhood in Relation to Economic Factors by Merle Adams (1992)
• History of the Boulder County Poor Farm and Hospital by Anne Dyni (1992)
• Boulder County Burial Sites by Kay Lukoskie (1992)
• Frederick Law Olmsted, Jr.: Maker of Parks, Planner of Cities by Beverly Carrigan (1992)
• Boulder County, Colorado: Major Transportation Routes, Pre-1860 to 1920 by Lara Juliusson (1992)
• Northern Lights: Boulder’s Swedish Heritage by Cynthia Shaw McLaughlin (1993)
• Downtown Churches: Sacred Places by Marilee Dunn (1993)
• The Black Community in Boulder, Colorado by Dan Corson (1996)  
• Roads of the Mountains and Plains by Sylvia Pettem (1996)
• Tracking Down Boulder, Colorado’s Railroads by Sylvia Pettem (1996)  
• Use of Native Stone in Boulder Construction by Sylvia Pettem (1999)
• The Automobile Era in Boulder by Sylvia Pettem (1999)

Other Resources

• The Improvement of Boulder, Colorado by Frederick Law Olmsted (1910)
• Boulder-Dushanbe Teahouse Historic Context and Survey, prepared for the City of Boulder by Lara Ramsey and Kathryn Barth (2010)