In Fort Collins, preservation isn’t a trend—it’s a tradition. All across the city, you’ll find pieces of the past still standing strong: public works, family homes, quiet gardens, and grand civic buildings that reflect the care of generations who chose to protect what mattered.
This isn’t a city that tears down and starts over at every opportunity. Instead, Fort Collins has built a reputation for stewardship of its architecture, history, and identity.
The Avery House (1879)
Located just a few blocks from downtown, the Avery House remains one of the most iconic homes in Fort Collins. Built in 1879 by Franklin Avery, a banker and civic leader who helped lay out the city’s original street grid, the house features elaborate Victorian detailing and original red sandstone.
The home is a striking example of the Queen Anne style, with an asymmetrical façade, a steeply pitched roof, patterned shingles, decorative woodwork, and a wraparound porch bordered by ornate spindlework. Today, it’s preserved and operated by the Poudre Landmarks Foundation, offering year-round tours and seasonal events. As a backdrop to weddings, community teas, and historical reenactments, the Avery House isn’t just admired—it’s experienced.
The 1883 Water Works
On the western edge of town, nestled beneath a line of cottonwoods, sits the 1883 Water Works—a red-brick pumphouse complex with green-trimmed windows, gently sloped gables, and original timber structures still intact. It’s a remarkable reminder of Fort Collins’ early infrastructure.
Originally designed to bring safe, reliable drinking water to a growing community, the complex includes the original pumphouse, flume, and early filtration systems. Lovingly restored and open for guided tours, the Water Works serves as a bridge between utility and beauty—a place where brick and timber speak to the ingenuity of 19th-century engineering.
The Carnegie Library Building (1904)
Constructed in 1904 with funding from Andrew Carnegie’s nationwide library initiative, the Fort Collins Carnegie Library is a graceful neoclassical structure with a symmetrical façade, white columns, and a triangular pediment crowning its entrance. Large arched windows line its exterior, and its dignified presence anchors the historic downtown district.
Today, this building now serves as part of the Fort Collins Museum of Discovery.
The Fort Collins Municipal Railway
Every spring and summer, you’ll hear it before you see it—the clear, nostalgic clang of Birney Car 21 rolling down Mountain Avenue. This beautifully restored 1919 streetcar is painted in deep forest green with polished brass railings, wooden bench seating, and exposed ceiling fans. It operates on original rails and is one of the last remaining Birney “Safety Cars” in the nation still in service.
Maintained by volunteers and operated by the Fort Collins Municipal Railway Society, this streetcar is more than a ride—it’s a window into the past that’s still alive, still moving.
Old Town Fort Collins Historic District
Built between 1877 and 1900, the heart of the city is Old Town. This nationally recognized historic district is home to over two dozen preserved buildings, many more than a century old. With cast-iron columns, pressed-tin ceilings, original painted signs, and intact brick storefronts, Old Town tells the story of western expansion, railroad commerce, and architectural elegance all in one walkable grid.
Ghost signs—faded painted advertisements from businesses of the past—still linger on upper floors and alley walls, quietly echoing the early days of commerce in Fort Collins. What’s remarkable isn’t just the age of the buildings—it’s that Fort Collins made the conscious decision to preserve them. In a postwar America increasingly driven by demolition and redevelopment, Fort Collins chose instead to protect its core.
Storytime: When Fort Collins Inspired the Magic
Harper Goff was born in Fort Collins, Colorado. He studied art in Los Angeles before making a name for himself in New York City as an illustrator and designer for Collier’s, Esquire, National Geographic, and the Army. During World War II, the Army hired him to develop camouflage paint for soldiers, followed by the Navy tasking him with the design of visual methods for disguising ships at sea.
After the war, Goff returned to Los Angeles and became a set designer for Warner Bros., producing visuals for films like Sergeant York, Charge of the Light Brigade, and Captain Blood.
In 1951, while browsing in a London model-making shop, Goff struck up a conversation with another train enthusiast who wanted to buy the same miniature locomotive—Walt Disney. That moment sparked a lifelong professional partnership, including Goff’s art direction of Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory as well as his role on Disney’s concept team for Mickey Mouse Park.
When it came time to design the entrance corridor for the park, Goff, then in his 40s, returned to Fort Collins and walked the same streets he’d known as a boy, photographing the buildings and architectural details that had imprinted themselves in his memory.
He brought those images back to Burbank. And so, the entry corridor of Disneyland—the iconic Main Street, U.S.A.—was built in the image of Fort Collins. In other words, Walt himself wanted the first impression of Disneyland to look and feel like Fort Collins.
At Red Rock Roofing, we believe places like these deserve to be protected—structures with stories, neighborhoods with roots, and towns that understand the value of preservation. We’re proud to serve Fort Collins and its residents, whether you’re living in a 19th-century brick classic or a home built just last year.
Some things are worth holding on to—and we’re here to help protect what matters one roof at a time.
