The Town of Nunn, Colorado in North Central Colorado

Nunn, Colorado is a flourishing, farm-based community in north central Colorado, east of the Continental Divide. We're an easy 20-mile commute from Fort Collins and Greeley, 80 miles north of Denver, 30 miles south of Cheyenne, Wyoming, and just a stone's throw from the Pawnee National Grasslands in northern Colorado.

Agriculture is the primary economic force in Nunn and the surrounding communities. In the early days wheat was the main crop; today much of the land is divided between wheat production and the federal Conservation Reserve Program (CRP). The CRP protects our most fragile farmland by assisting owners in conserving and improving the soil, water, and wildlife resources by converting highly erodible or environmentally sensitive acreage to long term approved cover.

Nunn, Colorado is home to 470 residents. The Town supports several businesses and the rural area continues to fill in with new home construction. The Northern Drylanders Museum, located in Nunn, is well known for its exhibits depicting Nunn's history, including displays of the trappers, explorers and cowboys who played a large part in establishing trade routes through this area of the Colorado territory.

Railroads and Nunn, Colorado are so closely linked that you cannot talk about one without mentioning the other.

[above] The WATCH NUNN GROW water tower
replaced the town pump on Main Street in 1921

In the mid-1850's, when the Union Pacific railroad decided to go through Wyoming instead of through Colorado, many people moved from the territory; Denver itself was shrinking. Former Governor John Evans rescued the Colorado Territory by promoting a connecting railroad from Denver to Cheyenne, Wyoming. The new railroad, the Denver Pacific, received no federal bond subsidy as had the Union Pacific, but Congress provided a generous land grant to encourage investment. Grading began in 1868, and the railroad was completed in June, 1870.

Denver Pacific agents encouraged settlers to purchase land on the company's grant which resulted in the settlement which is now the Town of Nunn.

The railroad also played a significant part in the origin of the town's name. As the story goes, an early resident flagged down a locomotive pulling a passenger train as it steamed towards the catastrophe of a burning railroad bridge. The alert settler's name was Tom Nunn. In appreciation, the railroad allotted a square mile of ground for settlement and named the Town after him. The Nunn depot was built in the summer of 1908 following the town's incorporation that spring.

NORTHERN DRYLANDERS MUSEUM · NUNN VOLUNTEER FIRE DEPARTMENT · BUSINESS DIRECTORY · HOMEPAGE & HISTORY