Gilcrest, CO

Gilcrest is a Weld County statutory town on the U.S. 85 corridor between Greeley and Denver. At the 2020 census, Gilcrest had 1,029 residents. The town grew out of Nantes, a Union Pacific settlement that was failing when Iowa lumberman W. K. Gilcrest bought much of the property in 1907. He renamed it for his father, Jacob K. Gilcrest. The early layout put a park and tree-lined streets beside the railroad; within a couple of years, a dozen businesses served the surrounding community.

ATTRErie Bard / CC BY-SA 4.0

Gilcrest’s working identity came through agriculture and freight. From 1913 to 1977, the Greeley Great Western Sugar Factory operated a beet dump at the railroad station, and town history still pairs Highway 85 with that rail line. Paving in 1924 made it easier to move farm produce toward larger markets. Today the town handles municipal business through its town hall and board of trustees, while residents look to Greeley, Fort Collins, and Denver for some jobs and larger services. It is a small plains town whose street grid still shows the railroad and beet economy underneath the current commute.