Located north of Denver, Lafayette, Colo. was founded in 1888 by Mary E. Miller who named the city after her husband, Lafayette Miller. The primary industry until about 1935 was coal mining. The old neighborhoods of town are extensively undermined, and very few above ground remnants of that heritage remain.
Today, Lafayette’s economic health is intertwined with startups and other high tech businesses in nearby Boulder (10 miles), Broomfield (7 miles) and Denver (25 miles). A large of number of Lafayette residents are employed at the University of Colorado in Boulder.
Interesting anecdotes about local history can be found at www.lafayettehistory.com.