Timnath

Timnath was first homesteaded by settlers in 1869. The first schoolhouse was constructed that year, approximately one-half mile west of the current town, and was named "Fairview". By 1880, the community had outgrown the schoolhouse, and new "Fairview" school was built just north of the current town. The school also served as an early meeting place for the Presbyterian Church. The turning point in the early history of the community was in 1882, with the arrival of the Greeley, Salt Lake and Pacific Railroad (controlled by the Union Pacific) linking Greeley and Fort Collins. The following year, the Presbyterian Church, petitioned by local residents, sent a missionary to found a congregation. The current structure along Main Street dates from that year.

A post office was established in 1884, headed by Reverend Charles A. Taylor, the local Presbyterian minister. When the post office was formed, Taylor bestowed the current name of the town from the 14th chapter of the Book of Judges, as the place where Samson went to obtain a Philistine wife. In 1900 the second school became outdated and a new one was built, dropping the name "Fairview" permanently. This structure currently stands as an out-building to the current elementary school. A larger school was built in 1918 (which burned in 1935 and was rebuilt the following year). The school district was consolidated with that of Fort Collins in 1960.

During World War II, the Empire of Japan launched Fu-Go balloon bombs that floated across the Pacific to the U.S. One of these bombs dropped and exploded in a field in Timnath.

The surrounding farmlands have been used primarily for potatoes, alfalfa, sugar beets, and cattle. Although the town has remained virtually unchanged in recent decades, the encroaching growth of both Fort Collins to the west and Windsor to the south have placed the town in an area considered favorable to development. The population was 625 at the 2010 census. Timnath has been one of the fastest-growing communities in Colorado since 2010, and in 2018 had an estimated population of 3,992.

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Photo courtesy of the Town of Timnath