Fort Collins, Larimer Co., Colorado
By the early 1900s Volga Germans from the Russian colonies Frank, Dietel, Dreispitz, Erlenbach, Kautz, Merkel, Oberdorf, Pobochnaya, Rosenberg, Shcherbakovka, and Walter settled in Fort Collins. With the constrution of a sugar refinery, Fort Collins became another Northern Colorado link between the sugarbeet industry and Volga Germans. In Fort Collins, the Volga German neighborhood was called Saratow.
The Board of Home Missions of the German Evangelical Church Assembly of German Congregationalists established an academy in Fort Collins in 1914 to train ministers. However, after two or three years, the academy closed.
American Lutheran Church
Bethlehem Lutheran Church
Christ Congregational Church
German Congregational Church
Immanuel Christian Reformed Church
Plymouth Congregational Church
Shepherd of the Hills Lutheran Church
Trinity Lutheran Church
The following Volga German families settled in and around Fort Collins:
Blehm from Kratzke
Boxberger from Kratzke
Deines from Kratzke
Dietz from Kratzke
Eckas (Ickes) from Kutter
Fabrizius from Kratzke
Helzer from Norka
Hergert from Erlenbach
Hohnstein from Norka
Kammerzell from Frank
Lesser from Frank
Traudt from Norka
Waag from Grimm
Winter from Wiesenfeld
- Sallet, Richard. Russian-German Settlement in the United States (Fargo, ND: North Dakota Institute for Regional Studies, 1974): 50.
- Thomas, Adam. "Work Renders Life Sweet." Fort Collins Advance Planning Department, August 2003.
- Tripp, Harley. History of the RMC. [online]
- USA Settlement List (Patricia Miller)
Fort Collins, Colorado (Wikipedia)
Pre-Volga Origin
Great Western Sugar Beet Factory in Fort Collins, Colorado.
Source: CSU Libraries Archives & Special Collections.