Fort Collins: Old Town, New Belgium & Colorado History

Fort Collins Old Town occupies the original 1864 military post townsite — a 12-block pedestrian district with intact late-Victorian commercial architecture. The Avery House (1879, home of founder Franklin Avery) and the Carnegie Library (1904) are the architectural highlights. Mountain Avenue's Victorian residential strip between Old Town and the Colorado State University campus is lined with original 1880s-1900s homes. The city modeled its Old Town renovation program (begun 1984) on principles later adopted by dozens of other Colorado mountain-adjacent cities.

A 1940s-inspired cocktail lounge in Old Town's basement level — classic cocktails, a serious spirits program, and jazz on weekend evenings. The bar's aesthetic is deliberately mid-century; the drinks are genuinely well-made. A sophisticated alternative to the brewpub density of Fort Collins' bar scene.

Founded in 1991 by Jeff Lebesch and Kim Jordan in their basement, New Belgium pioneered employee ownership and sustainability practices in the US craft beer industry — the company became 100% employee-owned in 2012. The brewery tour covers the full production scale (the largest craft brewery in Colorado) including the wood-aging cellar where La Folie sour brown ale ages in French oak wine barrels for 1-3 years. The tasting room pours the full portfolio including seasonal and barrel-aged releases not available elsewhere. Tours book out; reserve online.