1.
San Jose, California
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San Jose, officially the City of San José, is the economic, cultural, and political center of Silicon Valley and the largest city in Northern California. With an estimated 2015 population of 1,026,908, it is the third most populous city in California and the tenth most populous in United States. Located in the center of the Santa Clara Valley, on the shore of San Francisco Bay. San Jose is the county seat of Santa Clara County, the most affluent county in California. San Jose is the largest city in both the San Francisco Bay Area and the San Jose-San Francisco-Oakland Combined Statistical Area, which contain 7.7 million and 8.7 million people respectively. Before the arrival of the Spanish, the area around San Jose was inhabited by the Ohlone people, San Jose was founded on November 29,1777, as the Pueblo of San José de Guadalupe, the first civilian town founded in Spanish Alta California. When California gained statehood in 1850, San Jose became the states first capital, following World War II, San Jose experienced an economic boom, with a rapid population growth and aggressive annexation of nearby cities and communities carried out in the 1950s and 60s. The rapid growth of the high-technology and electronics industries further accelerated the transition from a center to an urbanized metropolitan area. Results of the 1990 U. S. Census indicated that San Jose had officially surpassed San Francisco as the most populous city in Northern California, by the 1990s, San Jose and the rest of Silicon Valley had become the global center for the high tech and internet industries. San Jose is considered to be a city, notable for its affluence. San Joses location within the high tech industry, as a cultural, political. San Jose is one of the wealthiest major cities in the United States and the world, and has the third highest GDP per capita in the world, according to the Brookings Institute. Major global tech companies including Cisco Systems, eBay, Adobe Systems, PayPal, Brocade, Samsung, Acer, Prior to European settlement, the area was inhabited by several groups of Ohlone Native Americans. The first lasting European presence began with a series of Franciscan missions established from 1769 by Junípero Serra, San Jose came under Mexican rule in 1821 after Mexico broke with the Spanish crown. It then became part of the United States, after it capitulated in 1846, on March 27,1850, San Jose became the second incorporated city in the state, with Josiah Belden its first mayor. San Jose was Californias first state capital, and hosted the first, today the Circle of Palms Plaza in downtown is the historical marker for the first state capital. The city was a station on the Butterfield Overland Mail route, in the period 1900 through 1910, San Jose served as a center for pioneering invention, innovation, and impact in both lighter-than-air and heavier-than-air flight. These activities were led principally by John Montgomery and his peers, the City of San Jose has established Montgomery Park, a Monument at San Felipe and Yerba Buena Roads, and John J. Montgomery Elementary School in his honor
2.
San Jose State University
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San José State University is a comprehensive public university located in San Jose, California, United States. Located in downtown San Jose, the SJSU main campus is situated on 154 acres, SJSU offers 134 bachelors and masters degrees with 110 concentrations and five credential programs with 19 concentrations. The university also offers two joint doctoral programs and one independent doctoral program as of 2014. SJSU is accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges, SJSUs total enrollment was 32,154 in fall 2016, including nearly 5,800 graduate students. As of fall 2015, graduate student enrollment at SJSU was the second-highest of any campus in the CSU system, as of fall 2014, the top five most popular undergraduate majors at SJSU were psychology, accounting, marketing, business management, and biological sciences. As of fall 2014, the top five most popular programs were software engineering, electrical engineering, library and information sciences, social work. More San José State University alumni are hired by Silicon Valley firms than graduates of any college or university. SJSU sports teams are known as the Spartans, and compete in the NCAA Division I FBS Mountain West Conference, what is now San José State University was originally established in 1857 as the Minns Evening Normal School in San Francisco, founded by George W. Minns. In 1862, by act of the California legislature, Minns Evening Normal School became the California State Normal School, the school eventually moved to San Jose in 1871, and was given Washington Square Park at Fourth and San Carlos Streets, where the campus remains to this day. In 1881, a bell was forged to commemorate the school. The bell was inscribed with the words California State Normal School, A. D.1881, the original bell appears on the SJSU campus to this day, and is still associated with various student traditions and rituals. In August 1882, a branch campus of the California State Normal School opened in Los Angeles. In 1921, the California State Normal School changed its name to the State Teachers College at San Jose, in 1935, the State Teachers Colleges became the California State Colleges, and the schools name was changed again, this time to San Jose State College. Finally, in 1974, the California legislature voted to change the name to San José State University. In 1930, the Justice Studies Department was founded as a two-year police science degree program and it holds the distinction of offering the first policing degree in the United States. A stone monument and plaque are displayed close to the site of the police school near Tower Hall. In 1942, the old gym was used to register and collect Japanese Americans before sending them to internment camps, coincidentally, Uchidas parents and siblings were among those processed in the building. In 1963, in an effort to save Tower Hall from demolition, SJSU students and alumni organized testimonials before the State College Board of Trustees, sent telegrams, and provided signed petitions
3.
San Jose State Spartans
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The San Jose State Spartans are the athletic teams that represent San José State University. SJSU sports teams compete in the Mountain West Conference at the NCAA Division I FBS level, the university has participated in athletics since it first fielded a baseball team in 1890. San José State University sports teams have won NCAA national titles in track and field, cross country, golf, boxing, fencing, as of July 2014, SJSU has won 10 NCAA national Division 1 team championships and produced 50 NCAA national Division 1 individual champions. SJSU also has achieved a reputation for its judo program. SJSU alumni have won 19 Olympic medals dating back to the first gold won by Willie Steele in track. Alumni also have won medals in swimming, judo and boxing, the track team coached by Bud Winter earned San Jose the nickname Speed City, and produced Olympic medalists and social activists Lee Evans, John Carlos and Tommie Smith. Smith and Carlos are perhaps best remembered for giving the raised fist salute from the podium during the 1968 Summer Olympic Games in Mexico City. San José State University sponsors teams in seven mens and thirteen womens NCAA sanctioned sports, # = Gymnastics and womens water polo team compete in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation. ## = The mens water polo team competes in the Golden Coast Conference * = Beach volleyball is a fully sanctioned NCAA sport which had its first national championship in the spring of 2016, San Jose State is currently an independent. Due to the original designation as a teachers college, SJSUs mascot changed many times before the school finally adopted the Spartans as the official mascot. Mascots and nicknames prior to 1922 included the Daniels, the Teachers, the Pedagogues, the Normals, the schools current mascot is Sammy the Spartan or Sammy Spartan for short. After 1887, the name of the San Jose campus was the State Normal School at San Jose. Despite the SNS identity, the continued to be referred to as the California State Normal School. A recent historical exhibit in the Martin Luther King Library on the San José State campus featured a number of pieces of State Normal School memorabilia, including a SNS pennant. San Jose State shares rivalries with fellow Mountain West members, Fresno State, San Diego State and Hawaii, as well as Stanford due to its close proximity, in all sports. With its shared history, CSU affiliate Fresno State University is SJSUs biggest rival, Athletic programs challenge for local turf, especially in SJSU vs SCU basketball and baseball games. The Event Center, Aquatic Center, and the Spartan Complex are the sports facilities on the main campus for athletes.5 mi south of the main campus. A north end zone building addition for CEFCU Stadium is currently in the planning stages, the estimated cost of the project is $40 million
4.
San Jose Earthquakes
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The San Jose Earthquakes is an American professional soccer team based in San Jose, California, United States, that competes as a member of the Western Conference of Major League Soccer. The franchise began play in 1996, as one of the clubs of the league. The Earthquakes took part in the first game in MLS history, the Earthquakes have won two MLS Cup titles, in 2001 and 2003, and two Supporters Shields in 2005 and 2012. In 2002, the played in its first CONCACAF Champions Cup. The team holds a rivalry with the LA Galaxy known as the California Clásico. In 2005, the owner of the Earthquakes, Anschutz Entertainment Group. The organization in Houston would be considered a team by the league, eventually being known as the Houston Dynamo. The Earthquakes returned after a hiatus, resuming play in 2008. Their head coach is Dominic Kinnear, who coached the team from 2004 to 2005. The Earthquakes play their games at Avaya Stadium beginning in 2015. The team previously played its games at Buck Shaw Stadium on the Santa Clara University campus in Santa Clara. The franchises roots trace back to 1974, when the North American Soccer League awarded a franchise to San Jose. The name Earthquakes originally came from a newspaper contest in the San Jose Mercury News, Earthquakes was chosen by the teams general manager Dick Berg, but was criticized due to San Joses proximity to the San Andreas Fault. The NASL folded after the 1984 season and the Earthquakes played in the Western Soccer League from 1985–88, in 1988, Bridgwater sold the team. When the team folded later that year, the WSL awarded a franchise to Dan Van Voorhis, Van Voorhis named his new team the Blackhawks, after a real estate development of his. The San Francisco Bay Blackhawks entered the WSL for the 1989 season, in 1991, Van Voorhis hired a former Earthquakes player, Laurie Calloway, as coach. Calloway coached a full of players who would later play for San Jose in MLS, including John Doyle, Troy Dayak, Paul Bravo. In a preview of what was to later in MLS
5.
Major League Soccer
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Major League Soccer is a mens professional soccer league, sanctioned by U. S. Soccer, that represents the sports highest level in both the United States and Canada. MLS constitutes one of the professional sports leagues of the United States. The league comprises 22 teams—19 in the U. S. and 3 in Canada, the MLS regular season runs from March to October, with each team playing 34 games, the team with the best record is awarded the Supporters Shield. The postseason includes twelve teams competing in the MLS Cup Playoffs through November and December, culminating in the championship game, MLS teams also play in other domestic competitions against teams from other divisions in the U. S. Open Cup and in the Canadian Championship. MLS teams also compete against continental rivals in the CONCACAF Champions League, Major League Soccer was founded in 1993 as part of the United States successful bid to host the 1994 FIFA World Cup. The first season took place in 1996 with ten teams, MLS experienced financial and operational struggles in its first few years, The league lost millions of dollars, teams played in mostly empty American football stadiums, and two teams folded in 2002. Instead of operating as an association of independently owned teams, MLS is an entity in which each team is owned and controlled by the leagues investors. The investor-operators control their teams as owners control teams in other leagues, MLS headquarters is located in New York City. Major League Soccers regular season runs from March to October, teams are divided into the Eastern and Western Conferences. Teams play 34 games in a schedule,23 matches against teams within their conference. Midway through the season, teams break for the annual All-Star Game, at the end of the regular season, the team with the highest point total is awarded the Supporters Shield. While MLS has looked into changing to a format, there are no current plans to do so. If the league were to change its schedule, a break would be needed, especially with several teams in colder climates. It would also have to compete with the more popular National Football League, National Hockey League, MLS teams also play in other competitions. Every year, up to five MLS teams play in the CONCACAF Champions League against other clubs from the CONCACAF region, two U. S. -based MLS teams qualify based on MLS regular-season results, the winner of the Western conference and the winner of the Eastern conference. The third U. S. team to qualify is the winner of the MLS Cup. A fourth U. S. -based MLS team can qualify via the U. S. Open Cup, Canadian MLS clubs play against lower division Canadian clubs in the Canadian Championship for the one Champions League spot allocated to Canada. MLSs 22 teams are divided between the Eastern and Western Conferences, each club is allowed up to 28 players on its first team roster
6.
Sequoia sempervirens
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Sequoia sempervirens /sᵻˈkɔɪ. ə sɛmpərˈvaɪrənz/ is the sole living species of the genus Sequoia in the cypress family Cupressaceae. Common names include coast redwood, coastal redwood and California redwood and it is an evergreen, long-lived, monoecious tree living 1, 200–1,800 years or more. This species includes the tallest living trees on Earth, reaching up to 379 feet in height and these trees are also among the oldest living things on Earth. The name sequoia sometimes refers to the subfamily Sequoioideae, which includes S. sempervirens along with Sequoiadendron, here, the term redwood on its own refers to the species covered in this article, and not to the other two species. Scottish botanist David Don described the redwood as the evergreen taxodium in his colleague Aylmer Bourke Lamberts 1824 work A description of the genus Pinus, austrian botanist Stephan Endlicher erected the genus Sequoia in his 1847 work Synopsis coniferarum, giving the redwood its current binomial name of Sequoia sempervirens. The redwood is one of three living species, each in its own genus, in the subfamily Sequoioideae, molecular studies have shown the three to be each others closest relatives, generally with the redwood and giant sequoia as each others closest relatives. However, Yang and colleagues in 2010 queried the polyploid state of the redwood, further analysis strongly supported the hypothesis that Sequoia was the result of a hybridization event involving Metasequoia and Sequoiadendron. Thus, Yang and colleagues hypothesize that the inconsistent relationships among Metasequoia, Sequoia, the coast redwood can reach 115 m tall with a trunk diameter of 9 m. It has a crown, with horizontal to slightly drooping branches. The bark can be thick, up to 1-foot, and quite soft and fibrous, with a bright red-brown color when freshly exposed. The root system is composed of shallow, wide-spreading lateral roots, the leaves are variable, being 15–25 mm long and flat on young trees and shaded shoots in the lower crown of old trees. On the other hand, they are scale-like, 5–10 mm long on shoots in full sun in the crown of older trees. They are dark green above and have two blue-white stomatal bands below, leaf arrangement is spiral, but the larger shade leaves are twisted at the base to lie in a flat plane for maximum light capture. The species is monoecious, with pollen and seed cones on the same plant, the seed cones are ovoid, 15–32 millimetres long, with 15–25 spirally arranged scales, pollination is in late winter with maturation about 8–9 months after. Each cone scale bears three to seven seeds, each seed 3–4 millimetres long and 0.5 millimetres broad, the seeds are released when the cone scales dry out and open at maturity. The pollen cones are ovular and 4–6 millimetres long and its genetic makeup is unusual among conifers, being a hexaploid and possibly allopolyploid. Both the mitochondrial and chloroplast genomes of the redwood are paternally inherited, the prevailing elevation range is 98–2,460 ft above sea level, occasionally down to 0 and up to 3,000 ft. They usually grow in the mountains where precipitation from the incoming moisture off the ocean is greater, the tallest and oldest trees are found in deep valleys and gullies, where year-round streams can flow, and fog drip is regular
7.
Western United States
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The Western United States, commonly referred to as the American West, the Far West, or simply the West, traditionally refers to the region comprising the westernmost states of the United States. Because European settlement in the U. S. expanded westward after its founding, prior to about 1800, the crest of the Appalachian Mountains was seen as the western frontier. Since then, the frontier moved westward and eventually lands west of the Mississippi River came to be referred to as the West. The West contains several major biomes, the Western U. S. is the largest region of the country, covering more than half the land area of the United States. Given this expansive and diverse geography it is no wonder the region is difficult to specifically define, a majority of the historian respondents placed the eastern boundary of the West east of the Census definition out on the eastern edge of the Great Plains or on the Mississippi River. The survey respondents as a whole showed just how little agreement there was on the boundaries of the West, within a region as large and diverse as the Western United States, smaller areas with more closely shared demographics and geography have developed as subregions. Meanwhile, the states of Idaho, Montana, Oregon and Washington can be considered part of the Northwest or Pacific Northwest, West Texas in the Chihuahuan Desert may be considered as part of the Western U. S. Fort Worth has long laid claim to be Where the West Begins, the West is still one of the most sparsely settled areas in the United States with 49.5 inhabitants per square mile. Only Texas with 78.0 inhabitants/sq mi, Washington with 86.0 inhabitants/sq mi. and California with 213.4 inhabitants/sq mi. exceed the national average of 77.98 inhabitants/sq mi. The entire Western region has also strongly influenced by European, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Native Americans. African and European Americans, however, continue to wield a stronger political influence because of the rates of citizenship and voting among Asians. The West also contains much of the Native American population in the U. S. particularly in the reservations in the Mountain. The Western United States has a sex ratio than any other region in the United States. Because the tide of development had not yet reached most of the West when conservation became an issue, agencies of the federal government own. National parks are reserved for activities such as fishing, camping, hiking, and boating, but other government lands also allow commercial activities like ranching, logging. The largest city in the region is Los Angeles, located on the West Coast, Other West Coast cities include San Diego, San Bernardino, San Jose, San Francisco, Oakland, Bakersfield, Sacramento, Seattle, Tacoma, and Portland. Prominent cities in the Mountain States include Denver, Colorado Springs, Phoenix, Tucson, Albuquerque, Las Vegas, Salt Lake City, Boise, El Paso, and Cheyenne. Along the Pacific Ocean coast lie the Coast Ranges, which and they collect a large part of the airborne moisture moving in from the ocean
8.
High school football
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High school football is gridiron football played by high school teams in the United States and Canada. It ranks among the most popular sports in both countries. It is also popular amongst American High school teams in Europe, High school football began in the late 19th century, concurrent with the start of many college football programs. In the late 19th and early 20th century, many college, other traditions of high school football such as pep rallies, marching bands, mascots, and homecomings are mirrored from college football. No true minor league farm organizations exist in American football, therefore, high school football is generally considered to be the third tier of American football in the United States, behind professional and college competition. The National Federation of State High School Associations establishes the rules of high school football in the United States, two states, Texas and Massachusetts, use NCAA playing rules except as shown below. Kickoffs take place at the kicking teams 40-yard line, as opposed to the 35 in college, if an attempted field goal is missed it is treated as a punt, normally it would be a touchback and the opposing team will start at the 20-yard line. However, if it not enter the end zone, it can be downed or returned as a normal punt. Any kick crossing the line is automatically a touchback, kicks cannot be returned out of the end zone. Pass interference by the results in a 15-yard penalty. Pass interference by the results in a 15-yard penalty, from the previous spot. The defense cannot return an extra-point attempt for a score, any defensive player that encroaches the neutral zone, regardless of whether the ball was snapped or not, commits a dead ball foul for encroachment. 5-yard penalty from the previous spot, prior to 2013, offensive pass interference resulted in a 15-yard penalty AND a loss of down. The loss of down provision has been deleted from the rules starting in 2013, in college and the NFL, offensive pass interference is only 10 yards. The use of overtime, and the type of overtime used, is up to the state association. The NFHS offers a suggested overtime procedure based on the Kansas Playoff, intentional grounding may be called even if the quarterback is outside the tackle box. The home team must wear dark-colored jerseys, and the team must wear white jerseys. In the NFL, the team has choice of jersey color, and in the NCAA
9.
California State University
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The California State University is a public university system in California. Composed of 23 campuses and eight off-campus centers enrolling 460,200 students with 24,405 faculty and 23,012 staff, CSU is the largest four-year public university system in the United States. It is one of three higher education systems in the state, with the other two being the University of California system and the California Community Colleges System. The CSU System is incorporated as The Trustees of the California State University, the California State University system headquarters are at 401 Golden Shore in Long Beach, California. The California State University was created in 1960 under the California Master Plan for Higher Education, with nearly 100,000 graduates annually, the CSU is the countrys greatest producer of bachelors degrees. The university system collectively sustains more than 150,000 jobs within the state, altogether, about half of the bachelors degrees, one-third of the masters degrees, and nearly two percent of the doctoral degrees awarded annually in California are from the CSU. Furthermore, the CSU is one of the top U. S. producers of graduates who move on to earn their Ph. D. degrees in a related field. The CSU has a total of 17 AACSB accredited graduate business schools which is twice as many as any other collegiate system. Since 1961, nearly three million alumni have received their bachelors, masters, or doctoral degrees from the CSU system, CSU offers more than 1,800 degree programs in some 240 subject areas. In Fall of 2015,9,282 of CSUs 24,405 faculty were tenured or on the tenure track. The school was taken over by the state in 1862 and moved to San Jose and renamed the California State Normal School, a southern branch of the California State Normal School was created in Los Angeles in 1882. In 1887, the California State Legislature dropped the word California from the name of the San Jose and Los Angeles schools, later Chico, San Diego, and other schools became part of the State Normal School system. In 1919, the State Normal School at Los Angeles became the Southern Branch of the University of California, in 1927, in May 1921, the legislature enacted a comprehensive reform package for the states educational system, which went into effect that July. This meant that they were to be managed from Sacramento by the deputy director of the division, who in turn was under the state Superintendent of Education, by this time it was already commonplace to refer to most of the campuses with their city names plus the word state. The resulting administrative situation from 1921 to 1960 was quite complicated, at least one president would depart his state college because of his express frustration over that issue. During the 1920s and 1930s, the State Teachers Colleges started to transition from normal schools into teachers colleges whose graduates would be qualified to teach all K–12 grades. A leading proponent of this idea was Charles McLane, the first president of Fresno State, in 1932, the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching was asked by the state legislature and governor to perform a study of California higher education. This recommendation spectacularly backfired when the faculties and administrations of the State Teachers Colleges rallied to protect their independence from the Regents
10.
Minor League Baseball
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All of the minor leagues are operated as independent businesses. Most are members of the organization known as Minor League Baseball. Several leagues, known as independent baseball leagues, do not have any links to Major League Baseball. Major League Baseball and Minor League Baseball teams may enter into a PDC for a two- or four-year term. At the expiration of a PDC term, teams may renew their affiliation, or sign new PDCs with different clubs, though many relationships are renewed and endure for extended time periods. Minor League teams that are owned directly by the major league club do not have PDCs with each other and are not part of the reaffiliation shuffles that occur every other year, several more independent leagues operate in the United States and Canada. The earliest professional baseball association, the National Association of 1871 to 1875 and this system proved unworkable, however, as there was no way to ensure competitive balance, and financially unsound clubs often failed in midseason. This problem was solved in 1876 with the formation of the National League, with a membership which excluded less competitive. Professional clubs outside the National League responded by forming regional associations of their own, there was a series of ad hoc groupings, such as the New England Association of 1877 and the Eastern Championship Association of 1881. These were loose groups of independent clubs which agreed to play a series of games for a championship pennant, the first minor league is traditionally considered to be the Northwestern League of 1883 to 1884. Unlike the earlier minor associations, it was conceived as a permanent organization and it also, along with the National League and the American Association, was a party to the National Agreement of 1883. Included in this was the agreement to respect the reserve lists of clubs in each league, teams in the National League and the American Association could only reserve players who had been paid at least $1000. Northwest League teams could reserve players paid merely $750, implicitly establishing the division into major and minor leagues, over the next two decades, more minor leagues signed various versions of the National Agreement. Eventually, the minor leagues joined together to negotiate jointly, in the late 1890s, the Western League run by the fiery Ban Johnson decided to challenge the National Leagues position. Representatives of the different minor leagues met at the Leland Hotel in Chicago on September 5,1901, in response to the National–American battle, they agreed to form the National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues, called the NAPBL, or NA for short. The purpose of the NA at the time was to maintain the independence of the leagues involved, several did not sign the agreement and continued to work independently. Powers was made the first president of the NAPBL, whose offices were established in Auburn, in 1903, the conflict between the American and National Leagues ended in the National Agreement of 1903. The NAPBL became involved in the stages of the negotiations to develop rules for the acquisition of players from their leagues by the National
11.
San Francisco Giants
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The San Francisco Giants are an American professional baseball franchise based in San Francisco, California. Founded in 1883 as the New York Gothams, and renamed three years later to the New York Giants, the team moved to San Francisco in 1958. The Giants compete in Major League Baseball as a club of the National League West division. As one of the longest-established and most successful baseball teams. The team was the first major team based in New York City. They have won 23 NL pennants and have played in 20 World Series competitions – both NL records, the Giants eight World Series championships rank second in the National League and are tied for fourth overall. The Giants have played in the World Series 20 times –14 times in New York, six in San Francisco –, the Giants franchise has the most Hall of Fame players in all of professional baseball. The Giants rivalry with the Dodgers is one of the longest-standing, the teams began their rivalry as the New York Giants and Brooklyn Dodgers, respectively, before both franchises moved west for the 1958 season. The Giants have won six pennants and three World Series championships since arriving in San Francisco and those three championships have come in 2010,2012, and most recently in 2014, having defeated the Kansas City Royals four games to three during the 2014 World Series. The Giants began as the baseball club founded by millionaire tobacconist John B. Day and veteran amateur baseball player Jim Mutrie, the Gothams, as the Giants were originally known, entered the National League in 1883, while their other club, the Metropolitans played in the American Association. Nearly half of the original Gotham players were members of the disbanded Troy Trojans, Louis Browns in a pre-modern-era World Series. They repeated as champions the year with a pennant and Championship victory over the Brooklyn Bridegrooms. It is said that one particularly satisfying victory over the Philadelphia Phillies, Mutrie. From then on, the club was known as the Giants, the Giants original home stadium, the Polo Grounds, dates from this early era. It was originally located north of Central Park adjacent to 5th and 6th Avenues and 110th and 112th Streets, the Giants were a powerhouse in the late 1880s, winning their first two National League Pennants and World Championships in 1888 and 1889. But nearly all of the Giants stars jumped to the upstart Players League, whose New York franchise was named the Giants. The new team built a stadium next door to the Polo Grounds
12.
Fort Collins, Colorado
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Fort Collins is the Home Rule Municipality that is the county seat and the most populous municipality of Larimer County, Colorado, United States. Situated on the Cache La Poudre River along the Colorado Front Range, with a 2016 estimated population of 161,000, it is the fourth most populous city in Colorado after Denver, Colorado Springs, and Aurora. Fort Collins is a college city, home to Colorado State University. Fort Collins was founded as a military outpost of the United States Army in 1864 and it succeeded a previous encampment, known as Camp Collins, on the Cache La Poudre River, near what is known today as Laporte. Camp Collins was erected during the Indian wars of the mid-1860s to protect the Overland mail route that had recently relocated through the region. Travelers crossing the county on the Overland Trail would camp there, the post was manned originally by two companies of the 11th Ohio Volunteer Cavalry and never had walls. Settlers began arriving in the vicinity of the fort nearly immediately, the fort was decommissioned in 1867. The original fort site is now adjacent to the present historic Old Town portion of the city, the first school and church opened in 1866, and the town was platted in 1867. The civilian population of Fort Collins, led by local businessman Joseph Mason, led an effort to relocate the county seat to Fort Collins from LaPorte, the citys first population boom came in 1872, with the establishment of an agricultural colony. Hundreds of settlers arrived, developing lots just south of the original Old Town, tension between new settlers and earlier inhabitants led to political divisions in the new town, which was incorporated in 1873. Although the Colorado Agricultural College was founded in 1870, the first classes were held in 1879, the 1880s saw the construction of a number of elegant homes and commercial buildings and the growth of a distinctive identity for Fort Collins. Stone quarrying, sugar-beet farming, and the slaughter of sheep were among the areas earliest industries, in 1901 the Great Western sugar processing plant was built in the neighboring city of Loveland. Although the city was affected by the Great Depression and simultaneous drought, it nevertheless experienced slow, during the decade following World War II, the population doubled and an era of economic prosperity occurred. Old buildings were razed to make way for new, modern structures, along with revitalization came many changes, including the closing of the Great Western sugar factory in 1955, and a new city charter, adopting a council-manager form of government in 1954. Similarly, Colorado State Universitys enrollment doubled during the 1960s, making it the primary economic force by the end of the century. During that same period, civil activism and anti-war disturbances heightened tensions in the city. During the late 20th century, Fort Collins expanded rapidly to the south, adding new development, management of city growth patterns became a political priority during the 1980s, as well as the revitalization of Fort Collins Old Town with the creation of a Downtown Development Authority. In late July 1997, the city experienced a flood after
