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Larimer county was created in 1861 when the original counties were laid off. The first known white settler was Antoine Janis, who established a claim on the Cache La Poudre River near the present site of LaPorte in 1844.
A military camp was established at LaPorte in 1862 and moved to the current site of Fort Collins after floods in 1864 nearly wiped out the camp. The camp was named after Lt. Colonel William O. Collins, a commander in the area.
The county was named for General William Larimer, a Colorado pioneer and one of the founders of the City of Larimer. Growth in the county was spurred by the arrival of the Colorado Central Railroad in 1876 and the establishment of the Colorado Agricultural College in 1879. The Colorado Agricultural College is now known as Colorado State University and is located in Fort Collins. At the turn of the century the cultivation of sugar beets and the operation of feed lots became the primary agricultural enterprises.
Fort Collins is the county seat along with being the largest city in Larimer County. Approximately 100,000 people live in Fort Collins today.
Larimer county is the seventh largest county in Colorado, both in area and population. It encompasses 2,640 square miles of which over 50% is publicly owned. Most of the publicly owned land is within Roosevelt National Forest and Rocky Mountain National Park with the other land owned by the Colorado State Parks and Recreation Area, Larimer County Parks and local parks with the cities. Over 217,000 people live in Larimer County with over two thirds living in Fort Collins or Loveland.