Biohazard Cleanup Near Waters Edge Superior, CO

Superior is a home rule town based in Boulder County, with a small, uninhabited segment of land extending into Jefferson County.

Superior was founded in 1896 by William Charles Hake and was incorporated on June 10, 1904.

The town was reportedly named for the superior quality of the coal found in the area, after coal was discovered on the Hake homestead along Coal Creek in 1864.

The Industrial Mine south of Coal Creek operated from 1895 until 1945, most of that time under the Rocky Mountain Fuel Company, after which Superior settled into a quiet farming and ranching community of about 250 people.

Superior's population exploded with 1990s subdivisions such as Rock Creek Ranch, rising from 255 in 1990 to 9,011 in 2000 and 13,094 at the 2020 census.

At the 2020 census, Superior had 4,805 households among 5,025 housing units.

On December 30, 2021, the Marshall Fire, the most destructive wildfire in Colorado history, destroyed 398 structures in Superior, wiping out the Sagamore subdivision and leaving only seven historic homes standing in Original Town Superior.

U.S. Highway 36, the Denver-Boulder Turnpike, runs along Superior's northeast boundary, and the town is bordered by Louisville to the northeast, Broomfield to the east and south, and the Rocky Flats National Wildlife Refuge to the south.

Superior sits at an elevation of 5,522 feet and covers about 3.97 square miles.

About 788 acres of Superior, roughly 31 percent of the town, is parks and open space, threaded by nearly 30 miles of recreational trails.