Milestones Icon: Mary Miller

The title “founding mother” fits few women like it fits Mary Miller, founder of the city of Lafayette.

Miller was born in 1842 in Geneseo, N.Y. Eventually she migrated to Iowa, which she and her husband, Lafayette, left in June 1863 to move to the Colorado Territory.

The couple’s wandering days continued during their years in Colorado. The Millers first settled in what would become Longmont before moving to the site of Coal Creek Farm to run a stagecoach stop on the trail between Denver and Cheyenne. They acquired a farm in 1871 before relocating to Boulder in 1874, where Lafayette was butcher and a town trustee.

Tragedy struck in 1878, when Lafayette died, leaving behind six children and a 1,280-acre farm for Mary to run.

Mary Miller moved back to the farm and would quickly prove to be an able manager. Her stewardship of the farm drew the attention of the local paper, which in 1886 praised Miller for running the best managed large farm in the state.

But Miller’s fate was not to be a farmer.

In 1884, coal was found on Miller’s farm. Miller was shrewd enough to keep the mineral rights, and she would use the royalties from the mines to build a small commercial empire.

In 1888, Miller filed the initial plat for Lafayette. She had two stipulations – first, the town was to be named for her late husband. Secondly, no alcoholic beverages could be sold. Lafayette would remain dry until the early 1980s.

In 1892, Miller organized a family-run bank, which eventually became the Lafayette Bank. Miller served as its president.

Miller was a leading figure in the town’s civic life, and she financed the construction of Lafayette’s first school and church. The church, originally the Congregational Church, still stands at 300 East Simpson St. and is now the Mary Miller Theater.

Miller became a temperance activist, and her devotion to the cause and business savvy led her to run for state treasurer as the candidate for the Prohibition Party.

Miller died in 1921.

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