Strasburg Sanitation & Water District

Strasburg was first settled in the 1875 after completion of a major railroad line linking the east and west coasts. The settlement was named after John Strasburg; the section foreman who was responsible for constructing a rail siding that gave the settlement access to the railroad. Colorado Highways 36, 40 and ultimately Interstate 70 have given Strasburg excellent highway access as well. The town has and continues to serve as a business and service center for the surrounding ranchers and farmers.

In addition to its agrarian role, the area gradually began to take on the role as a rural bedroom community as early as the 1950’s. In 1958, several of the residents and landowners decided that they needed a water and sewer system to provide services for existing homes and businesses and for new development. Instead of incorporating, they chose to create a water and sewer district. The Strasburg Water and Sanitation District offered tax exempt status and the organizational structure necessary to build a public water and sewer system, but it did not require the settlement to take on the responsibility of providing municipal services such as police protection and road maintenance. Adams County and Arapahoe County retained the responsibility for providing those services. At about the same time Interstate 70 was constructed, providing better automobile access to the Denver Metropolitan Area to the west. The first hardy commuters began to move out to Strasburg and surrounding areas from Denver.

With a water and sewer system in place, Strasburg began to grow at a modest pace. In the 1970’s and 80’s, rural residential subdivisions in Arapahoe County joined similar development in Adams County, and Strasburg began to be ringed by 2 ½ and 5 acre home sites. The town now includes a total of nearly 3200 people, as many as 700 people in the town with another 2500 people in the surrounding area.

Even though Strasburg is not an incorporated town, it provides all the amenities of a vibrant small town community:

• Main Street supports a post office, two banks, a hardware store, veterinary clinic, several restaurants, and various other small shops and offices.
• The entire area including the four additional towns of Watkins, Bennett, Byers and Deer Trail have a healthy local media including a newspaper and radio station located in Strasburg.
• The school district, park and recreation district, volunteer fire district and water and sewer districts are all centers of community activity as well as providers of essential services.
• The churches as well as a number of community organizations formed around both town and agricultural concerns are centers of community activity and debate.
• I-70 Chamber and REAP (I-70 Regional Economic Advancement Partnership) are the economic development organizations that serve Strasburg and four other towns (Watkins, Bennett, Byers and Deer Trail) along I-70.