The year 1903 was drawing to a close and Fort Collins had little cause for complaint. The city took on new life and vigor and surged forward by leaps and bounds to a proud position among its sister cities and towns in Colorado. The closing year witnessed a substantial growth in population, a material increase in the wealth and happiness of the people and marked advance for the better in social, moral and intellectual conditions. Among the things which came to Fort Collins in the past year were:
The completion of an immense plant, at a cost of a million and a quarter dollars for the manufacture of beet sugar.
The beginning of the construction of a new system of water works, which cost about $150,000 and supplied the city with an abundance of the purest and best mountain water.
The completion of a new high school building at a cost of $35,000 (Fort Collins High School – Architect – Montezuma Fuller)
The erection of the Carnegie Library at a cost of $12,000.
The old Baptist church on Remington and Magnolia.
The erection of the new Baptist Church at a cost of $12,000.
The erection of 144 new buildings, all but 6 of them being homes for permanent residents. The total amount spent on the new buildings – $399,700.
The opening of North Linden Street and the erection of a handsome steel bridge over the river.
The growth and prosperity of the state agricultural college and the substantial advance the institution was making along the educational lines.
The extension of the Colorado & Southern Railroad to Wellington.
They also boasted the absence of destructive fires and disease epidemics, a low rate of mortality and the general good health of the people.