The story of Disneyland's Main Street and Old Town Fort Collins
Even if you've only lived in Fort Collins for a short time, you've probably heard the Disneyland story.
"Did you know..." people will say to their out-of-town guests as they stroll through Old Town, launching into the tale about how its historic storefronts influenced the design for Disneyland's Main Street, U.S.A.
As the story goes, Hollywood set designer Harper Goff, who was responsible for designing several street fronts for Main Street, U.S.A., grew up in Fort Collins and used the buildings of his childhood to inspire Disneyland's designs.
But, if you've heard that story, you've probably heard the one that contradicts it — the one that says Main Street, U.S.A., was instead inspired by Walt Disney's hometown of Marceline, Missouri.
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It has been an honor worth fighting over. As described in a 1998 New York Times article on the two cities, whichever town inspired Main Street, U.S.A., "inspired the ultimate urban fantasy... a frothy row of gingerbread storefronts intended to invoke the true grit and boisterous optimism of turn-of-the-century America."
So, which city was it?
Well, both.
In his own words
In an interview with "The 'E' Ticket" right before his death in 1993, Goff said Walt Disney had originally wanted the look of Main Street, U.S.A. in Disneyland to be modeled after Marceline. Once Goff presented him with that design, Goff said Disney decided to go with more two-story buildings to allow for additional storage space.
The two-story look seemed to fit with the structures of Old Town Fort Collins — a place where "we had banks that looked like banks," Goff said.
Goff had pictures taken of Old Town to show to Disney.
"He liked them very much," Goff said. "Disneyland's City Hall was copied from Fort Collins... so was the bank building and some of the others."
The Avery and Miller Blocks, the old firehouse building, the former Linden Hotel, and the Union Pacific railroad station have all been considered possible inspiration for buildings on Main Street, U.S.A.
When author Richard Francaviglia visited Fort Collins in 1994 to do research for his book, "Main Street Revisited," he toured Old Town. He saw similarities between Main Street, U.S.A., and the storefronts on Jefferson Street, the First National Bank building, and buildings that were long gone: Old Main, which burned down at CSU in 1970; the county's fourth courthouse, which was demolished in 1957; and the Hottel house, which was razed to make way for a J.C. Penney, now Old Town's Ace Hardware.
"These buildings were around when I was a kid," said Goff, who was born in Fort Collins in 1911 and lived here until around 1920.
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Before Goff was born, his mother, Maude, had purchased the Fort Collins Courier Express newspaper, now The Coloradoan, with her brother and served as its advertising manager.
After she married Goff's father, her husband seemed to take over the paper's operations. The family lived at 612 S. Howes St., which still stands today.
Through the 1990s, story after story in newspapers and magazines talked about Main Street, its connection to Fort Collins and Goff's achievements. They describe how the Hollywood set designer worked on several films in the 1940s and '50s, starting on "Casablanca" in 1942.
Then, in 1951, Goff had a chance encounter with a man in a London model-making shop. They bonded over a love for trains. His name was Walt Disney.
The rest is history.
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Harper Goff's Fort Collins
Born in 1911 in Fort Collins, here's what happened in the city before the Goff family moved to California in 1920.
1912: Students from Colorado Agricultural College (now CSU) build and whitewash the "Aggie A" on a hillside west of town.
1912: Fort Collins' first post office, known as the "federal building," is completed. The building still stands today in Old Town, serving as the Fort Collins Museum of Art on College Avenue.
1913: One of the worst storms in Fort Collins' early history hits, bringing 40 inches of snow in the first few weeks of December. Railroads, streetcars and horse-drawn wagons are brought to a standstill and tunnels are dug through Old Town to allow pedestrian traffic.
1918: As World War I raged, the war effort demanded increased production in agriculture. Because of this, local businessmen are urged to let women run their businesses for a few days a week to free up more men for farm labor.
1918: The burgeoning lamb industry in Fort Collins gave way for the nickname for its high school. In 1918, Fort Collins High School's athletic teams were called the "Lambkins." While not initially popular, the nickname grew on the people of Fort Collins.
1918-19: As the war drew to a close, a flu epidemic swept through the country. In Fort Collins, public places were closed and a number of local deaths were reported.
1919: It's reported that an estimated $20 million had been paid for sugar beets in Larimer County over the last 17 years. The sugar beet industry, along with the lamb industry, were central to the Fort Collins economy.
Source: Archive at the Fort Collins Museum of Discovery