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Arapahoe County, Colorado
Little Dry Creek
Little Dry Creek in Englewood
Map of Colorado highlighting Arapahoe County
Location in the state of Colorado
Map of the U.S
Colorado's location in the U.S.
Founded November 1, 1861
Named for The Arapaho Nation[1]
Seat Littleton
Largest city Aurora
Area
 - Total
 - Land
 - Water

805 sq mi (2,085 km²)
798 sq mi (2,067 km²)
7.3 sq mi (19 km²), 0.9%
Population
 - (2020)
 - Density

655,070[2]
821/sq mi (317/km²)
Congressional districts 1st, 4th, 6th
Time zone Mountain: UTC-7/-6
Website www.co.arapahoe.co.us
Footnotes:
Third most populous Colorado county

Arapahoe County ( /əˈræpəh/ ə-RAP-ə-hoh) is a county located in the U.S. state of Colorado. As of the 2020 census, its population was 655,070,[2] making it the third-most populous county in Colorado. The county seat is Littleton,[3] and the most populous city is Aurora. The county was named for the Arapaho Native American tribe, who once lived in the region.[1]

Arapahoe County is part of the Denver-Aurora-Lakewood metropolitan statistical area. Arapahoe County calls itself "Colorado's First County", since its origins antedate the Pike's Peak Gold Rush.

History[]

On August 25, 1855, the Kansas Territorial Legislature created a huge Arapahoe County to govern the entire western portion of the Territory of Kansas. The county was named for the Arapaho Nation, who lived in the region.[1]

In July 1858, gold was discovered along the South Platte River in Arapahoe County (in present-day Englewood). This discovery precipitated the Pike's Peak Gold Rush. Many residents of the mining region felt disconnected from the remote territorial governments of Kansas and Nebraska, so they voted to form their own Territory of Jefferson on October 24, 1859. The following month, the Jefferson Territorial Legislature organized 12 counties for the new territory, including a smaller Arapahoe County. Denver City served as the county seat of Arapahoe County.

The Jefferson Territory never received federal sanction, and when the State of Kansas was admitted to the Union on January 29, 1861, the mining regions temporarily reverted to unorganized territory. On February 28, 1861, Congress passed an act organizing the Territory of Colorado, using present-day borders.[4] On November 1, 1861, the Colorado Territorial Assembly organized the 17 original counties of Colorado, including a new Arapahoe County. Arapahoe County originally stretched from the line of present-day Sheridan Boulevard 160 miles (258 km) east to the Kansas border, and from the line of present-day County Line Road 30 miles (48 km) north to the 40th parallel north (168th Avenue). Denver City served as the county seat of Arapahoe County until 1902.

In 1901, the Colorado General Assembly voted to split Arapahoe County into three parts - a new consolidated City and County of Denver, a new Adams County, and the remainder of the Arapahoe County to be renamed South Arapahoe County. A ruling by the Colorado Supreme Court, subsequent legislation, and a referendum delayed the reorganization until November 15, 1902. Governor James Bradley Orman designated Littleton as the temporary county seat of South Arapahoe County. On April 11, 1903, the Colorado General Assembly changed the name of South Arapahoe County back to Arapahoe County. On November 8, 1904, Arapahoe County voters chose Littleton over Englewood by a vote of 1310 to 829 to be the permanent county seat.

Geography[]

Arapahoe County Justice Center

The contemporary Arapahoe County Courthouse is in Dove Valley.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 805 square miles (2,080 km2), of which 798 square miles (2,070 km2) are land and 7.3 square miles (19 km2) (0.9%) are covered by water.[5] The county measures 72 mi (116 km) east-west and 4 to 12 mi (6 to 19 km) north-south.

Two exclaves of Arapahoe County are entirely surrounded by the City and County of Denver, the City of Glendale, and the Holly Hills neighborhood, a census-designated place.

Adjacent counties[]

Major highways[]

  • I-25 (CO) Interstate 25
  • I-70 (CO) Interstate 70
  • I-225 (CO) Interstate 225
  • Business Loop 70 I-70 Bus.
  • Business Spur 70 I-70 Bus.
  • Business Spur 70 I-70 Bus.
  • Business Spur 70 I-70 Bus.
  • US 85 U.S. Highway 85
  • US 285 U.S. Highway 285
  • Colorado 30 State Highway 30
  • Colorado 36 State Highway 36
  • Colorado 40 State Highway 40
  • Colorado 75 State Highway 75
  • Colorado 79 State Highway 79
  • Colorado 83 State Highway 83
  • Colorado 88 State Highway 88
  • Colorado 177 State Highway 177
  • Colorado 470 State Highway 470
  • E-470 (tollway)

State park[]

  • Cherry Creek State Park

Historic trails[]

  • Smoky Hill Trail
  • South Platte Trail

Recreation trails[]

  • Highline Canal National Recreation Trail
  • Platte River Greenway National Recreation Trail

Demographics[]

Historical populations
Census Pop.
1870 6,829
1880 38,644 465.9%
1890 132,135 241.9%
1900 153,017 15.8%
1910 10,263 −93.3%
1920 13,766 34.1%
1930 22,647 64.5%
1940 32,150 42.0%
1950 52,125 62.1%
1960 113,426 117.6%
1970 162,142 42.9%
1980 293,621 81.1%
1990 391,511 33.3%
2000 487,967 24.6%
2010 572,003 17.2%
U.S. Decennial Census[6]
1790-1960[7] 1900-1990[8]
1990-2000[9] 2010-2020[2]

As of the census of 2000, 487,967 people, 190,909 households, and 125,809 families were residing in the county. The population density was 608 people/sq mi (235/km2). The 196,835 housing units averaged 245/sq mi (95/km2). The racial makeup of the county was 79.93% White, 7.67% African American, 0.66% Native American, 3.95% Asian, 0.12% Pacific Islander, 4.51% from other races, and 3.16% from two or more races. Hispanics or Latinos of any race made up 11.81% of the population .

Of the 190,909 households, 34.90% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 51.20% were married couples living together, 10.60% had a female householder with no husband present, and 34.10% were not families. About 27.00% of all households were made up of individuals, and 5.90% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.53, and the average family size was 3.11.

In the county, the age distribution was 26.70% under 18, 8.60% from 18 to 24, 33.10% from 25 to 44, 23.00% from 45 to 64, and 8.60% who were 65 or older. The median age was 34 years. For every 100 females, there were 97.10 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 94.20 males.

The median income for a household was $53,570, and for a family was $63,875. Males had a median income of $41,601 versus $31,612 for females. The per capita income for the county was $28,147. About 4.20% of families and 5.80% of the population were below the poverty line, including 7.00% of those under age 18 and 5.10% of those age 65 or over.

Politics[]

Arapahoe County was once a Republican stronghold, and a classic bastion of suburban conservatism, although with a noticeable north-south split, with the working class Democratic-leaning city of Aurora in the northwest and the former wealthy Republican strongholds in the Denver Technological Center region in the southwest, though with some Democratic strength in older, more urbanized and mixed-development suburbs bordering Denver's southwest border near Hampden Avenue such as Englewood and Sheridan (the eastern parts of the county are extremely rural and Republican to this day). However, heavy urbanization, demographic changes and population increases - such as the rapid diversification of Aurora's population and younger professionals in the southern suburbs - have caused the county to become much more competitive since the 1990s, eventually changing it to more of a Democratic-leaning suburban swing county. In 2008, the county swung over dramatically to support Barack Obama, who became the first Democrat to carry it since 1964, and only the second since 1936. It swung from a four-point win for George W. Bush in 2004 to a 13-point win for Obama in 2008. It voted for Obama by a similar margin in 2012, and provided much of Hillary Clinton's statewide margin in 2016 as Donald Trump failed to win even 40 percent of the vote in one of the worst showings for a Republican in the county's history, with the Democrats carrying the former Tech Center area Republican strongholds of Centennial and Littleton. In the 2020 election, Joe Biden became the first Democrat to carry the county with over 60% of the vote since 1916, winning both Aurora by lopsided margins and the southern parts of the county by nearly 20 points. [10] [11]

United States presidential election results for Arapahoe County, Colorado[12]
Year Republican Democratic Third party
No.  % No.  % No.  %
2020 127,323 36.36% 213,607 61.00% 9,253 2.64%
2016 117,053 38.63% 159,885 52.76% 26,110 8.62%
2012 125,588 43.99% 153,905 53.90% 6,023 2.11%
2008 113,868 42.78% 148,224 55.69% 4,064 1.53%
2004 119,475 51.42% 110,262 47.45% 2,628 1.13%
2000 97,768 51.47% 82,614 43.49% 9,560 5.03%
1996 82,778 50.79% 68,306 41.91% 11,912 7.31%
1992 72,221 39.26% 66,607 36.21% 45,107 24.52%
1988 95,926 60.24% 61,113 38.38% 2,206 1.39%
1984 107,556 71.92% 39,891 26.67% 2,107 1.41%
1980 79,594 62.19% 30,148 23.56% 18,238 14.25%
1976 63,154 63.45% 33,685 33.85% 2,687 2.70%
1972 52,283 72.24% 18,631 25.74% 1,462 2.02%
1968 33,712 59.65% 18,569 32.85% 4,238 7.50%
1964 23,071 44.92% 27,940 54.40% 347 0.68%
1960 26,379 60.07% 17,400 39.62% 137 0.31%
1956 19,716 63.11% 11,351 36.33% 176 0.56%
1952 15,402 60.32% 9,843 38.55% 289 1.13%
1948 7,943 52.67% 6,962 46.17% 175 1.16%
1944 9,057 54.52% 7,485 45.06% 69 0.42%
1940 7,988 50.89% 7,571 48.24% 137 0.87%
1936 4,272 38.24% 6,489 58.09% 410 3.67%
1932 4,287 40.28% 5,796 54.46% 559 5.25%
1928 6,086 70.29% 2,463 28.44% 110 1.27%
1924 4,267 64.23% 1,209 18.20% 1,167 17.57%
1920 2,930 59.80% 1,752 35.76% 218 4.45%
1916 1,443 33.91% 2,652 62.33% 160 3.76%
1912 765 20.15% 1,379 36.33% 1,652 43.52%
1908 1,514 50.50% 1,340 44.70% 144 4.80%
1904 1,351 62.93% 717 33.40% 79 3.68%
1900 25,469 42.11% 33,754 55.81% 1,260 2.08%
1896 6,057 12.33% 42,521 86.54% 556 1.13%
1892 11,331 48.11% 0 0.00% 12,222 51.89%
1888 11,541 56.55% 8,320 40.77% 547 2.68%
1884 7,133 54.17% 5,310 40.33% 725 5.51%
1880 4,214 53.36% 3,582 45.35% 102 1.29%



Communities[]

Cities[]

Towns[]

  • Bennett
  • Bow Mar (part; also extends into Jefferson County)
  • Columbine Valley
  • Deer Trail
  • Foxfield

Census-designated places[]

  • Aetna Estates
  • Brick Center
  • Byers
  • Cherry Creek
  • Columbine
  • Comanche Creek
  • Dove Valley
  • Four Square Mile
  • Holly Hills
  • Inverness
  • Peoria
  • Strasburg
  • Watkins

Former census-designated places[]

  • Castlewood (now part of Centennial)
  • Southglenn (now part of Centennial)

See also[]

  • Arapahoe Library District
  • Outline of Colorado
  • Index of Colorado-related articles
    • Arapahoe County, Kansas Territory
    • Arrappahoe County, Jefferson Territory
    • Arapahoe County, Colorado Territory
    • South Arapahoe County, Colorado
  • Colorado census statistical areas
  • Denver–Aurora–Boulder Combined Statistical Area
  • Front Range Urban Corridor
  • National Register of Historic Places listings in Arapahoe County, Colorado

References[]

  1. ^ a b c Gannett, Henry (1905). The Origin of Certain Place Names in the United States. U.S. Government Printing Office. pp. 27. https://archive.org/details/origincertainpl00ganngoog. 
  2. ^ a b c "U.S. Census Bureau QuickFacts". U.S. Census Bureau. https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/arapahoecountycolorado/PST045219. 
  3. ^ "Find a County". National Association of Counties. http://www.naco.org/Counties/Pages/FindACounty.aspx. 
  4. ^ "An Act to provide a temporary Government for the Territory of Colorado" (PDF). Thirty-sixth United States Congress. 1861-02-28. http://www.colorado.gov/dpa/doit/archives/territory.pdf. 
  5. ^ "US Gazetteer files: 2010, 2000, and 1990". United States Census Bureau. 2011-02-12. https://www.census.gov/geographies/reference-files/time-series/geo/gazetteer-files.html. 
  6. ^ "U.S. Decennial Census". United States Census Bureau. https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/decennial-census.html. 
  7. ^ "Historical Census Browser". University of Virginia Library. http://mapserver.lib.virginia.edu. 
  8. ^ "Population of Counties by Decennial Census: 1900 to 1990". United States Census Bureau. https://www.census.gov/population/cencounts/co190090.txt. 
  9. ^ "Census 2000 PHC-T-4. Ranking Tables for Counties: 1990 and 2000". United States Census Bureau. https://www.census.gov/population/www/cen2000/briefs/phc-t4/tables/tab02.pdf. 
  10. ^ Mason, Kara. "LEFT TURN: Aurora, area suburbs veering left politically". Associated Press. https://sentinelcolorado.com/news/metro/left-turn-aurora-area-suburbs-veer-left-politically/. 
  11. ^ "2020 Elections Map". New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2021/upshot/2020-election-map.html. 
  12. ^ "Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections". http://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS/. 

External links[]

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Coordinates: 39°38′N 104°20′W / 39.64, -104.33

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