Websites can disappear and
addresses can change. Please advise if you find a broken link on the
Arapahoe County, COGenWeb pages. Let me know at my above email address.
 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 of Native
Americans that lived in the region.
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 new Arapahoe County. Denver City served as the county
seat of Arapahoe County.
The Jefferson
Territory never received federal sanction, but on February 28,
1861, U.S. President James Buchanan signed an act organizing the Territory
of Colorado. On
November 1, 1861, the Colorado General 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 kilometers) east to the Kansas state
border, and from the line of present-day County Line Road 30 miles (48
kilometers) north to the Parallel 40° 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 named
South Arapahoe County. A ruling by the Colorado Supreme Court,
subsequent legislation, and a referendum delyed the reorganization until
November 15, 1902. Governor James Bradley Orman designatd
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.
---Wikipedia
Surrounding Counties: Adams
| Denver |
Douglas |
Elbert |
Jefferson |
Washington
|
