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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

1996-present | last updated 2023