Littleton, Colorado
| City of Littleton, Colorado | |
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| — City — | |
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| Coordinates: | |
| Country |  United States |
| State |  State of Colorado |
| Counties | Arapahoe County Seat[1] Jefferson County Douglas County |
| Incorporated | March 13, 1890[2] |
| Named for | Richard Little |
| Government | |
| - Type | Home Rule Municipality[1] |
| - Mayor | Doug Clark |
| Area | |
| - Total | 13.9 sq mi (36.1 km2) |
| - Land | 13.5 sq mi (35 km2) |
| - Water | 0.4 sq mi (1.1 km2) |
| Elevation[3] | 5,351 ft (1,631 m) |
| Population (2000) | |
| - Total | 40,340 |
| - Density | 2,902.2/sq mi (1,117.5/km2) |
| Time zone | MST (UTC-7) |
| - Summer (DST) | MDT (UTC-6) |
| ZIP codes[4] | 80120-80130, 80160-80163 (PO Boxes), 80165, 80166 |
| Area code(s) | Both 303 and 720 |
| FIPS code | 08-45255 |
| GNIS feature ID | 0169446 |
| Highways | US 85, SH 75, SH 88, SH 470 |
| Website | City of Littleton |
Littleton is a Home Rule Municipality contained in Arapahoe, Douglas, and Jefferson counties[5] in the U.S. state of Colorado. Littleton is a suburb of the Denver-Aurora Metropolitan Statistical Area. Littleton is the county seat of Arapahoe County[6] and the 17th most populous city in the State of Colorado. The population was 40,342 at the 2000 census.
The City of Littleton's history dates back to the 1859 "Pikes Peak" gold rush, which brought not only gold seekers, but merchants and farmers to the community. Richard Sullivan Little was an engineer from New Hampshire that made his way out west to work on irrigation systems. Little quickly fell in love with the area that is present day Littleton and brought his wife Angeline out from the East in 1862. The Littles, along with many neighbors built the Rough and Ready Flour Mill in 1867, which provided a solid economic base in the community. By 1890, the community had grown to 245 people and the residents voted to incorporate the Town of Littleton.[7]
Littleton became widely known in 1999 when the Columbine High School massacre occurred at nearby Columbine High School, which the news media erroneously reported as being located in the city. The school is actually located in Columbine, an unincorporated community in Jefferson County, yet in a ZIP code associated primarily with Littleton. The school is included in the Jefferson County school system, and not one of the Littleton Public Schools.
The Colorado Center for the Blind, a skills training program for blind teenagers and adults operated by the National Federation of the Blind, is located in Littleton. Denver Seminary is also in Littleton.
Intelligent Vehicle Safety Technologies' "Desert Tortoise," a competitor in the DARPA Grand Challenge, is based in Littleton.
The city is also the site of the grave of Alferd Packer, an American prospector. He is one of only three people in the history of the United States to be imprisoned for cannibalism, alongside Jeffrey Dahmer and Albert Fish.
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Geography
Littleton is located at (39.599691, -105.010929)[8].
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 13.9 square miles (36.1 km²), of which, 13.5 square miles (35.0 km²) of it is land and 0.4 square miles (1.1 km²) of it (2.95%) is water.
Littleton is a suburb south of Denver, on the west side of I-25. Since July 2000, it has been served by the Regional Transportation District's light rail system.
Demographics
- Section source: Census[9]
As of the census[10] of 2000 there were 40,340 people; 17,313 households; and 10,387 families residing in the city. The population density was 2,984.8 people per square mile (1,152.0/km²). There were 18,084 housing units at an average density of 1,338.0/sq mi (516.4/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 91.77% White, 1.16% African American, 0.73% Native American, 1.66% Asian, 0.06% Pacific Islander, 2.67% from other races, and 1.95% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 8.45% of the population.
There were 17,313 households out of which 28.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 47.3% were married couples living together, 9.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 40.0% were non-families. 33.3% of all households were made up of individuals and 11.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.29 and the average family size was 2.96.
In the city the population was spread out with 23.3% under the age of 18, 8.2% from 18 to 24, 30.1% from 25 to 44, 24.2% from 45 to 64, and 14.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females there were 94.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 91.0 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $50,583, and the median income for a family was $64,671. Males had a median income of $43,698 versus $33,377 for females. The per capita income for the city was $28,681. About 3.9% of families and 6.0% of the population were below the poverty line, including 7.5% of those under age 18 and 5.1% of those age 65 or over.
In popular culture
Matt Stone attended Heritage High School in Littleton, and a few aspects of South Park are loosely based on the town as a result. In Trapped in the Closet, a reference is made to FunPlex, an amusement center in Littleton, though it has since been renamed Fat City.
Education
- Littleton Public Schools
- Arapahoe Community College
- Denver Seminary
Points of interest
- Hudson Gardens
- Town Hall Arts Center, providing professional theater to the surrounding metro area.
- The Littleton Museum
- The Gravesite of Alferd Packer Alferd Packer
Sister cities
Bega, New South Wales, Australia
Neighboring communities with Littleton ZIP codes
The place name "Littleton" is assigned to eleven ZIP codes which cover a vast area west, east and south of the city that is much larger than the city itself. Thus the following unincorporated communities have "Littleton addresses":
- Acres Green, Colorado
- Carriage Club, Colorado
- Columbine, Colorado
- Heritage Hills, Colorado
- Highlands Ranch, Colorado
- Ken Caryl, Colorado
- Roxborough Park, Colorado
See also
- Colorado municipalities
- Denver-Aurora Metropolitan Statistical Area
- Denver-Aurora-Boulder Combined Statistical Area
- Front Range Urban Corridor
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Active Colorado Municipalities". State of Colorado, Department of Local Affairs. http://www.dola.state.co.us/dlg/local_governments/municipalities.html. Retrieved 2007-12-01.
- ↑ "Colorado Municipal Incorporations". State of Colorado, Department of Personnel & Administration, Colorado State Archives. 2004-12-01. http://www.colorado.gov/dpa/doit/archives/muninc.html. Retrieved 2007-09-02.
- ↑ "US Board on Geographic Names". United States Geological Survey. 2007-10-25. http://geonames.usgs.gov. Retrieved 2008-01-31.
- ↑ "ZIP Code Lookup" (JavaScript/HTML). United States Postal Service. http://zip4.usps.com/zip4/citytown.jsp. Retrieved November 14, 2007.
- ↑ http://www.dola.state.co.us/dlg/local_governments/municipalities.html
- ↑ "Find a County". National Association of Counties. http://www.naco.org/Template.cfm?Section=Find_a_County&Template=/cffiles/counties/usamap.cfm. Retrieved 2008-01-31.
- ↑ http://www.littletongov.org/history/genhist.asp
- ↑ "US Gazetteer files: 2000 and 1990". United States Census Bureau. 2005-05-03. http://www.census.gov/geo/www/gazetteer/gazette.html. Retrieved 2008-01-31.
- ↑ Bureau of Census: 2000 Littleton, CO
- ↑ "American FactFinder". United States Census Bureau. http://factfinder.census.gov. Retrieved 2008-01-31.
External links
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