Littleton, Colorado, United States

🇺🇸 The City of Littleton is a home rule municipality located in Arapahoe, Douglas, and Jefferson counties, Colorado, United States. Littleton is the county seat of Arapahoe County and is a part of the Denver–Aurora–Lakewood, CO Metropolitan Statistical Area. The city is the 20th most populous municipality in the State of Colorado.

History The city of Littleton's history dates back to the 1859 Pike's Peak Gold Rush, which brought gold seekers, but merchants and farmers to the community. Richard Sullivan Little was an engineer from New Hampshire who made his way out West to work on irrigation systems. Little soon decided to settle in the area at present day Littleton and brought his wife Angeline out from the East in 1862. The Littles, and 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.

Littleton grew significantly throughout the 1950s and 1960s due to its proximity to Martin Marietta facilities, which produced the Titan rocket and other aerospace products.

Littleton became widely known in 1999 when the Columbine High School massacre occurred, where two of the school's students, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, murdered 12 students and one teacher, injured 23 others and then killed themselves. News media wrongly reported that the incident happened in the city, because the school's ZIP code is primarily associated with Littleton. The school is located in adjacent Columbine, an unincorporated community, which is not a place name accepted by the U.S. Postal Service; by default, locations in ZIP code 80123 use "Littleton" in their mailing addresses. Columbine High School is in the Jefferson County school system and is not one of the Littleton Public Schools.

Geography Littleton is located at an elevation of 5,351 feet (1,631 m). Located in central Colorado at the junction of U.S. Route 85 and Colorado State Highway 470, the city is 9 miles (14 km) south of downtown Denver and 55 miles (89 km) north of Colorado Springs.

Littleton lies on the South Platte River in the Colorado Piedmont region of the Great Plains a few miles east of the Front Range of the Southern Rocky Mountains. Most of the city lies on the east side of the river. Several small tributaries of the river flow north-west through the city; from north to south, these include Big Dry Creek, Slaughterhouse Gulch, Lee Gulch, and Dad Clark Gulch. In addition, several small lakes and reservoirs are located along the river in the south-western part of the city. Immediately west of the river are Cooley Lake, Bufflehead Lake, South Platte Reservoir, Eaglewatch Lake, Redtail Lake, and Blackrock Lake. Wolhurst Lake and McLellen Reservoir are east of the river, fed and drained by Dad Clark Gulch. Chatfield Reservoir lies immediately south-west of the city.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 13.87 square miles (35.9 km²) of which 12.98 square miles (33.6 km²) is land and 0.89 square miles (2.3 km²) (6.4%) is water.

As a suburb of Denver, Littleton is part of the Denver-Aurora metropolitan area and the Front Range Urban Corridor. It shares a border with Denver and Englewood on the north, Greenwood Village on the north-east, Centennial on the east, Highlands Ranch on the south, Columbine and Columbine Valley on the west, and Bow Mar on the northwest.

Unlike most county seats of suburban counties, Littleton is on the same house numbering grid, including its downtown, as the major city, in this case, Denver.

Economy

As of 2013, 66.8% of the population over the age of 16 was in the labor force. 0.1% was in the armed forces, and 66.7% was in the civilian labor force with 61.2% employed and 5.5% unemployed. The occupational composition of the employed civilian labor force was: 44.4% in management, business, science, and arts; 25.0% in sales and office occupations; 17.8% in service occupations; 6.6% in production, transportation, and material moving; 6.2% in natural resources, construction, and maintenance. The three industries employing the largest percentages of the working civilian labor force were: educational services, health care, and social assistance (20.1%); professional, scientific, and management, and administrative and waste management services (14.1%); retail trade (11.2%).

The cost of living in Littleton is average; compared to a U.S. average of 100, the cost of living index for the community is 101.8. As of 2013, the median home value in the city was $269,000, the median selected monthly owner cost was $1,668 for housing units with a mortgage and $470 for those without, and the median gross rent was $902.

Government Littleton is a home-rule municipality with a council-manager form of government. The city council makes policy for the city and approves the annual city budget. The city manager implements the council's policies and oversees day-to-day administration of the city government and its departments.

The council consists of seven members - one member for each of the four legislative districts, two at-large members, and the mayor. Beginning in 2021, all council members are elected to 4-year terms. General elections for city council are held in odd-numbered years with either three or four council seats up for election.

As the county seat, Littleton is the administrative centre of Arapahoe County. The county government's main Administration Building is located in Littleton, and most county government departments base their operations in the city.

Education: Universities • Arapahoe Community College • Denver Seminary

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.

Transport Since July 2000, Littleton has been served by the Regional Transportation District's light rail system.

Arts and music • The Depot Art Gallery and Littleton Fine Arts Guild • Littleton Symphony Orchestra • Voices West (fka Littleton Chorale) • Littleton Museum

Events Western Welcome Week Since the late 1920s, Littleton has celebrated Western Welcome Week - an annual community celebration in the greater Littleton area. Western Welcome Week started in the late 1920s, and has been held every year since. Western Welcome Week includes over 40 events benefiting dozens of local civic and charitable organizations.

Candlelight Walk The Candlelight Walk is a Littleton tradition, featuring an evening of holiday festivities, culminating in the illumination of the trees on Main Street.

Twilight Criterium The Littleton Twilight Criterium occurs in the late summer in Historic Downtown Littleton on a 0.8-mile course. The event features famous athletes, concerts, and a cruiser ride for the general public.

Points of interest • Hudson Gardens • Town Hall Arts Center, providing professional theater to the surrounding metro area. • The Littleton Museum • Gravesite of Alferd Packer.