The City of Thornton is a

home rule municipality Devolution is the statutory delegation of powers from the central government of a sovereign state to govern at a subnational level, such as a regional or local level. It is a form of administrative decentralization. Devolved territories ...

located in Adams and Weld

counties A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesChambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of t ...

, United States. The city population was 141,867, all in Adams County, at the

2020 United States Census The United States census of 2020 was the twenty-fourth decennial United States census. Census Day, the reference day used for the census, was April 1, 2020. Other than a pilot study during the 2000 census, this was the first U.S. census to of ...

, an increase of +19.44% since the

2010 United States Census The United States census of 2010 was the twenty-third United States national census. National Census Day, the reference day used for the census, was April 1, 2010. The census was taken via mail-in citizen self-reporting, with enumerators servin ...

. Thornton is the sixth most populous city in Colorado and the 191st most populous city in the United States. Thornton is north of the

Colorado State Capitol The Colorado State Capitol Building, located at 200 East Colfax Avenue in Denver, Colorado, United States, is the home of the Colorado General Assembly and the offices of the Governor of Colorado and Lieutenant Governor of Colorado. History ...

Denver Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...

and is a part of the

Denver–Aurora–Lakewood, CO Metropolitan Statistical Area Denver is the central city of a conurbation region in the U.S. state of Colorado. The conurbation includes one continuous region consisting of the six central counties of Adams, Arapahoe, Broomfield, Denver, Douglas, and Jefferson. The Denver re ...

History

Thornton consisted solely of farmland until 1953, when Sam Hoffman purchased a lot off Washington Street about north of Denver. The town he laid out was the first fully planned community in Adams County, and the first to offer full

municipal services Municipal services or city services refer to basic services that residents of a city expect to the city government to provide in exchange for the taxes which citizens pay. Basic city services may include sanitation (both sewer and refuse), wate ...

from a single

tax A tax is a compulsory financial charge or some other type of levy imposed on a taxpayer (an individual or legal entity) by a governmental organization in order to fund government spending and various public expenditures (regional, local, or n ...

levy, including recreation services and free trash pickup. Thornton was named in honor of then-incumbent Colorado Governor

Dan Thornton Daniel Isaac J. Thornton (January 31, 1911 – January 18, 1976) was an American Republican politician who served as the 33rd governor of the state of Colorado from 1951 to 1955. Biography Daniel Isaac J. Thornton was born in Hall County, Texa ...

. The Thornton Community Association (TCA) was formed in 1954 to help guide the new community's development. By the end of 1955, Thornton had 5,500 residents in over 1,200 homes. The TCA was instrumental in Thornton's 1956 incorporation as a city. Oyer G. Leary was elected the first mayor.

Geography

Thornton is located at (39.903043, -104.954406). At the

, the town had a total area of including of water.

Demographics

As of the 2010 census, there were 118,772 people, 41,359 households, and 30,254 families living in the city. The population density was . There were 43,230 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 77.4%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White on ...

, 4.4%

Asian Asian may refer to: * Items from or related to the continent of Asia: ** Asian people, people in or descending from Asia ** Asian culture, the culture of the people from Asia ** Asian cuisine, food based on the style of food of the people from Asi ...

, 1.8%

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

, 1.1% American Indian, 0.1%

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe the original p ...

, 11.4% from other races, and 3.8% from two or more races. Hispanics and Latinos of any race were 31.7% of the population. There were 41,359 households, out of which 43.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 54.7% were married couples living together, 6.2% had a male householder with no wife present, 12.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 26.9% were non-families. 20.1% of all households were made up of individuals, and 4.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.86, and the average family size was 3.32. The distribution of the population by age was 29.5% under the age of 18, 9.1% from 18 to 24, 32.6% from 25 to 44, 22.3% from 45 to 64, and 6.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 32.0 years. The gender makeup of the city was 49.5% male and 50.5% female. The median income for a household in the city was $65,578, and the median income for a family was $74,233. Males had a median income of $49,154 versus $39,596 for females. The city's

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or total income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. It is calculated by dividing the area's total income by its total population. Per capita i ...

was $26,100. About 7.8% of families and 9.9% of the population were below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for t ...

, including 14.1% of those under age 18 and 7.4% of those age 65 or over.

Recreation

Thornton has 81 city parks and nearly of parks and open space. There are over of trails throughout the city. Recreational facilities include the Margaret Carpenter Recreation Center and the Thornton Community Center.

Golf course A golf course is the grounds on which the sport of golf is played. It consists of a series of holes, each consisting of a tee box, a fairway, the rough and other hazards, and a green with a cylindrical hole in the ground, known as a "cup". Th ...

s include the Thorncreek Golf Course and Todd Creek Golf.

Transportation

Major highways in Thornton are

I-25 Interstate 25 (I-25) is a major Interstate Highway in the western United States. It is primarily a north–south highway, serving as the main route through New Mexico, Colorado, and Wyoming. I-25 stretches from I-10 at Las Cruces, New Mexic ...

I-76 Interstate 76 may refer to: Interstate Highways in the United States * Interstate 76 (Colorado–Nebraska) * Interstate 76 (Ohio–New Jersey), running through Pennsylvania Video gaming * ''Interstate '76 ''Interstate '76'' is a vehicular ...

, SH 7, SH 44, SH 224, and

E-470 E-470 is a controlled-access toll road that traverses the eastern portion of the Denver metropolitan area in the US state of Colorado. It is the eastern half of the 470 beltway that serves Meridian, Parker, Aurora, Denver International Airport, ...

. Thornton is served by the Denver Regional Transportation District (RTD), which provides bus service to Thornton and the rest of the

Denver metropolitan area Denver is the central city of a conurbation region in the U.S. state of Colorado. The conurbation includes one continuous region consisting of the six central counties of Adams, Arapahoe, Broomfield, Denver, Douglas, and Jefferson. The Denver r ...

. The agency opened the

N Line N, or n, is the fourteenth Letter (alphabet), letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the English alphabet, modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is English alphabet# ...

commuter rail Commuter rail, or suburban rail, is a passenger rail transport service that primarily operates within a metropolitan area, connecting commuters to a central city from adjacent suburbs or commuter towns. Generally commuter rail systems are con ...

to Thornton in 2020. The major airport that serves Thornton is

Denver International Airport Denver International Airport , locally known as DIA, is an international airport in the Western United States, primarily serving metropolitan Denver, Colorado, as well as the greater Front Range Urban Corridor. At , it is the largest airport in ...

Education

Thornton is served primarily by three school districts
Adams County School District 12Mapleton Public Schools
and Brighton School District 27J. These include: Eight high schools ( Thornton High School and Horizon High School ,

Riverdale Ridge High School Riverdale may refer to: Buildings *Riverdale Centre, former name for Lewisham Shopping Centre, London, England *Riverdale House, a Victorian mansion in Sheffield, England * Riverdale (Selma, Alabama), a historic plantation house in Dallas County, A ...

, and five of Mapleton's small by design high schools), eleven middle schools (Five in Adams 12, one in Brighton 27J, five in Mapleton) and twenty elementary schools (Twelve in Adams 12, two in Brighton 27J, and six in Mapleton). There are also several charter schools in or near Thornton, including

Stargate School Stargate School, also called Stargate Charter School, is a charter school for gifted and talented children in Thornton, Colorado, in the Adams 12 Five Star Schools District in Adams County, Colorado, in the United States. It was founded in 1994 ...

, Colorado Virtual Academy, New America School, Westgate Community Charter School. Lord of Life Lutheran School is a Christian Pre-K-8 school of the

Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod The Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod (WELS), also referred to simply as the Wisconsin Synod, is an American Confessional Lutheran denomination of Christianity. Characterized as theologically conservative, it was founded in 1850 in Milwaukee ...

in Thornton. Thornton has several libraries and is served by the Rangeview Library District, also known as Anythink Libraries.

Shopping

Thornton has several shopping areas, such as Larkridge Mall, Thornton Town Center, and Thorncreek Crossing Shopping Center. Larkridge is home to national anchor tenants, big box retailers, and restaurants, and has a pedestrian village. Larkridge is anchored by Colorado's first Sears Grand store,

Dick's Sporting Goods Dick's Sporting Goods, Inc. (stylized as "DICK'S Sporting Goods") is an American sporting goods retail company, based in Coraopolis, Pennsylvania. The company was established by Richard "Dick" Stack in 1948, and has approximately 854 stores an ...

Bed, Bath & Beyond Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. is an American chain of domestic merchandise retail stores. The chain operates many stores in the United States, Canada, Mexico, and Puerto Rico. Bed Bath & Beyond was founded in 1971. It is counted among the Fortune ...

, and

PetsMart PetSmart is a privately held American chain of pet superstores, which sell pet products, services, and small pets. It is the leading North American pet company, and its direct competitor is Petco. Its indirect competitors are Amazon, Walmart, ...

. DaveCo Liquor Store is the largest liquor store in the world.

Notable people

Notable individuals who were born in or have lived in Thornton include: *

Tesho Akindele Tesho Akindele (born March 31, 1992) is a Canadian former professional soccer player. Club career Early career Tesho Akindele was born in Canada to a Nigerian father and a Canadian mother and moved with his family to the US at the age of eigh ...

(1992- ), soccer forward * Josh Bredl (1991- ), pro wrestler * Edward Casso (1974- ), Colorado state legislator * John Denney (1978- ), football long snapper * Beth Martinez Humenik, Colorado state legislator * Mike Manning (1987- ), actor * Nikki Marshall (1988- ), soccer forward, defender * Mike McCoy (1953-2016), football cornerback *

Adrian Mora Adrián Mora (born February 26, 1978) is an American former professional boxer who competed from 2000 to 2008. He held the IBA light welterweight title in 2007. Amateur career Mora had an amateur career of 62-8 and won a silver medal at the 200 ...

(1978- ), welterweight boxer * Joseph Salazar, Colorado state legislator * Kyle Sleeth (1981- ), baseball starting pitcher *

Neal Ulevich Neal Hirsh Ulevich (born June 18, 1946) is an American photographer. He won a Pulitzer Prize in 1977 for "photographs of disorder and brutality in the streets of Bangkok". Life Ulevich was born and raised in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where he attende ...

(1946- ), photojournalist

References

External links

City of Thornton websiteCDOT map of the City of Thornton
{{authority control Cities in Adams County, Colorado Cities in Weld County, Colorado

Cities in Colorado {{Parent cat , child_level=county , type= , metacategory =Cities in Colorado by county , commonscat=Cities in Colorado , geogroup=y , seealso=Colorado ‎‎ , main=List of cities in Colorado , child_no_parent=21452707 , parent_no_child=21452710 ...

Denver metropolitan area