303 Area Code 🌍☎️

Denver is the capital and most populous city of Colorado, located in the South Platte River valley on the western edge of the High Plains just east of the Rocky Mountains, with a population of 715,522 at the 2020 census making it the 19th-largest U.S. city and fifth-most populous state capital. Founded in 1858 at the confluence of Cherry Creek and the South Platte River during the Gold Rush era by land speculators William Larimer and Jonathan Cox, who named it after Kansas Territorial Governor James W. Denver, the city earned the nickname "Mile High City" because its elevation is exactly one mile (5,280 feet) above sea level. The ten-county Denver metropolitan area has 3.1 million residents, making it the 19th-largest metro area in the country and the economic and cultural center of the Front Range Urban Corridor. As the most populous metropolitan area within a 560-mile radius, Denver serves as a major cultural hub featuring institutions like the Denver Performing Arts Complex, Denver Art Museum, and Denver Museum of Nature and Science, while also hosting professional sports teams across five leagues and eight Fortune 500 company headquarters. The city grew from its prospecting origins to become the principal commercial and transportation hub for the Great Plains and Rocky Mountain West, with the 105th meridian west - which defines the Mountain Time Zone - passing directly through Denver Union Station. Aurora is a home rule city spanning Arapahoe, Adams, and Douglas counties in Colorado with a 2020 population of 386,261, making it the state's third-most-populous city and the 50th-largest in the United States. Originally founded in 1890 as Fletcher by Denver businessman Donald Fletcher, the town was renamed Aurora in 1907 and incorporated as a city on March 9, 1928, becoming the fastest-growing city in the United States during the late 1970s and early 1980s. The city has hosted major military installations since the early 20th century, including Fitzsimons Army Hospital (opened 1918, decommissioned 1999), Lowry Air Force Base (1938-1994), and Buckley Space Force Base, which remains Aurora's largest employer and home to the 140th Wing Colorado Air National Guard. Aurora is a principal city of the Denver-Aurora-Centennial Metropolitan Statistical Area and part of the Front Range Urban Corridor, with much of its suburban character composed of hundreds of residential subdivisions. The former Fitzsimons Army Hospital site is now part of the Anschutz Medical Campus of the University of Colorado Denver, which includes the University of Colorado Hospital and Children's Hospital. Littleton is a home rule municipality and county seat of Arapahoe County, Colorado, located 9 miles south of downtown Denver within the Denver-Aurora-Centennial Metropolitan Statistical Area, with a 2020 population of 45,652 making it the 20th most populous municipality in Colorado. Founded during the 1859 Pike's Peak gold rush, the city was established by engineer Richard Sullivan Little and his wife Angeline in 1862, who built the Rough and Ready Flour Mill in 1867 and saw the community incorporate in 1890 with 245 residents. The city experienced significant growth during the 1950s and 1960s due to proximity to Denver and Martin Marietta's aerospace facilities, which produced the Titan rocket and related products. Littleton became widely known following the April 1999 Columbine High School massacre, in which two students killed 12 students and one teacher before killing themselves, though the school is actually located in the unincorporated community of Columbine in Jefferson County rather than in Littleton itself. Located on the South Platte River in the Colorado Piedmont region with a total area of 13.87 square miles, Littleton sits at the junction of U.S. Route 85 and Colorado State Highway 470, approximately 55 miles north of Colorado Springs.