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Aurora Counties
Aurora, when originally platted and incorporated as Fletcher,
Colorado, consisted of four square miles of land - just under
one square acre. The city now encompasses more than 144
square miles, most of which was acquired through annexation.
To date, the City has annexed land on more than 480 separate
occasions (source: City of Aurora Annexation Map 1999).
This provides an explanation for the fact that the City
currently lies within three different counties: Adams,
Arapahoe, & Douglas.
The borders of
the city are very jagged and contain numerous
"pockets" of unincorporated county land as well as
some non-contiguous areas which are part of the city. In
addition, there are two towns, Foxfield and Centennial, which
incorporated themselves specifically for the purpose of avoiding
annexation by Aurora, thereby creating small enclaves of
non-Aurora space within the generalized borders of Aurora.
Fortunately, the county borderlines are far more orderly and
logical and can usually be traced along a straight line.
To determine
which county your ancestors lived in, the following is a good
general guide. Generally speaking, everything north of
Colfax Ave (Hwy 40) falls within Adams County. Everything
south of County Line Road falls within Douglas County. The
vast majority of the city - those parts between Colfax Ave.
& County Line Rd. - lies within Arapahoe County borders.
Aurora School
Districts
Aurora residents
are served by two different and unrelated school districts:
the Aurora Public School
District and the Cherry
Creek School District.
The Aurora Public
School District was originally formed as School District 28 in
1886 and her first schoolhouse was built and furnished for less
than $1,200.00. William Smith High School, built in 1931
at 8th & Peoria, was the city's first high school and
is still in use today. The district now serves 29,638
students in 44 schools.
The Cherry Creek
School District was formed circa 1949. More info on this
district will be added to this page soon. Please check
back.
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