Aurora

Aurora is a home rule city located in Arapahoe County, Adams County, and Douglas County, in north-central Colorado, United States. A home rule city spanning all three counties, Aurora recorded a population of 386,261 at the 2020 United States Census, with 336,035 residents living in Arapahoe County, 47,720 in Adams County, and 2,506 in Douglas County. Aurora is the third-most-populous city in the State of Colorado and the 51st-most-populous city in the United States. Situated directly east of Denver, Aurora grew from a modest farming settlement into a major metropolitan city, shaped by military installations, post-war expansion, and one of the nation's most significant medical research campuses. At more than 165 square miles, the city reaches into Arapahoe, Adams, and Douglas counties.

Early History and Founding

Before European settlement, the land that now makes up Aurora was the territory of the Arapaho, Cheyenne, Núu-agha-tʉvʉ-pʉ̱ (Ute), and Očeti Šakówiŋ (Sioux) tribes. These lands were claimed by France in 1682 and subsequently became part of the 1803 Louisiana Purchase.

Aurora originated in 1890 as the town of Fletcher, taking its name from Denver businessman Donald Fletcher, who saw it as a real estate opportunity. He and his partners staked out four square miles east of Denver, but the town — and Colorado — struggled mightily after the Silver Crash of 1893. Named after one of the developers, Donald Fletcher, the town boasted 39 residents, the beginnings of a water system, and 14 new brick homes designed with indoor plumbing. The oldest of the nine remaining houses Donald Fletcher built for his speculative community east of Denver features indoor plumbing and an upstairs bathroom — a luxury considering both the time period and the arid surroundings.

The Town of Fletcher was incorporated on May 5, 1903. Fletcher himself skipped town, leaving the community with a huge water debt. Voters decided to rename Fletcher the Town of Aurora in 1907, after one of the subdivisions composing the town. The Aurora, Colorado, post office opened on January 15, 1908. In 1902, Adams County was created from Arapahoe County, and the division line split the community, placing it in two counties.

In 1928, after reaching a population of more than 2,000 residents, the Colorado Secretary of State recognized Aurora as a city. The area was originally used by families such as the DeLaneys for raising horses, dairy cattle, and other livestock. The DeLaney Farm Historic District is a valuable example of the history of farming and ranching in the Aurora area from the 1880s. Aurora today has 34 historic landmarks, 2 historic districts, and 6 cultural heritage sites.

Military Legacy

Since the very early years of this city, the military has been a big part of Aurora's history. For almost 100 years, Aurora has been home to countless service men and women and their families.

In 1918, Army General Hospital #21 — later renamed Fitzsimons Army Hospital — opened, with the U.S. government expanding and upgrading the hospital facilities in 1941 just in time to care for the wounded servicemen of World War II. The hospital was renamed to honor Lieutenant William Thomas Fitzsimons, the first U.S. Army officer killed in World War I. Several U.S. presidents had notable connections to Fitzsimons. President Warren G. Harding visited Fitzsimons Army Hospital in 1923, and President Franklin D. Roosevelt visited in 1936. In 1943, the hospital was the birthplace of 2004 Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry. President Dwight D. Eisenhower recovered from a heart attack at Fitzsimons for seven weeks during the fall of 1955.

Lowry Air Force Base was opened in 1938, straddling the border of Aurora and Denver. It eventually closed in 1994 and has been redeveloped into a master-planned community featuring residential, commercial, business, and educational facilities. In 1955, Lowry Air Force Base became the temporary home of the U.S. Air Force Academy, with the first class entering on July 11, 1955.

In 1942, the Army Air Corps built Buckley Field, which has since been renamed Naval Air Station, Buckley Air National Guard Base, Buckley Air Force Base, and finally Buckley Space Force Base. The base, home of the Buckley Garrison and the 140th Wing Colorado Air National Guard, is Aurora's largest employer.

Aurora is home to the Colorado Freedom Memorial, dedicated in 2013 to honor all Colorado military personnel who have lost their lives in combat while serving the country.

Growth and Demographics

Aurora slowly began to grow in Denver's shadow, becoming the fastest-growing city in the United States during the late 1970s and early 1980s. While other cities, including Denver, were already grappling with housing shortages in the mid-twentieth century, Aurora was a comparatively homogenous suburb of only 11,421 people in 1950. Its population grew near-exponentially in the 1960s and more than doubled between 1970 and 1980 alone.

In 2010, Aurora became the first large "majority-minority" city in Colorado, with roughly 53 percent of its citizens identifying as something other than white on the census. More than 28 percent of residents are Latino, 44 percent are white, 6.5 percent are Asian, and 16.5 percent are Black. About 20 percent of residents were born somewhere outside the United States, most of whom hail from Mexico and Ethiopia, and a third of the population speaks a language other than English at home.

Like other U.S. cities with long military histories, Aurora has benefited from integrated housing on base, secure employment, and private housing incentives. Military perquisites may undermine persistent discrimination seen across the U.S. in housing and employment, and in Aurora, the influence is significant. Almost 10 percent of Aurora's population are military veterans.

The City of Aurora is a full-service city governed by a council/manager form of government, which combines the political leadership of elected officials with the managerial expertise of an appointed local government manager. Aurora provides access to quality education, with four school districts and eight campuses of higher learning meeting the instructional needs of residents and those beyond the city limits.

The Anschutz Medical Campus

One of Aurora's most significant modern developments has been the transformation of the former Fitzsimons Army Medical Center into a world-class health and research hub. In 1995, Fitzsimons Army Medical Center was placed on the Base Realignment and Closure list by Congress. Officials from the Health Sciences Center, the University of Colorado Hospital, and the City of Aurora presented a proposal to the Department of Defense to utilize part of the decommissioned Army medical center as an academic health center for the University of Colorado.

After the base was decommissioned in 1999, the campus adopted its current name in 2006 after the Anschutz family donated $91 million to construct the Anschutz Centers for Advanced Medicine, which include the Anschutz Outpatient and Cancer Pavilions, and the Anschutz Inpatient Pavilion. The combined 578-acre CU Anschutz and Fitzsimons Life Science District is undergoing a $4.3 billion renovation and transformation into the largest medical-related redevelopment project in the United States.

The University of Colorado Anschutz is the largest academic health center in the Rocky Mountain region. The campus includes the University of Colorado health professional schools, multiple centers and institutes, and two nationally ranked hospitals — UCHealth University of Colorado Hospital and Children's Hospital Colorado — with more than 2.9 million patient visits each year. Academically, CU Anschutz serves 4,500 students in more than 40 highly rated degree programs across six schools and colleges. The campus attracted a record $910 million in research funding in the 2023–24 fiscal year, creating an overall economic impact to the state of Colorado of $13.5 billion.

UCHealth University of Colorado Hospital has been designated the number-one hospital in Colorado in 2025 by U.S. News & World Report.

The 2012 Aurora Theater Shooting

On July 20, 2012, Aurora became the site of one of the deadliest mass shootings in Colorado history. Twelve people were killed and 70 were injured in the mass shooting that occurred inside Aurora's Century 16 movie theater during a midnight screening of The Dark Knight Rises. The massacre began when 24-year-old James Holmes entered Theater 9 at the Century 16 multiplex through a parking lot exit door and threw gas canisters into the theater. He was dressed in a gas mask and black combat gear, leading some audience members to initially think he was performing a stunt for the film. Instead, Holmes opened fire at the audience, shooting people at random.

The shooting was the deadliest mass shooting in Colorado since the 1999 Columbine shooting, in which 12 high school students and a teacher were murdered. Holmes had enrolled in a Ph.D. neuroscience program at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus in Aurora in 2011 but dropped out in June 2012 after failing an important exam.

In a 2015 trial, Holmes was sentenced to 12 consecutive life sentences without parole. A memorial garden for the victims of the 2012 theater shooting is located adjacent to City Hall.

Recreation and Culture

Aurora's climate is mild and dry, with more than 300 days of sunshine a year. Aurora has five golf courses, two reservoirs, 103 parks, and over 5,000 acres of open space and trails. Situated at the foot of the Rocky Mountains, Aurora serves as a gateway to all Colorado has to offer.

The Regional Transportation District's light rail transit system was extended to serve the southwestern edge of Aurora on November 17, 2006. The H Line stops at Aurora's Dayton and Nine Mile Stations. On February 24, 2017, the line was extended as the R Line to Peoria Station in the city's northwest, where riders may transfer to the A Line providing service between Union Station in Downtown Denver and Denver International Airport.

The Aurora Symphony Orchestra, a community orchestra established in 1978, offers a full season of full orchestra concerts annually as well as smaller chamber ensemble performances. The Aurora Public Library provides four main branches and a variety of events throughout the year. The Aurora History Museum serves as the city's primary cultural institution, featuring nearly 100 historic photos, artifacts from Aurora's military history, and a one-of-a-kind fully-restored 1913 trolley that once ran along Colfax Avenue.

The city seal has five stars on it, a feature kept from the original city emblem made to adorn a previous Municipal Building in the 1950s. The five stars represent home, church, school, business, and industry — all considered essential to a healthy, progressive community.