Adams County, Colorado

Adams County is the fifth most populous of the of the  of the. The estimates that the county population was 414,338 in 2006, a 13.87% increase since. Adams County is named for, a former. The is. Adams County is part of the and the.

History
On, , the created the  and , divided by the  ( in present-day Adams County). The future Adams County, Colorado, occupied a strip of northern Arapaho County,, immediately south of the.

In, built a ranch, trading post, and hotel on Henderson Island in the  in Arapaho County,. Jack Henderson was the former editor and proprietor of the  Journal and an outspoken pro-slavery politician who had been accused of vote fraud in eastern Kansas. Henderson sold meat and provisions to gold seekers on their way up the South Platte River Trail to the gold fields during the. Henderson Island was the first permanent settlement in the South Platte River Valley between in the  and the   in the. Jack Henderson eventually returned to eastern Kansas and (ironically) fought for the in the. Henderson Island is today the site of the Adams County Regional Park and Fairgrounds.

The eastern portion of the was  as the  on, , and on  , the remaining western portion of the territory was made part of the new. The created, on  , and Colorado was  on ,.

In, the voted to split  into three parts:  a new Adams County, a new  , and the remainder of the Arapahoe County to be renamed. A ruling by the, subsequent , and a delayed the creation of Adams County until ,. designated as the temporary Adams County. Adams County originally stretched 160 miles (258 kilometers) from present-day Sheridan Boulevard to the state border. On, , the eastern 88 miles (142 kilometers) of Adams County was transferred to the new and the new , reducing the length of Adams County to the present 72 miles (116 kilometers). On, , Adams County voters chose as the permanent.

A vote transferred 53 square miles (137 square kilometers) of Adams County to the  for the proposed, leaving the densely populated western portion of the county as two oddly-shaped peninsulas. Adams County lost the tip of its northwest corner when the consolidated was created on,.

Geography
According to the, the county has a total area of 3,102 (1,198 ). 3,087 km² (1,192 sq mi) of it is land and 15 km² (6 sq mi) of it (0.48%) is water.

Adams County surrounds (and surrendered the land for) most of which is in the.

Adjacent Counties

 * - north
 * - northeast
 * - east
 * - south
 * - south
 * - west
 * - northwest

Demographics
As of the of 2000, there were 363,857 people, 128,156 households, and 92,144 families residing in the county. The was 118/km² (305/sq mi). There were 132,594 housing units at an average density of 43/km² (111/sq mi). The racial makeup of the county was 77.29%, 2.97% or , 1.19% , 3.21% , 0.12% , 11.73% from , and 3.49% from two or more races. 28.19% of the population were or  of any race.

There were 128,156 households out of which 37.80% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 53.80% were living together, 12.10% had a female householder with no husband present, and 28.10% were non-families. 21.20% of all households were made up of individuals and 5.50% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.81 and the average family size was 3.27.

In the county the population was spread out with 28.60% under the age of 18, 10.30% from 18 to 24, 34.00% from 25 to 44, 19.40% from 45 to 64, and 7.80% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 31 years. For every 100 females there were 102.80 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 102.10 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $47,323, and the median income for a family was $52,517. Males had a median income of $36,499 versus $28,053 for females. The for the county was $19,944. About 6.50% of families and 8.90% of the population were below the, including 10.90% of those under age 18 and 7.30% of those age 65 or over.

Cities and town
Seven cities and one town (Bennett) have been established in the county. Portions of most of these municipalities lie in adjacent counties as well:
 * (partially)
 * (partially)
 * (partially)
 * (partially)
 * (partially)
 * (partially)
 * (partially)
 * (partially)
 * (partially)

Unincorporated Communities

 * (portions have been annexed by Brighton, Commerce City and Thornton)

License plate code
Adams County has used the following county codes on Colorado issued to passenger vehicles in the county: TE-UF, GA-GG, SAA-SEW, and SEY-TZZ.