Arapahoe County, CO Colorado's oldest County -Living in Colorado's oldest County I was definitely aware of that fact, but what I was not aware of is that the county is actually older than Colorado. Yesterday I got my local Centennial Citizen
newspaper and as always I read through it fairly quickly to see if I recognize any faces and names.
This week they had an insert that was titled 150 Ways to enjoy Open Spaces so I thought I could find some really great ideas for blogs, it seems that lists are always good fodder for topics, so I like to keep lists and when I get stuck for a topic, I just refer to the list. As I was reviewing the list of items I went to the Arapahoe County site and starting reading more information.
All three of my boys have attended Arapahoe High School, and from what I understand it is the only High School in the country that has an Arapahoe Warrior as its mascot, every year members of the Arapahoe tribe will come down from Wyoming and perform native dances as well as address the graduates and the graduation ceremonies.
Back to the County, as I was looking through the site, I realized that the reason for the 150, was because it is Arapahoes 150th anniversary, as a Colorado native I knew that Colorado was called the Centennial State because our state is 100 years younger than the U.S., but the math did not add up for the county, 150 years would mean 1861, sure enough our County was part of the original Colorado territories that the congress created and our county stretched all the way to the Kansas border. The County was actually part of the Kansas Territory in 1855, it was not until 1861 that it was divided into several counties including Denver County.
Now history used to be my least favorite subject in High School and college, however the older I get the more fascinating it becomes, maybe because I have lived through a big chunk of it myself. So this year will be full of festivities through out Arapahoe County celebrating the sesquicentennial. I am proud to live in Centennial, CO( which is a newer city and a reminder of the states entry into the US) and also Arapahoe County, the original County in Colorado, happy birthday Arapahoe.
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