Bennett, Colorado

Bennett, Colorado
Statutory Town [1]
Bennett skyline (2007)
Location of Bennett in Adams and Arapahoe counties of Colorado
Bennett Location of the Town of Bennett, Colorado. Show map of the United States Bennett Bennett (Colorado) Show map of Colorado
Coordinates: 39°45′32″N104°25′39″W / 39.7589°N 104.4275°W / 39.7589; -104.4275 [2]
Country	United States of America
State	State of Colorado
Counties	Adams County [3] Arapahoe County
Incorporated (town)	January 22, 1930 [4]
Government
• Type	Statutory Town [1]
• Mayor	Royce Pindell [5]
Area [6]
• Total	5.801 sq mi (15.024 km2)
• Land	5.795 sq mi (15.008 km2)
• Water	0.006 sq mi (0.016 km2)
Elevation [2]	5,486 ft (1,672 m)
Population  (2020) [6]
• Total	2,862
• Density	494/sq mi (191/km2)
Time zone	UTC−07:00 (MST)
• Summer (DST)	UTC−06:00 (MDT)
ZIP code	80102 [7]
Area codes	303/720/983
GNIS pop ID	204738
GNIS town ID	2411676
FIPS code	08-06090
Website	[Town of Bennett]

Bennett is a Statutory Town located in Adams and Arapahoe counties, Colorado, United States. ^[1] The town population was 2,862 at the 2020 United States Census with 2,443 residing in Adams County and 419 residing in Arapahoe County. ^[6]

History

Bennett was originally known as Kiowa Crossing, The Bennet, Colorado, post office opened on March 16, 1877, but the spelling was changed to Bennett on June 1, 1907, ^[8] and the Town of Bennett was incorporated on January 22, 1930. ^[4] Bennett was named for Hiram Pitt Bennet, congressional delegate from the Territory of Colorado and Colorado Secretary of State. ^[9]

Kiowa Crossing and train wreck

On May 21, 1878, a heavy rainstorm washed out the railroad bridge over Kiowa Creek to the east of town. A Kansas Pacific Railway train of 25 cars loaded with scrap iron was washed into the stream with crewmen Frank Seldon, George Piatt, and John Bacon on board. Most of the wrecked train was recovered, but the locomotive #51 was never officially found. The story of the lost locomotive inspired Clive Cussler to write Night Probe! ; Later, in 1989, his nonprofit NUMA searched for the locomotive with no luck, as it turned out the locomotive wasn't there to find. That same year, archivist Lloyd Glasier at Union Pacific discovered that the railroad had found the locomotive, secretly lifted it to the surface and towed it to their workshop, where they rebuilt it, put it back into service with a new number, and collected the insurance money for its loss in an insurance fraud. ^[10]

Colorado spam king

Edward Davidson, known also as the "Colorado Spam King", operated an illegal spamming company, Power promotions, from July 2002 through April 2007 from a home near Bennett where he had a large network of computers and servers, according to federal authorities. The spam contained false header information, concealing the actual sender from the recipient of the e-mail. Davidson provided spammed messages for about 19 different companies, prosecutors said. Some of the e-mailed pitches were used to dupe stock investors and manipulate the market, federal authorities said. Davidson was sentenced to 21 months in federal prison and ordered to pay $714,139 to the Internal Revenue Service.^{[ citation needed ]} On July 20, 2008, he escaped from a minimum-security prison. Four days later, he was found dead with his wife and a child, both also dead, in an apparent murder-suicide near Bennett. ^[11]

Geography

Bennett is located at coordinates 39°45′32″N104°25′39″W / 39.7589°N 104.4275°W / 39.7589; -104.4275 at an elevation of 5486 ^[2] at the intersection of State Highways 36 and 79, just north of Interstate 70.

At the 2020 United States Census, the town had a total area of 3,713 acres (15.024 km²) including 4.0 acres (0.016 km²) of water. ^[6]

The highest temperature ever recorded in Colorado occurred in Bennett on July 11, 1888, when it reached 118 °F (48 °C). ^[12] However, climatologists say this reading is an error because the temperature in downtown Denver on that day reached 100 degrees and it would be nearly impossible for it to be 18 degrees hotter just 30 miles east. ^[13]

Demographics

Historical population

Census	Pop.	Note	%±
1930	211		—
1940	199		−5.7%
1950	272		36.7%
1960	287		5.5%
1970	613		113.6%
1980	942		53.7%
1990	1,757		86.5%
2000	2,021		15.0%
2010	2,308		14.2%
2020	2,862		24.0%
U.S. Decennial Census

Bennett is a part of the Denver-Aurora-Lakewood, CO Metropolitan Statistical Area and the Front Range Urban Corridor.

As of the census ^[14] of 2000, there were 2,021 people, 715 households, and 539 families residing in the town. The population density was 652.3 inhabitants per square mile (251.9/km²). There were 732 housing units at an average density of 236.3 per square mile (91.2/km²). The racial makeup of the town was 94.56% White, 0.49% African American, 0.74% Native American, 0.30% Asian, 0.15% Pacific Islander, 1.63% from other races, and 2.13% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 4.45% of the population.

There were 715 households, out of which 49.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 58.3% were married couples living together, 10.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 24.5% were non-families. 21.0% of all households were made up of individuals, and 6.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.83 and the average family size was 3.30.

In the town, the population was spread out, with 34.5% under the age of 18, 7.0% from 18 to 24, 34.7% from 25 to 44, 18.1% from 45 to 64, and 5.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 31 years. For every 100 females, there were 103.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 97.8 males.

The median income for a household in the town was $46,600, and the median income for a family was $50,881. Males had a median income of $38,672 versus $26,354 for females. The per capita income for the town was $17,905. About 3.7% of families and 5.8% of the population were below the poverty line, including 5.9% of those under age 18 and 8.9% of those age 65 or over.

Notable people

• Hiram Pitt Bennet (September 2, 1826 – November 11, 1914), congressional delegate from the Territory of Colorado and Colorado Secretary of State ^[15]
• Tim Samaras (1957–2013), engineer and storm chaser who starred on Discovery Channel's documentary reality television series Storm Chasers

See also

• Geography portal
• History portal
• United States portal
• Colorado portal

• Bibliography of Colorado
• Geography of Colorado
  • Denver-Aurora-Lakewood, CO Metropolitan Statistical Area
  • Front Range Urban Corridor
• History of Colorado
• Index of Colorado-related articles
  • The Sea Hunters: True Adventures With Famous Shipwrecks
• List of Colorado-related lists
  • List of municipalities in Colorado
  • List of populated places in Colorado
  • List of post offices in Colorado
• Outline of Colorado

References

1. "Active Colorado Municipalities". Colorado Department of Local Affairs . Retrieved October 15, 2021.
2. "Bennett, Colorado". Geographic Names Information System . United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior . Retrieved January 25, 2025.
3. "Colorado Counties". Colorado Department of Local Affairs . Retrieved January 25, 2025.
4. "Colorado Municipal Incorporations". State of Colorado, Department of Personnel & Administration, Colorado State Archives. December 1, 2004. Retrieved August 18, 2007.
5. "Town Board". Town of Bennett. Archived from the original on September 28, 2007. Retrieved August 20, 2007.
6. "Decennial Census P.L. 94-171 Redistricting Data". United States Census Bureau, United States Department of Commerce. August 12, 2021. Retrieved September 7, 2021.
7. "ZIP Code Lookup". United States Postal Service. January 11, 2007. Archived from the original (JavaScript/HTML) on September 3, 2007. Retrieved January 11, 2007.
8. Bauer, William H.; Ozment, James L.; Willard, John H. (1990). Colorado Post Offices 1859–1989. Golden, Colorado: Colorado Railroad Historical Foundation. ISBN   0-918654-42-4.
9. Dawson, John Frank (1954). Place names in Colorado: why 700 communities were so named, 150 of Spanish or Indian origin. Denver, CO: The J. Frank Dawson Publishing Co. p. 9. Archived from the original on February 17, 2023.
10. "Lost Locomotive of Kiowa Creek". NUMA.net. Retrieved May 18, 2016.
11. "'Spam King' Inmate Dies Along With Wife, Daughter". CBS4 Denver. July 24, 2008. Archived from the original on July 25, 2008.
12. "Record Highest Temperatures by State" (PDF). www.ncdc.noaa.gov. Archived from the original (PDF) on February 14, 2015. Retrieved June 9, 2015.
13. "Colorado temperature record from 1888 is not valid". July 12, 2023.
14. "U.S. Census website". United States Census Bureau . Retrieved January 31, 2008.
15. "Town History". State of Colorado. Archived from the original on August 4, 2014. Retrieved August 31, 2012.

External links

• Town of Bennett
  • Bennett, Colorado
• State of Colorado
  • CDOT map of the Town of Bennett
  • History Colorado