Arvada

Sister cities

• Kyzylorda
• Mechelen

History

The first documented discovery of gold in the Rocky Mountain region occurred on June 22, 1850, when Lewis Ralston, a Georgia prospector traveling with a party headed for the California gold fields, dipped his sluice pan into a small stream near its confluence with Clear Creek. He found about ¼ troy ounce (8 g) of gold, then worth about five dollars (about $ USD today.) While Ralston was elated, the rest of the party was unimpressed and continued on to California the next morning. Ralston continued panning for gold, but after a few days gave up and caught up with his party. The site of Lewis Ralston's gold discovery now lies along Ralston Creek in the City of Arvada's Gold Strike Park. In 1858, Ralston brought another group of prospectors back to the site of his first discovery. Ralston and most of the miners gave up after a few days, but several miners found gold upstream along the South Platte River. The placer gold in the area soon played out, but hard rock deposits of gold were found in the mountains to the west. In 1860, Benjamin F. Wadsworth claimed a homestead of along Clear Creek, and the following year began digging an irrigation ditch, that would later take his name, to water his crops. Some of the miners abandoned their search for gold and returned to farm the rich bottom land along Ralston Creek and Clear Creek. They found an eager market for their crops among other gold seekers. The Territory of Colorado was formed on February 28, 1861, and the farms in the valley expanded to feed the growing population of the region. In the summer of 1870, the Colorado Central Railroad laid tracks through the area from the junction of Kansas Pacific Railroad and the Denver Pacific Railroad at Jersey Junction, north of Denver City, to connect to Golden at the mouth…

Geography

Arvada is located at coordinates and elevation .

Race & ethnicity

Most-observed species

• House Finch

  Haemorhous mexicanus (P.L.Statius Müller, 1776) · Aves
  70,763
• Black-capped Chickadee

  Poecile atricapillus (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  59,459
• Northern Flicker

  Colaptes auratus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  57,965
• American Robin

  Turdus migratorius Linnaeus, 1766 · Aves
  49,088
• Mallard

  Anas platyrhynchos Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  48,196
• Canada Goose (canadensis Group)

  Branta canadensis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  43,977
• Black-billed Magpie

  Pica hudsonia (Sabine, 1823) · Aves
  42,007
• Red-winged Blackbird

  Agelaius phoeniceus (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  41,449

Largest nearby schools

• Astravo Online Academy High School
  High · LAKEWOOD · 2,134 students · 52:1 ratio
• Lakewood High School
  High · LAKEWOOD · 1,885 students · 18.9:1 ratio
• Ralston Valley Senior High School
  High · ARVADA · 1,843 students · 21.2:1 ratio
• Arvada West High School
  High · ARVADA · 1,840 students · 20.4:1 ratio
• Golden High School
  High · GOLDEN · 1,416 students · 21.5:1 ratio
• Standley Lake High School
  High · WESTMINSTER · 1,180 students · 18.7:1 ratio
• Pomona High School
  High · ARVADA · 1,132 students · 19.2:1 ratio
• Green Mountain High School
  High · LAKEWOOD · 1,085 students · 18.7:1 ratio

Most recent

• M 3 — 2025-10-17
  11 km NNE of Black Forest, Colorado
• M 2.7 — 2025-06-13
  7 km SE of Erie, Colorado
• M 2.5 — 2020-10-24
  2 km ESE of Georgetown, Colorado
• M 2.9 — 2019-03-30
  7 km NE of Greeley, Colorado
• M 3 — 2016-11-06
  8 km ENE of Greeley, Colorado
• M 2.7 — 2016-11-06
  8 km ENE of Greeley, Colorado