Aurora

Sister cities

• Seongnam
• Zielona Góra

History

Before European settlement, the land that now makes up Aurora was the territory of the Arapaho, Cheyenne, Ute, and Sioux tribes. These lands were claimed by France in 1682 and subsequently became part of the 1803 Louisiana Purchase. Aurora originated in the 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 east of Denver, but the town—and Colorado—struggled mightily after the Silver Crash of 1893. The Town of Fletcher was incorporated on May 5, 1903. By February 1928, the town of Aurora had reached a population of over 2,000 and it was reincorporated as a city on March 9. 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. Decommissioned in 1999, the facility is part of the Anschutz Medical Campus of the University of Colorado Denver, and the Fitzsimons Life Science District. The Anschutz Medical Campus also includes the University of Colorado Hospital, which moved to Aurora from Denver in 2007, and the Children's Hospital. The first carbon-ion radiotherapy research and treatment facility in the U.S. has been proposed at the site. These facilities will employ a workforce of 32,000 at build-out. In 1965, mayor Norma O. Walker became the first woman to head a U.S. city with a population over 60,000. In 1978, the cult coming-of-age film Over the Edge was filmed in Aurora; the crime drama has been named the "signature film" of Denver. In 1979, it was announced that a science fiction theme park would be built in Aurora using the sets of a $50 million film based on the fantasy novel Lord of Light. However,…

Geography

Aurora's official elevation, posted on signs at the city limits, is . However, the city spans a difference in elevation of nearly . The lowest elevation of is found at the point where Sand Creek crosses the city limit in the northwest corner of the city, while the highest elevation of is on the extreme southern border of the city in Douglas County, near the intersection of Inspiration and Gartrell roads. According to 2023 data published by the United States census, the city has a total area of including of water. The city is about 6 percent more extensive than neighboring Denver but 80 percent of the size of Colorado Springs, ranking as the 54th-largest U.S. city in land area. Aurora is composed of dozens of neighborhoods, districts and (current and former) military installations. Among them: * Adonea * Anschutz Medical Campus * Aurora Heights * Aurora Highlands * Aurora Hills * Aurora Knolls * Beacon Point * Berkshire Village * Blackstone * Brookvale * Buckley Space Force Base * Carriage Place * Centretech * Chadsford * Chaddsford Village * Chambers Heights * Chelsea * Cinnamon Village II * City Center * Conservatory * Copperleaf * Corning * Crestridge * Cross Creek * The Dam East * Del Mar * The Dam West * Downtown A-Town (the Fletcher townsite, Aurora's "downtown") * Eastridge * East Quincy Highlands * Fox Hill * Greenfield * Gunk Club * Hallcraft's Village East * Hampton Hills * Havana Heights * Heather Gardens * Heather Ridge * Heritage Eagle Bend Golf Club * Highline Villages * Highpoint * Hillside at Del Mar * Hoffman Heights * Horizon Uptown * Horseshoe Park * Hutchinson Heights * Inspiration * Jackson Farm * Kingsborough * Laredo-Highline * Lowry Campus (formerly Lowry Air Force Base) * Lynn Knoll * Majestic Commercenter II * Meadowood * Meadow Hills *…

Race & ethnicity

Most-observed species

• House Finch

  Haemorhous mexicanus (P.L.Statius Müller, 1776) · Aves
  47,161
• Black-billed Magpie

  Pica hudsonia (Sabine, 1823) · Aves
  42,393
• Northern Flicker

  Colaptes auratus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  42,109
• Mallard

  Anas platyrhynchos Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  40,755
• Black-capped Chickadee

  Poecile atricapillus (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  38,504
• American Robin

  Turdus migratorius Linnaeus, 1766 · Aves
  37,685
• Red-winged Blackbird

  Agelaius phoeniceus (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  37,200
• Canada Goose (canadensis Group)

  Branta canadensis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  35,791

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