Bennett

History

Bennett was originally known as Kiowa Crossing or Bennett Station. A post office operating under the name Bennet opened on March 16, 1877, named for Hiram Pitt Bennet, a congressional delegate from the Territory of Colorado and Colorado Secretary of State. The spelling was officially changed to Bennett on June 1, 1907. During the late 19th century, the settlement served as a pivotal railroad and ranching hub on the Kansas Pacific Railway (later Union Pacific) line. On May 21, 1878, a disastrous flood struck the Kiowa Crossing. Heavy rains caused Kiowa Creek to swell, washing out the railroad embankment and the bridge. A Kansas Pacific Railway train consisting of 25 cars loaded with scrap iron fell into the torrent. Crewmen Frank Seldon (identified in later reports as Belden), George Piatt, and John Bacon were on board during the accident. A 1914 retrospective by Union Pacific Superintendent Vickroy stated that a guest passenger, a hotel clerk named Peysert, also went down with the engine. While most of the wreckage was recovered, the locomotive disappeared into the sandy creek bed. Eyewitnesses described the flood's force as comparable to Niagara Falls, capable of lifting heavy boulders and iron-like Valmont stone and carrying them downstream. Following the disaster, Colonel Fisher, the division superintendent, quickly constructed a "surface bridge" to replace the lost structure, a method successfully used by the Denver and Rio Grande Railroad to mitigate costs and delays from washouts. The "Lost Locomotive of Kiowa Creek" became a local legend. While official records identify the engine as #51, the 1914 account claimed it was a new Baldwin No. 73. Public recovery efforts at the time were extensive but futile; Master Mechanic I. W. Nesmith reportedly spent $6,000…

Geography

Bennett is located 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 including of water. 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.

Race & ethnicity

Most-observed species

• Western Meadowlark

  Sturnella neglecta Audubon, 1844 · Aves
  803
• Horned Lark

  Eremophila alpestris (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  617
• Mourning Dove

  Zenaida macroura (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  611
• Red-winged Blackbird

  Agelaius phoeniceus (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  593
• Mallard

  Anas platyrhynchos Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  581
• Canada Goose (canadensis Group)

  Branta canadensis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  566
• Ring-billed Gull

  Larus delawarensis Ord, 1815 · Aves
  561
• Red-tailed Hawk

  Buteo jamaicensis (Gmelin, 1788) · Aves
  514

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 2.9 — 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
• M 2.6 — 2016-08-23
  2 km SSE of Eaton, Colorado