Littleton, Colorado
21 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1899 and the latest in 1983. It stands in the Southwest Arapahoe census division. It lies in ZIP code area 80120. It lies near Lee Gulch. The Survey maps it on the Littleton quadrangle. 45,652 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 5,351 feet above sea level.
On record in Littleton
Buildings and businesses the archive holds for this place. Each opens its own page, with the source record it came from.
On the National Register 6 records
Arapaho Hillslisted 2012
Geneva Homelisted 1999
Knight-Wood Houselisted 2004
Littleton Main Streetlisted 1998
Littleton Post Officelisted 2019
Littleton Town Halllisted 1980
Population over time
3 figuresLittleton grew from 40,340 to 45,652 between 2000 and 2020. These are the recorded population figures Wikidata holds for this place, reached through the Geographic Names Information System number this page is keyed on rather than by name, so they belong to this place and not to another of the same name. Most are census counts, but not all are: an early figure may be a founding or settlement estimate, and an estimate published within five years of a census is left out. The change column is computed, and is left blank where more than 20 years separate a figure from the one before it, because a gap that long is not a change between two counts.
| Year | People | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2000 | 40,340 | |
| 2010 | 41,737 | +1,397 (+3%) |
| 2020 | 45,652 | +3,915 (+9%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
10 surveys from 21 printed sheetsMatched by testing this settlement's coordinate against the published boundary of every sheet in the United States Geological Survey's historical collection. Each opens the scanned sheet at the Survey.
- 1899 USGS West Denver quadrangle1:125000
- 1942 USGS Littleton quadrangle1:24000
- 1942 USGS Littleton quadrangle1:31680
- 1953 USGS Denver quadrangle1:250000, 6 printings
- 1957 USGS Denver quadrangle1:250000
- 1957 USGS Littleton quadrangle1:24000, 2 printings
- 1958 USGS Denver quadrangle1:250000
- 1960 USGS Denver quadrangle1:250000
- 1965 USGS Littleton quadrangle1:24000, 5 printings
- 1983 USGS Denver West quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings
Fires near this place
753 since 1996Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 753 fires within 5 miles of Littleton between 1996 and 2020, burning about 124 acres in total. 15 started naturally. 17 were recorded as arson. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.
| Reported cause | Fires |
|---|---|
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 622 |
| Smoking | 41 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 26 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 17 |
| Natural | 15 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 11 |
| Fireworks | 8 |
| Debris and open burning | 5 |
| Misuse of fire by a minor | 4 |
| Railroad operations and maintenance | 3 |
| Power generation/transmission/distribution | 1 |
The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.
| Date | Cause | Size | Reported by | Name on the report |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9 September 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | West Metro Fire Rescue | UNKNOWN |
| 8 September 2019 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Colorado State Forest Service-State Headquarters | not named |
| 7 September 2020 | Debris and open burning | under an acre | Denver Fire Department | N/A |
| 6 September 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | West Metro Fire Rescue | N/A |
| 5 September 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Denver Fire Department | N/A |
| 4 September 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Denver Fire Department | N/A |
| 4 September 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Littleton Fire Rescue | UNKNOWN |
| 4 September 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Littleton Fire Rescue | UNKNOWN |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
10 of 40 shownRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 40 workings within 5 miles of Littleton: 15 occurrences, 12 unknowns, 12 producers, 1 past producer. 12 still produce. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction, Gold, Clay. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.
| Where | Site | Commodity | Status | Recorded |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unknown | Clay | Producer | ||
| Big Dry Creek Placers | Gold | Occurrence | 1858 | |
| Big Dry Creek Placers | Gold | Unknown | ||
| Central Construction Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Producer | ||
| Clarke Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Producer | ||
| Englewood Plant | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Producer | ||
| Flanagan,Walt & Co.Inc. | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Producer | ||
| Gravel Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Unknown | ||
| Gravel Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Unknown | ||
| Gravel Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Unknown |
Storms near this place
31 since 1994Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Littleton in 31 storm reports between 1994 and 2023: 22 hail, 5 lightning, 2 thunderstorm wind, 1 flood. The reports record 1 death and 1 injury. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date opens the federal record of that event.
| When | Event | Place named | Harm | What the report says |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| July 2018 | Flash Flood | Littleton | 1 killed, $500,000 | Thunderstorms produced very heavy rainfall, 1 to 2 inches in less than 30 minutes. At 4600 South Acoma, the floodwaters quickly inundated a basement apartment and trapped a 32-year-old woman inside. She was rescued, but died several hours later. |Floodwaters stalled several vehicles and forced the closure of several intersections including: East Iliff Ave. and South Chambers Road, Santa Fe Drive and West Oxford Ave., South Buckley Road and East Bates Ave., East 6th Ave. and South Picadilly Road, East Hampden Ave and South Uruvan Way. Flooding created a large sinkhole in Sheridan. A small SUV was fell into the hole. The driver was not injured. She escaped her vehicle before it was swallowed by the sinkhole. |
| August 2010 | Lightning | Littleton | 1 hurt | A 14-year-old teenager was struck by lightning while washing her family's car. The bolt struck the street nearby; it then traveled up a stream of water flowing from the vehicle and hit the teenager. She received minor injuries. |
| July 2001 | Hail | Littleton | $606,000 | The city of Littleton suffered $612,000 in damage to vehicles, roofs, buildings, landscaping and computers. Almost every vehicle owned by visitors and employees in the Littleton Center parking lot sustained damage. |
| June 1996 | Lightning | Littleton | $1,000 | no account filed |
| July 2014 | Thunderstorm Wind | Littleton | - | An intense thunderstorm wind snapped tree branches, up to two inches in diameter. |
| July 2014 | Thunderstorm Wind | Littleton | - | Large tree branches, greater than two inches in diameter, were broken. |
| June 2003 | Lightning | Littleton | - | Lightning struck a feeder line, knocking out electricity to approximately 3000 residents. |
| July 1999 | Lightning | Littleton | - | Lightning struck two residences in Littleton, but caused only minor damage. |
| June 1997 | Lightning | Littleton | - | Lightning struck a home in Littleton. The house caught fire but a damage estimate was not available. |
| May 2023 | Hail | Littleton | - | no account filed |
| June 2023 | Hail | Littleton | - | no account filed |
| June 2023 | Hail | Littleton | - | no account filed |
| June 2018 | Hail | Littleton | - | no account filed |
| June 2005 | Hail | Littleton | - | no account filed |
| June 2004 | Hail | Littleton | - | no account filed |
| June 2004 | Hail | Littleton | - | no account filed |
| September 2004 | Hail | Littleton | - | no account filed |
| July 2002 | Hail | Littleton | - | no account filed |
| June 2001 | Hail | Littleton | - | no account filed |
| June 2001 | Hail | Littleton | - | no account filed |
| July 2001 | Hail | Littleton | - | no account filed |
| July 2001 | Hail | Littleton | - | no account filed |
| May 2000 | Hail | Littleton | - | no account filed |
| June 1999 | Hail | Littleton | - | no account filed |
| August 1999 | Flood | Littleton | - | no account filed |
| June 1998 | Hail | Littleton | - | no account filed |
| May 1998 | Hail | Littleton | - | no account filed |
| June 1997 | Hail | Littleton | - | no account filed |
| June 1997 | Hail | Littleton | - | no account filed |
| June 1994 | Hail | Littleton | - | no account filed |
| May 1994 | Hail | Littleton | - | no account filed |
Nearest settlements
The eight closest, with where each one stands in the county. Distances are straight-line, computed from the Geographic Names Information System coordinates.
| Map | Place | Distance | Sheets |
|---|---|---|---|
| Columbine Valley | 1.2 miles | 21 | |
| Hillside Manor | 1.3 miles | 21 | |
| Columbine Lakes | 1.6 miles | 21 | |
| Ridgewood Park | 1.6 miles | 21 | |
| Goldenwest Park | 1.9 miles | 21 | |
| Coventry | 1.9 miles | 21 | |
| Bow Mar | 2.0 miles | 20 | |
| Columbine Heights | 2.1 miles | 21 |
Elsewhere
Matched on this settlement's Geographic Names Information System number rather than its name, so it cannot be a different place of the same name in another state.
| Wikipedia article on Littleton | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q953583 | The structured record the population and elevation above come from. Public domain (CC0). |
Provenance
This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 169446. The sheet list is computed by point-in-boundary test against the United States Geological Survey's historical topographic inventory. Both are works of the United States government and carry no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.
Wildfire. Short, Karen C. 2022. Spatial wildfire occurrence data for the United States, 1992-2020 [FPA_FOD_20221014]. 6th Edition. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2013-0009.6 Collected with United States Government funding and usable without additional permissions or fees.
Mines and quarries. USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) https://mrdata.usgs.gov/mrds/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.
Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.









