The story
History
Douglas County was one of the original 17 counties created in the Colorado Territory by the Colorado Territorial Legislature on November 1, 1861. The county was named in honor of U.S. Senator Stephen A. Douglas of Illinois, who died five months before the county was created. The county seat was originally Franktown, but was moved to California Ranch in 1863, and then to Castle Rock in 1874. Although the county's boundaries originally extended eastward to the Kansas state border, in 1874, most of the eastern portion of the county became part of Elbert County.
Parks and recreational areas
Three state parks fall within Douglas County: Castlewood Canyon State Park, Chatfield State Park and Roxborough State Park. Parts of the county lie within the Pike National Forest and were crossed by the historic South Platte Trail.
Recreation trails in the county include:
American Discovery Trail
Colorado Trail
Devils Head National Recreation Trail
Highline Canal National Recreation Trail
Platte River Greenway National Recreation Trail
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Ridgeline Open Space Trail
Bluffs Regional Park Trail
The Rueter–Hess Reservoir, when filled, may provide significant recreation, including fishing, hiking, and nonmotorized boating. If filled to capacity, surface size would be 1,140 acres, making this a fairly significant reservoir in Colorado and Douglas County's largest body of water.
Cherokee Ranch and Castle is a 3,400-acre privately owned property which forms a 12,000-acre open space with the Highlands Ranch Backcountry and Daniels Park. The area is host to a variety of animals and the Cherokee Ranch petrified forest.
The Prairie Canyon Ranch, at 4620 CO-83, about 10 miles (16 km) south of Franktown, is a Douglas County Open Space. It is a working cattle ranch on 978 acres (3.96 km2), open to the public on special events.
2020 census
As of the 2020 census, the county had a population of 357,978. Of the residents, 25.7% were under the age of 18 and 13.0% were 65 years of age or older; the median age was 39.1 years. For every 100 females there were 98.3 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 96.1 males. 91.0% of residents lived in urban areas and 9.0% lived in rural areas.
There were 129,862 households in the county, of which 38.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them and 18.0% had a female householder with no spouse or partner present. About 18.6% of all households were made up of individuals and 6.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.
There were 135,643 housing units, of which 4.3% were vacant. Among occupied housing units, 77.1% were owner-occupied and 22.9% were renter-occupied. The homeowner vacancy rate was 1.1% and the rental vacancy rate was 7.8%.
2000 census
As of the census of 2000, 175,766 people, 60,924 households, and 49,835 families were residing in the county. The population density was 209 people per square mile (81 people/km2). The 63,333 housing units averaged 75 units per square mile (29 units/km2). The racial makeup of the county was 92.77% White, 2.51% Asian, 0.95% African American, 0.41% Native American, 1.49% from other races, and 1.88% from two or more races. Hispanics or Latinos of any race made up 5.06% of the population.
Of the 60,924 households, 47.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 73.8% were married couples living together, 5.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 18.2% were not families. About 13.3% of all households were made up of individuals, and 1.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.88, and the average family size was 3.19.
In the county, the population distribution was 31.6% under the age of 18, 4.8% from 18 to 24, 37.9% from 25 to 44, 21.6% from 45 to 64, and 4.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 34 years. For every 100 females, there were 99.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 97.4 males.
The median income for a household in the county was $82,929, and for a family was $88,482 (these figures had risen to $93,819 and $102,767, respectively, as of a 2007 estimate). Males had a median income of $60,729 versus $38,965 for females. The per capita income for the county was $34,848. About 1.6% of families and 2.1% of the population were below the poverty line, including 1.9% of those under age 18 and 3.7% of those age 65 or over.
Douglas County had the highest median household income of any Colorado county or statistical equivalent in 2000. In 2008, it ranked eighth in the United States in that category; it was one of two in the top 15 not in the vicinity of New York or Washington.
Political history
As a primarily suburban county, Douglas County has long been known as a Republican stronghold. In the 2012 election, Mitt Romney won 62% of the vote. However, Douglas County has become more competitive in recent years, with Donald Trump winning 55% of the county's vote in 2016 and only 52% of the vote in 2020 and 2024. In 2024, Kamala Harris achieved the highest vote share for a Democratic presidential nominee in the county since 1964. In 2022, incumbent Democratic governor Jared Polis lost the county by a razor-thin margin, winning nearly 49% of the vote. However, Democratic strength is mostly limited to northern Douglas County, including Highlands Ranch, Lone Tree, and Meridian, while the rest of the county is still strongly Republican.
From Wikipedia’s article on Douglas County, Colorado, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.4