Castle Rock, Colorado Castle Rock, Colorado Location inside Douglas County and Colorado Location inside Douglas County and Colorado Location of Castle Rock in the State of Colorado Location of Castle Rock in the State of Colorado Castle Rock is a home rule municipality that is the governmental center of county of Douglas County, Colorado, United States. The most crowded municipality of the county, the community's populace was 48,231 at the 2010 United States Census, with an estimated populace of 55,747 as of 2014. It is titled for the prominent, castle tower-shaped butte near the center of town. Located midway between Denver and Colorado Springs, Castle Rock is part of the Front Range Urban Corridor.

The Denver and Rio Grande Railway's Castle Rock depot (1917) The region in and around Castle Rock was originally home to the Arapaho and Cheyenne citizens .

However, it was the discernment of rhyolite stone, not gold, that ultimately led to the settlement of Castle Rock.

Castle Rock was established in 1874 when the easterly Douglas County border was redrawn to its present location.

Castle Rock was chosen as the governmental center of county because of its central location.

One of the first homesteaders in the region near today's Castle Rock was Jeremiah Gould.

In 1874, Jeremiah Gould donated 120 acres (0.49 km2) to the new town that was also now home to the Douglas County government.

During the late 1800s and early 1900s, Castle Rock had a very active Rhyolite quarrying industry.

Castle Rock presently encompasses about 35 square miles (91 km2), with a populace of more than 42,000 in town and 70,000 in the encircling area.

The town of Castle Rock is titled after this prominent castle tower-shaped butte.

Castle Rock is positioned at 39 22 20 N 104 51 22 W (39.372212, -104.856090) at an altitude of 6,224 feet (1,897 m). Located in central Colorado at the junction of Interstate 25 and State Highway 86, Castle Rock is 28 mi (45 km) south of downtown Denver and 37 mi (60 km) north of Colorado Springs. The town lies a several miles east of the Rampart Range of the Rocky Mountains on the edge of the Great Plains. Castle Rock, the butte that is the town's namesake, sits just north of the town center. Other prominent landforms visible from Castle Rock include Dawson Butte, Devils Head, Mount Evans and Pikes Peak.

East Plum Creek, a stream inside the South Platte River watershed, flows generally north through Castle Rock.

Hangman's Gulch, which runs northwest then west around the north side of the town center, drains into East Plum Creek as do multiple unnamed gulches in the southern and areas of town.

Mc - Murdo Gulch and Mitchell Gulch run north then northeast through easterly Castle Rock and drain into Cherry Creek east of town. Castle Rock is inside the Colorado Foothills Life Zone. The hillsides are veiled with large meadows of grass, small plants, scattered juniper trees and open ponderosa pine woodlands.

According to the United States Enumeration Bureau, Castle Rock has a total region of 33.79 square miles (87.5 km2), all of it land. Lying inside the Front Range Urban Corridor, the town is part of the greater Denver urbane area. Castle Rock borders three communities, all to its north; from west to east, these are Castle Pines Village, the town/city of Castle Pines, and The Pinery. Other close-by communities include Franktown to the east, Larkspur to the south, Perry Park to the southwest, and Sedalia to the northwest. Castle Rock experiences a semi-arid climate (Koppen BSk) with cold, dry, snowy winters and hot, wetter summers.

Snowfall averages 61.8 inches (157 cm) per year. On average, January is the coldest month, July is the hottest month, and August is the month with the most precipitation. The hottest temperature recorded in Castle Rock was 99 F (37 C) in July 1973; the coldest temperature recorded was 35 F ( 37 C) in January 1963. Climate data for Castle Rock, Colorado Castle Rock's postal codes include many neighborhoods: Castle Pines Village website Link to a Map of the Neighborhoods in Castle Rock, Colorado Castle Rock is the 17th most crowded municipality in Colorado and is the center of the burgeoning urbanization of the county.

Many of Castle Rock's inhabitants work in the Denver Technological Center, better known as "The Denver Tech Center" (DTC), which is an 18-mile drive north on I-25, with Downtown Denver roughly 30 miles north, and Denver International Airport about 45 miles north.

The cost of living in Castle Rock is above average; compared to a U.S.

Average of 100, the cost of living index for the town is 106.3. As of 2011, the median home value in the town was $278,000, the median chose monthly owner cost was $2,067 for housing units with a mortgage and $492 for those without, and the median gross rent was $1,069. Castle Rock Town Hall (2010) Castle Rock is a Home Rule Municipality with a council-manager form of government.

The council sets policy for the town, adopts ordinances, approves the town budget, makes primary land-use decisions, and appoints key town government staff including the town manager, town attorney, municipal judge, and members of town boards and commissions. The town manager, David Corliss, supervises all departments, prepares and implements the town budget, and works with the council to precarious policies and propose new plans. As the county seat, Castle Rock is the administrative center of Douglas County.

The county courthouse, the Douglas County Justice Center, is positioned north of downtown, and most departments of the county government base their operations in the town. As of 2013, Castle Rock lies inside Colorado's 4th U.S.

Congressional District.

These include ten elementary schools, two middle schools, two charter schools, one magnet school, one alternative high school, and two high schools: Castle View High School and Douglas County High School. In addition, there are three private major schools positioned in Castle Rock: The Rock Academy (Grades PK-3), School of the Rock (PK-8), and Woodlands Academy (1-8). The Douglas County Libraries enhance library fitness is based in Castle Rock, co-located with the small-town branch library, the Philip S.

Route 87 run concurrently north-south through Castle Rock.

Colorado State Highway 86, an east-west route, enters Castle Rock from the east, then turns north and west as Founders Parkway, terminating at its junction with I-25 at Exit 184. For small-town transit inside Castle Rock, the town government sponsors a voucher program for reduced-fare taxi service.

In addition, the Castle Rock Senior Center offers a shuttle service for resident senior people. BNSF Railway and Union Pacific Railroad each have a freight rail line that runs through Castle Rock. Both lines run alongside to U.S.

Castle Rock Adventist Hospital, a full service hospital, opened on August 1, 2013.

Castle Rock has a weekly newspaper, The Douglas County News-Press. Castle Rock is part of the Denver radio and tv market.

Radio station KJMN is licensed to Castle Rock, but broadcasts from Denver playing a Spanish Adult Hits format on 92.1 FM. Denver airways broadcast 850 KOA, which broadcasts a news/talk and sports format, operates its 50,000 watt transmitter from a site 10 miles northeast of downtown Castle Rock, in the town of Parker.

Another Denver station, KEZW "Studio 1430", a CNN partner with a nostalgia music format, operates its transmitter from Highlands Ranch, 13 miles north of downtown Castle Rock.

Castle Rock is also served by the AM signal of KGNU, a non-commercial partner of PRI, Pacifica, and the BBC World Service, and which also provides diverse music programming.

Licensed to Castle Rock, the station is positioned near Centennial, Colorado. Castle Rock's open space and parks comprise 27% the town's total territory area (5,415 acres (21.91 km2) of parks and open space / 20,224 acres (81.84 km2) total territory area).

Parks - Baldwin Park, Bison Park, Butterfield Park, Castle Highlands Park, Castle North Park, Castlewood Canyon State Park, Centennial Park, Festival Park, Founders Park, Gemstone Park, Glovers Tot Lot, Matney Park, Metzler Ranch Park, Mitchell Gulch Park, Paintbrush Park, Plum Creek Park, Rhyolite Regional Park, Rosecrown Park.

Trails & Open Space - East Plum Creek Trail, Gateway Mesa Open Space, Hidden Mesa Open Space, Memmen Ridge Open Space, Mitchell Creek Canyon Trail, Mitchell Creek Trail System, Native Legend Open Space, Quarry Mesa Open Space, Ridgeline Open Space, Rock Park, The Bowl.

Castle Rock Museum (2010) The Castle Rock Historical Museum is positioned in the former Denver and Rio Grande Railway depot building on Elbert Street.

In this exhibition visitors can see history of how Castle Rock changed over the years.

The Sri Venkateswara Temple's 8 acre complex positioned on Ridge Road is a momentous landmark for the Hindu improve of Colorado, attracting regular worshipers from as far away as Colorado Springs and Denver.

In the 2000s, Castle Rock advanced a positive reputation in American media as an affordable and family-friendly community: In 2014, Money periodical ranked Castle Rock No.

4 in the country in its list of the "Best Places to Live 2014". "Our reporters then visit 35 of the top ranking places to choose a top 10 that not only look good on paper, but also have happy residents, manageable traffic, attractive parks and gathering places, plus intangibles like improve spirit. " Money periodical ranked Castle Rock No.

Family Circle periodical ranked Castle Rock No.

1 in the country in its list of the "10 Best Towns for Families," August 2010. The article shares the results of the magazine's quest to identify "the best communities athwart the nation that combine big-city opportunities with suburban charm" and "an ideal blend of affordable homes, good jobs, top-rated schools, wide-open spaces and a lot less stress." This is Castle Rock's second time making Family Circle's top ten list.

In the August 2007 copy Castle Rock was ranked No.

Forbes periodical titled Castle Rock No.

(Towns include Castle Rock, Parker, Stonegate, Lone Tree, and Highlands Ranch), 18 August 2009 Denver Business Journal reported that Castle Rock was ranked No.

School - Digger.com ranked Douglas County School District No.1 in the Denver Metropolitan Area and No.12 in Colorado based on 2009 test scores.

Notable individuals who were born in and/or have lived in Castle Rock include: John Lewis Dyer (1812-1901), Methodist circuit riding missionary; resided part of his life in Castle Rock; buried in Cedar Hill Cemetery View of Pikes Peak from Rock Park in Castle Rock.

View of Devil's Head Lookout from Ridgeline Open Space in Castle Rock.

View of Mount Evans from Rock Park in Castle Rock.

View from Rock Park Lookout Area in Castle Rock.

View of Pikes Peak from I-25 in Castle Rock.

Castle Rock as seen from I-25.

Cowboys prepare a campfire on a mural in Castle Rock Hiking trail at Rock Park in Castle Rock.

Douglas County, Colorado Castle Rock v.

"Active Colorado Municipalities".

"Colorado Municipal Incorporations".

State of Colorado, Department of Personnel & Administration, Colorado State Archives.

"Castle Rock, CO - Official Website".

"History of Castle Rock".

Town of Castle Rock, Colorado.

"Castle Rock (map)" (PDF).

"Colorado: 2010 - Population and Housing Unit Counts" (PDF).

"Douglas County " (PDF).

"Average Weather for Castle Rock, CO".

"Annual Estimates of the Resident Population for Incorporated Places: April 1, 2010 to July 1, 2015".

"Castle Rock, Colorado".

"Town Government".

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"Town Manager's Office".

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"Colorado - Congressional Districts" (PDF).

"Colorado Webmaps - My Neighborhood".

"Private Schools in Castle Rock".

"Castle Rock, CO".

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"Colorado Statewide Rail System 2012 " (PDF).

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"Utilities/Castle Rock Water".

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"Castle Rock Adventist Hospital".

Castle Rock, CO - Official Website - Parks, Open Space and Trails Castle Rock, Colo.".

10 Best Towns for Families "Castle Rock among '10 best' for families in U.S.".

Castle Rock Chamber of Commerce.

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