Thornton, Colorado - Students | Britannica Kids | Homework Help

Articles Animals Arts and Literature Earth and Geography History Life Processes Living Things (Other) Philosophy and Religion Plants Science and Mathematics Society Sports and Recreation Technology Images & Video Animals Arts and Literature Earth and Geography History Life Processes Living Things (Other) Philosophy and Religion Plants Science and Mathematics Society Sports and Recreation Technology Biographies Dictionary Compare Countries World Atlas Podcast Switch Level Kids Students Scholars About Us students

• Kids
• Students
• Scholars
• Fundamentals NEW

7-day free trial Search Login

• Articles Featured Article Hubble Space Telescope All Categories Animals Arts and Literature Earth and Geography History Life Processes Living Things (Other) Philosophy and Religion Plants Science and Mathematics Society Sports and Recreation Technology
• Images & Videos Featured Media All Categories Animals Arts and Literature Earth and Geography History Life Processes Living Things (Other) Philosophy and Religion Plants Science and Mathematics Society Sports and Recreation Technology
• Biographies
• Dictionary
• Compare Countries
• World Atlas
• Podcast

×

• Article

Subscriber features Print (Subscriber Feature) Email (Subscriber Feature) Cite (Subscriber Feature) Translate (Subscriber Feature) Listen (Subscriber Feature) ×

Related resources for this article

• Articles
• Primary Sources & E-Books
• Websites

View search results for: Search

The north-central Colorado city of Thornton is mostly in Adams county but partly in Weld county. It is a residential suburb located about 10 miles (16 kilometers) north of downtown Denver. Most of the city is situated between U.S. highways I-25 and I-76. Thornton sits higher than Denver at an elevation of 5,342 feet (1,628 meters).

Thornton was founded by real estate developer Sam Hoffman, who completed the first homes there in 1954. It was named for Dan Thornton, then governor of Colorado. Thornton has shared in the growth of the Denver metropolitan area while steadily expanding its own boundaries. Thornton was incorporated in 1956. It has a council-manager form of government. (See also Colorado.) Population (2010) 118,772.

×

It’s here: the NEW Britannica Kids website!

We’ve been busy, working hard to bring you new features and an updated design. We hope you and your family enjoy the NEW Britannica Kids. Take a minute to check out all the enhancements!

• The same safe and trusted content for explorers of all ages.
• Accessible across all of today's devices: phones, tablets, and desktops.
• Improved homework resources designed to support a variety of curriculum subjects and standards.
• A new, third level of content, designed specially to meet the advanced needs of the sophisticated scholar.
• And so much more!

Want to see it in action?

Take a tour

Start a free trial

Subscribe now! ×

E-mail

To

Recipients Please enter a valid email address.

To share with more than one person, separate addresses with a comma

From

Sender Name Please enter your name. Sender Email Please enter a valid email address. Cancel Submit Translate this page

Choose a language from the menu above to view a computer-translated version of this page. Please note: Text within images is not translated, some features may not work properly after translation, and the translation may not accurately convey the intended meaning. Britannica does not review the converted text.

After translating an article, all tools except font up/font down will be disabled. To re-enable the tools or to convert back to English, click "view original" on the Google Translate toolbar.

• About Us
• Contact Us
• Privacy Notice
• Terms of Use
• Diversity

©2026 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. By continuing to use this site, you consent to the terms of our cookie policy, which can be found in our Privacy Notice. ×