Conifer, Colorado

Conifer, Colorado
Unincorporated Community
Sign along Highway 285.
Location within the state of Colorado
Coordinates: 39°31′16″N 105°18′19″W / 39.52111°N 105.30528°WCoordinates: 39°31′16″N 105°18′19″W / 39.52111°N 105.30528°W[1]
Country	United States
State	Colorado
County	Jefferson County
Settled	1860s
Government
• Type	Unincorporated community
Elevation[1]	8,277 ft (2,523 m)
Population (2009 [2])
• Total	19,683 [3]
Time zone	MST (UTC-7)
• Summer (DST)	MDT (UTC-6)
ZIP code	80433 [4]
Area code(s)	303 and 720
FIPS code	08-16770 [1]
GNIS feature ID	0204717 [1]
Website	Conifer CoC

Conifer is an unincorporated community in Jefferson County, Colorado, United States.^[1] Conifer is located along U.S. Route 285 in the foothills west of Denver.

History

A post office called Conifer was established in 1894.^[5] Some say the community was named after George Conifer, the proprietor of a local tavern, while others believe conifer trees near the original town site caused the name to be selected.^[6]

Geography

Conifer is located at 39°31′16″N 105°18′19″W / 39.52111°N 105.30528°W (39.5210995,-105.3052708).^[1] A magnitude 3.1 tremor centered on Berrian Mountain about 1 mile north of Conifer occurred on November 1, 1981, at 8:03 p.m. MST.

Landmarks

• The Clifton House Inn, Jefferson County Register of Historic Places
• Conifer Junction School, National Register of Historic Places
• The Conley Coffee Shop, Jefferson County Register of Historic Places
• The Lubin-Blakeslee Place at Meyer Ranch, Conifer, Jefferson County Register of Historic Places
• Midway House at Meyers Ranch, built 1889, National Register of Historic Places 5JF.303
• Original Elk Creek Fire House, Jefferson County Register of Historic Places
• Pleasant Park School, built 1894, Colorado Register of Historic Places 5JF.972
• Yellow Barn at Bradford Junction, built 1918, Jefferson County Register of Historic Places
• Coney Island Hot Dog Stand for many years it was in Aspen Park area of Conifer, but was moved to the nearby community of Bailey.
• Staunton State Park - 3,908-acre state park located 6 miles west of Conifer

Education

Students living within Jefferson County attend Jefferson County schools. Those neighborhood schools are Elk Creek Elementary School, West Jefferson Elementary School, Marshdale Elementary School, West Jefferson Middle School, and Conifer High School. In 2011, Conifer High School was ranked 434 in the top 500 schools in the nation by Newsweek.^[7]

Infrastructure

Conifer residents are served by the Elk Creek Fire Protection District, a mixed career/volunteer fire department with approximately 60 active duty firefighters.

Notable people

• Amy Bruckner, American actress.
• Trey Parker, South Park co-creator grew up in the area
• Blaine Sumner, World Record holder powerlifter.

See also

• Denver-Aurora Metropolitan Statistical Area
• Denver-Aurora-Boulder Combined Statistical Area
• Front Range Urban Corridor
• List of cities and towns in Colorado

References

1. Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) details for Conifer, Colorado; United States Geological Survey (USGS); October 13, 1978.
2. Year that population was last estimated
3. Population numbers
4. United States Postal Service (2012). "USPS - Look Up a ZIP Code". Retrieved 2012-02-15.
5. "Post offices". Jim Forte Postal History. Archived from the original on 6 March 2016. Retrieved 25 June 2016.
6. Dawson, John Frank. Place names in Colorado: why 700 communities were so named, 150 of Spanish or Indian origin. Denver, CO: The J. Frank Dawson Publishing Co. p. 15.
7. "Newsweek 2011 US Best 500 High Schools, Representing Top 2% - A Bridge to Ivy League-Esque Colleges". Newsweek. 2011. Archived from the original on 2012-03-18.

External links

• Conifer Chamber of Commerce