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is a Home Rule Municipality in Adams and Jefferson counties in the U.S. state of Colorado. Westminster is a northwest suburb of Denver. The Westminster Municipal Center is located north-northwest of the Colorado State Capitol. The United States Census Bureau estimates that the city population was 105,753 on 2006-07-01. Westminster is the seventh most populous city in the State of Colorado and the 235th most populous city in the United States. In July, 2006, it was ranked as the 24th best place to live in the USA by
Gold discovered in the South Platte River Valley in 1858 brought national attention to the area that would become Westminster, Colorado. The promise of fortune and the Land Act of 1862 encouraged many settlers from the east to make Colorado their home instead of heading on to California. Before the settlements came, wildlife like antelope and buffalo made their homes in this area. There is also evidence of Arapaho Indians near the Crown Point (Gregory Hill) area.
After the first permanent settler, Pleasant DeSpain, built his home in 1870 on 160 acres (near what is now West 76th Avenue and Lowell Street), the area became known as DeSpain Junction and began attracting other settlers including horse breeder Edward Bruce Bowles who was instrumental in constructing the town's train depot in 1881. In 1885, Connecticut real estate developer C.J.Harris arrived in DeSpain Junction and began buying up land. Soon the town was renamed Harris, but was also known as Harris Park.
In 1891, construction began on the Westminster Castle, which was to become "The Princeton of the West" and can still be seen today at West 83rd Avenue and Federal Boulevard. By 1911, the town had incorporated and was renamed one final time to Westminster, in honor of Westminster University.