A Brief History of Thornton
Submitted By David P. Bata: City Of Thornton

Hoffman’s F&S (father and son) Construction Company broke ground in the spring of 1953 for the first 5,000 homes of Thornton. On April 28, 1953, the first three model homes officially opened with several thousand people attending the open house.
The opening ceremonies for the new City of Thornton were quite the show, with guest appearances by the "curvaceous" actress Jane Russell and the city's namesake Governor Dan Thornton. Russell also participated by decorating two of the model show homes. Later Russell Boulevard was named in her honor.
The new Thornton homes sold for $8,000 to $11,000. Would-be residents could purchase a two bedroom house for a down payment of $650 and monthly payments of $57 or could purchase a three bedroom house with a down payment of $1,250 and monthly payments of $67. In January 1954, the Robert Glassman family of 9121 Emerson Street became the first official residents of Thornton.
Also in 1954, residents approved an Adams County School District 12 bond issue to build two of Thornton’s first schools, Thornton Elementary and Merritt Hutton High School.
The early years were rough; volunteers supported all city Government business. The first seven-man police squad worked for nothing and used their personal cars as police patrol vehicles, and all 17 of the fire department’s fire fighters were volunteers.
On May 26, 1956 (after a failed attempt in 1955) the city was incorporated after a majority vote of the residents. By this time, the City’s population had grown to 8,640. On August 18, 1954, the citizens elected their first city officials with Oyer G. "Bill" Leary as Thornton’s first mayor. Eight aldermen were also elected, two to represent each of the four wards.
In 1965, Jim Cochran, a 17-year-old Mapleton High School student, designed Thornton’s official seal. This seal was then integrated into Dick Beougher’s design of Thornton’s white and green city flag which now flies alongside the State and American flags in front of the Civic Center.
The Thornton Parkway Interchange opened August 19, 1986 with fanfare as hundreds of spectators watched the ceremony. Actress Jane Russell returned to Thornton to participate in the opening of the interchange hailed as a joint effort between area businesses and the city.
In 1980, Thornton’s population of 40,343 resided within a 20 square mile land area. Today, Thornton’s population is approximately 70,000 within a 25.6 square mile area. The estimated growth area of Thornton is another 25 square miles. By the turn of the century, Thornton’s population is expected to be well over 80,000.

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