# Bennett, Colorado

Bennett is a statutory town located in Adams and Arapahoe counties, Colorado, United States. The town population was 2,862 at the 2020 United States census with 2,443 residing in Adams County and 419 residing in Arapahoe County.

## History

Bennett was originally known as Kiowa Crossing, The Bennet, Colorado, post office opened on March 16, 1877, but the spelling was changed to Bennett on June 1, 1907, and the Town of Bennett was incorporated on January 22, 1930. Bennett was named for Hiram Pitt Bennet, congressional delegate from the Territory of Colorado and Colorado Secretary of State.

### Kiowa Crossing and train wreck

On May 21, 1878, a heavy rainstorm washed out the railroad bridge over Kiowa Creek to the east of town. A Kansas Pacific Railway train of 25 cars loaded with scrap iron was washed into the stream with crewmen Frank Seldon, George Piatt, and John Bacon on board. Most of the wrecked train was recovered, but the locomotive #51 was never officially found. The story of the lost locomotive inspired Clive Cussler to write Night Probe!; Later, in 1989, his nonprofit NUMA searched for the locomotive with no luck, as it turned out the locomotive wasn't there to find. That same year, archivist Lloyd Glasier at Union Pacific discovered that the railroad had found the locomotive, secretly lifted it to the surface and towed it to their workshop, where they rebuilt it, put it back into service with a new number, and collected the insurance money for its loss in an insurance fraud.

### Colorado spam king

Edward Davidson, known also as the "Colorado Spam King", operated an illegal spamming company, Power promotions, from July 2002 through April 2007 from a home near Bennett where he had a large network of computers and servers, according to federal authorities. The spam contained false header information, concealing the actual sender from the recipient of the e-mail. Davidson provided spammed messages for about 19 different companies, prosecutors said. Some of the e-mailed pitches were used to dupe stock investors and manipulate the market, federal authorities said. Davidson was sentenced to 21 months in federal prison and ordered to pay $714,139 to the Internal Revenue Service. On July 20, 2008, he escaped from a minimum-security prison. Four days later, he was found dead with his wife and a child, both also dead, in an apparent murder-suicide near Bennett.

## Geography

Bennett is located at coordinates 39°45′32″N 104°25′39″W﻿ / ﻿39.7589°N 104.4275°W﻿ / 39.7589; -104.4275 at an elevation of 5486 at the intersection of State Highways 36 and 79, just north of Interstate 70.
At the 2020 United States census, the town had a total area of 3,713 acres (15.024 km$^2$) including 4.0 acres (0.016 km$^2$) of water.
The highest temperature ever recorded in Colorado occurred in Bennett on July 11, 1888, when it reached 118 °F (48 °C). However, climatologists say this reading is an error because the temperature in downtown Denver on that day reached 100 degrees and it would be nearly impossible for it to be 18 degrees hotter just 30 miles east.

## Demographics

Bennett is a part of the Denver-Aurora-Lakewood, CO Metropolitan Statistical Area and the Front Range Urban Corridor.
As of the census of 2000, there were 2,021 people, 715 households, and 539 families residing in the town. The population density was 652.3 inhabitants per square mile (251.9/km$^2$). There were 732 housing units at an average density of 236.3 per square mile (91.2/km$^2$). The racial makeup of the town was 94.56% White, 0.49% African American, 0.74% Native American, 0.30% Asian, 0.15% Pacific Islander, 1.63% from other races, and 2.13% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 4.45% of the population.
There were 715 households, out of which 49.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 58.3% were married couples living together, 10.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 24.5% were non-families. 21.0% of all households were made up of individuals, and 6.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.83 and the average family size was 3.30.
In the town, the population was spread out, with 34.5% under the age of 18, 7.0% from 18 to 24, 34.7% from 25 to 44, 18.1% from 45 to 64, and 5.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 31 years. For every 100 females, there were 103.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 97.8 males.
The median income for a household in the town was $46,600, and the median income for a family was $50,881. Males had a median income of $38,672 versus $26,354 for females. The per capita income for the town was $17,905. About 3.7% of families and 5.8% of the population were below the poverty line, including 5.9% of those under age 18 and 8.9% of those age 65 or over.

## Notable people

* Hiram Pitt Bennet (September 2, 1826 – November 11, 1914), congressional delegate from the Territory of Colorado and Colorado Secretary of State
* Tim Samaras (1957–2013), engineer and storm chaser who starred on Discovery Channel's documentary reality television series Storm Chasers