Castle Rock is a home rule town that is the county seat of and the most-populous municipality in Douglas County, Colorado, United States. The town's population was 73,158 at the 2020 census, a 51.68% increase since the 2010 census. Castle Rock is the most-populous Colorado town (rather than city) and the 14th-most populous Colorado municipality. Castle Rock is a part of the Denver-Aurora-Lakewood, CO metropolitan statistical area and the Front Range urban corridor.
The town is named for the prominent, castle-shaped butte near the center of town.
History
White settlers were drawn to the area by rumors of gold and by land opened through the Homestead Act of 1862. The discovery of rhyolite stone, though, not gold, ultimately led to the settlement of Castle Rock.
Castle Rock was founded in 1874 when the eastern Douglas County border was redrawn to its present location. Castle Rock was chosen as the county seat because of its central location.
One of the first homesteaders in the area near today's Castle Rock was Jeremiah Gould. He owned about to the south of "the (Castle) Rock". At that time, the settlement consisted of just a few buildings for prospectors, workers, and cowboys. In 1874, Gould donated to the new town, which was also now home to the Douglas County government. Six streets named Elbert, Jerry, Wilcox, Perry, Castle, and Front were laid out to build the actual town of Castle Rock. The courthouse square was defined and about 77 lots, each , were auctioned off for a total profit of US$3,400.
A new train depot brought the Denver and Rio Grande Railway to the area.
During the late 1800s and early 1900s, Castle Rock had a very active rhyolite-quarrying industry. Many immigrants arrived in the area to work in the quarries.
In 1936, the town received a donation of land that included its namesake geographical feature. Men employed by the Works Progress Administration constructed a star atop the butte shortly after Castle Rock received that donation. The star was lit every year from 1936 to 1941. After World War II began, the star was left unlit as a symbol of sacrifice in support of the war effort. On August 14, 1945, shortly after V-J Day, the star was modified into a V-for-victory symbol. On December 7, 1945, the star was lit for the holiday season. It has been lit every year since around the same time.
The town's historic county courthouse, which was built in 1889–1890, burned down on March 11, 1978, the result of arson.
Castle Rock's municipal government experienced significant financial difficulties during the early 1980s. In 1984, the town's voters approved a charter amendment that authorized the creation of a home-rule charter commission. The home-rule charter was finalized in 1987.
The original Douglas County courthouse was one of seven buildings in Castle Rock that have been added to the National Register of Historic Places. The other buildings include Castle Rock Depot, Castle Rock Elementary School, First National Bank of Douglas County, Samuel Dyer House, Benjamin Hammer House, and Keystone Hotel.
A dispute about whether the Castle Rock Police Department was required to enforce a civil restraining order was decided by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2005. The court held, in Town of Castle Rock v. Gonzales, that a municipality cannot be held liable under a federal civil-rights statute, 42 U.S.C. § 1983, for failing to enforce civil restraining orders. The case had arisen from a 1999 murder of three young girls by their father outside the Castle Rock Police Department building. The children were killed by their father, in violation of the restraining order that had been obtained by their mother, within several hours of being abducted. The mother had asked the Castle Rock police to enforce the restraining order by finding and apprehending the father after he removed the children from her home and before the murders. Castle Rock police officers declined to do so, refusing even to contact the Denver Police Department after the mother notified them that the father had taken the children to an amusement park in that city.
Geography
Castle Rock is located in central Colorado at the junction of Interstate 25 and State Highway 86, south of downtown Denver and north of Colorado Springs.
The town lies a few miles east of the Rampart Range of the Rocky Mountains on the western edge of the Great Plains. Castle Rock, the butte for which the town is named, is just north of the town center. Other prominent landforms visible from Castle Rock include Dawson Butte, Devils Head, Mount Blue Sky, and Pikes Peak.
East Plum Creek, a stream within the South Platte River watershed, flows generally north through Castle Rock. Hangman's Gulch, which runs northwest then west around the north side of the town center, drains into East Plum Creek, as do multiple unnamed gulches in the southern and western areas of town. McMurdo Gulch and Mitchell Gulch run north then northeast through eastern Castle Rock and drain into Cherry Creek east of town.
Castle Rock is in the Colorado Foothills life zone. The hillsides are covered with meadows of grass, small plants, scattered juniper trees, and open ponderosa pine woodlands. Other trees common in the area include Gambel oak (scrub oak or oak brush) and pinyon pine. Local wildlife includes the American badger, American black bear, bobcat, coyote, Colorado chipmunk, crow, garter snakes, gray fox, mountain cottontail rabbit, mountain lion, mule deer, pocket gopher, porcupine, skunk, and tadpoles. Birds found in the area include the golden eagle, peregrine falcon, sharp-shinned hawk, black-billed magpie, red-tailed hawk, pinyon jay, and western tanager.
The town had a total area of , all land in 2023.
Lying within the Front Range urban corridor, the town is part of the greater Denver metropolitan area. Castle Rock borders three communities, all to its north; from west to east, they are Castle Pines Village, the city of Castle Pines, and The Pinery. Other nearby communities include Franktown to the east, Larkspur to the south, Perry Park to the southwest, and Sedalia to the northwest.
Climate Castle Rock has a semiarid climate (Köppen BSk) with cold, dry, snowy winters, and hot, wetter summers. January is the coldest month, July the hottest, and August the month with the most precipitation.
Statewide, Colorado has experienced an average temperature increase of about over the past half-century. Given its location in the center of the state, Castle Rock is expected to experience continuing warming and higher average temperatures through the 21st century, as the effects of climate change continue to be felt. Daily minimum temperatures are also expected to continue rising, as they have for the past 30 years.
Neighborhoods Castle Rock's ZIP codes include many neighborhoods:
North of Downtown / West of I-25 The Meadows Castle Pines Village
Castle Rock encompasses about , with a population of more than 73,000.
Demographics
2020 census
As of the 2020 census, Castle Rock had a population of 73,158. The median age was 36.3 years. 28.1% of residents were under the age of 18 and 10.8% were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females, there were 99.8 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 96.7 males age 18 and over.
98.4% of residents lived in urban areas, while 1.6% lived in rural areas.
There were 25,405 households in Castle Rock, of which 42.5% had children under the age of 18 living in them. Of all households, 64.5% were married-couple households, 12.5% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 17.6% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 17.5% of all households were made up of individuals and 6.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.
There were 26,620 housing units, of which 4.6% were vacant. The homeowner vacancy rate was 1.1% and the rental vacancy rate was 9.4%.
+ Racial composition as of the 2020 census Race Number Percent White 60,236 82.3% Black or African American 1,067 1.5% American Indian and Alaska Native 423 0.6% Asian 1,635 2.2% Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander 89 0.1% Some other race 2,056 2.8% Two or more races 7,652 10.5% Hispanic or Latino (of any race) 8,536 11.7%
2010 census As of the 2010 census, 48,231 people, 16,688 households, and 12,974 families were residing in the town. The population density was . The 17,626 housing units had an average density of . The racial makeup of the town was 90.7% White, 1.7% Asian, 1.1% African American, 0.6% American Indian, 0.1% Pacific Islander, 2.9% from other races, and 2.8% from two or more races. Hispanics and Latinos of any race were 10.0% of the population.
Of the 16,688 households, 48.4% had children under 18 living with them, 65.4% were married couples living together, 3.9% had a male householder with no wife present, 8.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 22.3% were not families. About 17.7% of all households were made up of individuals, and 4.0% had someone living alone who was 65 or older. The average household size was 2.86, and the average family size was 3.27.
In the town, the age distribution was 32.4% under 18, 5.8% from 18 to 24, 33.0% from 25 to 44, 22.6% from 45 to 64, and 6.2% who were 65 or older. The median age was 33.8 years. For every 100 females, there were 98.5 males. For every 100 females 18 and over, there were 95.5 males 18 and over.
The median income for a household in the town was $85,461, and for a family was $95,973. Males had a median income of $66,993 versus $47,087 for females. The per capita income for the town was $34,089. About 4.0% of families and 6.2% of the population were below the poverty line, including 8.2% of those under 18 and 6.2% of those 65 or over.
Castle Rock is the 14th-most populous municipality in Colorado and is the center of the burgeoning urbanization of the county.
Economy Because of its Front Range location between Denver and its inner suburbs and Colorado Springs, many of Castle Rock's residents commute nearly 40 miles to southern Colorado Springs on I-25 or the Denver Technological Center, better known as the Denver Tech Center, which is an 18-mile drive north, with downtown Denver roughly 30 miles north, and Denver International Airport about 45 miles north.
About 80% of Castle Rock residents commute out of town to work. The mean travel time to work for a Castle Rock resident is 28.6 minutes, longer than the U.S. average. One reason for this is that the town has not yet attracted the variety or extent of employers needed to significantly lower the number of commuters to work outside Castle Rock. The town has relatively little land zoned for industrial or light industrial use, with the vast majority of the land within town limits dedicated to residential construction only.
As of the 2019–2023 American Community Survey estimates, 74.5% of the population over the age of 16 was in the civilian labor force, 0.4% was in the armed forces, with 70.8% employed and 4.5% unemployed. The employed civilian labor force was 55.2% in management, business, science, and arts; 20.3% in sales and office occupations; 14.2% in service occupations; 4.1% in natural resources, construction, and maintenance; and 6.3% in production, transportation, and material moving. The three industries employing the largest proportion of the working civilian labor force were educational services, health care, and social assistance (16.1%); professional, scientific, management, and administrative and waste management services (10.3%); and finance and insurance, and real estate and rental and leasing (9.7%). The median household income was $145,197 and the per capita income was $62,170. About 3.8% of the population was below the poverty line.